WRT Wins Indy 8H After Wright Penalty; Champions Crowned

Team WRT was declared the winner of the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS after a post-race penalty for Wright Motorsports, with Charles Weerts taking the Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers’ title in the process.

While the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer and Laurin Heinrich crossed the line first after eight hours of racing at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, the Ohio-based squad did not win the race overall as the team was docked five seconds in the final results due to a pit lane infringement.

With Dries Vanthoor, who shared the No. 31 BMW M4 GT3 with Weerts and Sheldon van der Linde, chasing down Heinrich in the final minutes and closing the gap to under five seconds, it was enough for WRT to successfully defend its Indy 8H win.

WRT largely dominated the opening half of the race, running 1-2 by the halfway point, but a safety car that wiped out a 37-second advantage for Van der Linde closed the gaps up and altered the course of the race.

Wright was first out front when it opted not to pit under the third safety car and then gained the upper hand when Skeer pitted mere moments before another neutralization.

Skeer only just remained on the lead lap, which then allowed the No. 120 Porsche to cycle back to the front as strategy played out.

When Heinrich took the car over, he initially appeared to able to keep the chasing BMW at bay and take victory despite a late five-second penalty for a pit procedure infringement.

However, Vanthoor chipped away at the gap in the final ten minutes, and brought the gap down sufficiently to win despite finishing second on the road.

Wright still helped Porsche secure an unlikely second IGTC manufacturers’ title in the process, beating BMW and Mercedes-AMG despite not having a full-factory Pro effort entered for the season finale.

Additionally, the John Wright-owned team beat DXDT Racing to the Pro title in Fanatec GT America.

Weerts, meanwhile, was crowned IGTC drivers’ champion in the process, surpassing Ayhancan Guven who retired from the race with steering issues.

The No. 130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Mikael Grenier competed the overall podium, with the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 finishing fourth.

Alexander Sims, Tommy Milner and Alec Udell completed the overall top five aboard the No. 63 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R, ahead of the No. 85 RS1 Porsche.

Pro-Am victory, meanwhile, went to the No. 10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche of Antares Au, Loek Hartog and Patric Niederhauser in seventh overall.

Turner Overcomes Points Deficit and Takes Fanatec GT America Pro-Am Title

By finishing eighth overall and securing maximum class points, Turner Motorsport overcame a 33-point deficit to take the Fanatec GT America Pro-Am title away from ST Racing.

Patrick Gallagher, Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg, driving the No. 29 BMW, finished second in class to take advantage from a fuel pressure issue for the No. 38 ST Racing BMW that left the car in the garage for 45 minutes early on.

Even with the issue that eliminated Samantha Tan, Neil Verhagen and John Capestro-Dubets from contention, Turner needed to win their class in order to wrestle the title away from the Canadian squad.

With the No. 10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche not eligible for points, Turner was able to win the title.

The No. 91 Regulator Racing Mercedes-AMG and No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 completed the overall top ten.

The fifth edition of the Indy 8H featured a notably higher rate of attrition compared to last year, which was reflected in the fact that the race featured six safety cars versus just one last year.

The No. 4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG of Alex Palou, Luca Stolz and Fabian Schiller had its competitive run curtailed early on with electrical issues, while a loose diffuser cost the No. 33 Team WRT BMW multiple laps.

The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG piloted by Kenny Habul, Jayden Ojeda and Lucas Auer, which dominated Pro-Am for two-thirds of the race, retired with rear axle failure after nurturing broken steering for much of the race after early contact with the No. 8 Flying Lizard Motorsports BMW.

The No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche also failed to finish due to a steering issue, bringing an end to IGTC drivers’ title hopes for Guven.

Fuel pump issues notably struck three separate cars, with the No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW and No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG as well as the No. 38 ST Racing BMW having their runs curtailed by similar issues.

ST’s second BMW, the Pro entry driven by Varun Choksey, Bill Auberlen and Philipp Eng, meanwhile, lost time with a clogged air filter.

RESULTS: Indianapolis 8 Hour