BMW Team RLL Claim 1-2 Finish at Indianapolis
Words by Matthew Boyce
Cover Image by Sam Cobb
BMW Team RLL has claimed a breakthrough 1-2 finish at the IMSA Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday. The win marks the teams second GTP win during a race marred by rain and changing conditions. The No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn finished 1.647 seconds ahead of their teammates in the No. 25 BMW driven by Connor De Phillippi Nick Yelloly. The win also marks the first for the German manufacturer in LMDh car globally.
The win came after the yellow flag flew for the final time, as then leader Louis Deletraz in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 stay out under green until the yellow flag flew. Because the team had not yet pitted his No. 40 machine, Deletraz was force to pit under yellow giving up first and second to the pair of Team RLL BMW's. On the ensuing restart and within the final 30 minutes of the race, the No. 40 was handed a penalty for incident responsibility after contact with the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo of Chas Mostert, taking them out of the running for a podium finish.
Image by Sam Cobb
The penalty handed the final podium spot to the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy which was the highest placing Porsche 963 after all four spent time in the top five throughout the race. The second Penske Porsche 963, and championship leading car, driven by Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron had a power steering issue put a huge dent in their championship lead. Nasr limped the car the remaining distance left in the race to a ninth place finish in the GTP class, decreasing their points lead to just 14 heading into the season ending Petit Le Mans. Finishing in fourth was the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche of Richard Westbrook, Tijmen van der Helm and Phil Hanson which is their best finish of the 2024 season. Finishing in fifth and sixth were the two Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura entries with the No. 10 finishing in fifth followed by the No. 40.
Jake Galstad/Motorsport Images
The LMP2 class win was claimed by the No. 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson of Mikkel Jensen, Steven Thomas and Hunter McElrea. While the No. 11 had a relatively uneventful day on their way to a victory, the rest of the LMP2 class all were involved in on track incidents. Finishing in second after a late race penalty by the No. 18 Era Motorsport Oreca of Connor Zilisch was the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca of Tom Dillmann, Jakub Smiechowski and Nick Boulle who escaped the Brickyard with the LMP2 class points lead. Zilisch was penalized after contact was made between the No. 18 and the No. 22 Unitied Austosports entry of Paul Di Resta resulting in a spin by Di Resta. Even with the penalty, Zilisch was still able to secure a podium finish.
Porsche Sweeps GT Classes With Ao Racing, Wright Motorsports Claiming Class Victories
AO Racing, with the help of an incredibly quick final pit stop, put their GTD Pro championship leading No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R on the top step of the podium at Indianapolis Motor Speedway Sunday. Their win extends their points lead going into the final round at Petit Le Mans in a few weeks time. Laurin Heinrich and Micheal Christensen finished ahead of the second place finishing No. 64 Multimatic Ford Mustang GT3 of Harry Tincknell and Mike Rockenfeller after the duo spent a good portion of the race in the lead.
Image Courtesy of Porsche Newsroom
While spending a majority of the race locked in a battle with the No. 77 and No. 64 for the class win, the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat ended the six hour contact with a close on track battle with the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Antonio Garcia. Garcia was able to pass Hawksworth with less than five laps to go, securing the podium for Corvette Racing. Hawksworth finishing in fourth position followed by the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin entry.
The GTD class win was claimed by the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche of Elliott Skeer, Adam Adelson and Jan Heylen. While Heylan has claimed a class win before in IMSA compeition, the win marks the first class wins for both Adelson and Skeer. Finishing in second was the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 of Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher and Jake Walker while the pole sitting No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG rounded out the podium in third.
The No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Russel Ward, Indy Dontje and Philip Ellis took one more step to claiming the GTD class champion with a fifth place finish, all but locking up their championship heading into the Petit Le Mans season finale.
