- Van der Linde versus Marciello for the drivers’ crown
- Porsche looking to overturn BMW’s manufacturers’ advantage
- Au, Bohn and Habul go head-to-head for Independent Cup title
- Entry list: Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS
Intercontinental GT Challenge champions will be crowned at the Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS this Saturday night when Kelvin van der Linde and Raffaele Marciello go one-on-one for the drivers’ title, Porsche attempts to defend its manufacturers’ championship from BMW, and Antares Au, Ralf Bohn and Kenny Habul stage a winner-takes-all Independent Cup showdown.
The Brickyard, which also hosts the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS finale, has attracted a total of 25 entries that comprise both regular season competitors and international teams drawn from Europe, Asia and Australasia. Drivers include cross-code champions Valentino Rossi and Will Power as well as some of the biggest names in global GT racing.
And the latter do not come much bigger than championship leader Van der Linde and his BMW factory colleague Marciello who are separated by five points. 25 are still available at IMS where their WRT squad is attempting to win for the third time in as many years.
Doing so would see BMW become IGTC manufacturers’ champions for the first time. It currently leads Porsche by 18 points with a maximum of 43 available for finishing first and second. Stuttgart will hold the numerical advantage thanks to seven 911s versus five M4s, but only the two highest placed finishers per brand will contribute towards the constructors’ title.
Fellow full-season entrants Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari can no longer win the overall drivers’ or manufacturers’ crowns. Instead, their focus will be on securing outright and class victories. Indeed, Mercedes-AMG’s appetite for IGTC success is underlined by the four Pro crews listed amongst its cast of six entries.
One of them, 75 Express, carries the hopes of IGTC Independent Cup contender Kenny Habul who is joined in the Pro class by two-time IndyCar Series champion Will Power and Supercars ace Chaz Mostert. His title rivals, Ralf Bohn and reigning champion Antares Au, are respectively aboard Herberth and Wright Porsches, and tied at the top of the standings. However, with six points covering all three, each of whom have won once this year, the class title will fittingly go to whoever finishes first on Saturday night.
Adrian D’Silva completes the Independent Cup roster but cannot score sufficiently to overturn his 28-point deficit. Class victory for EBM’s Porsche could, however, alter the complexion of the championship battle between Au, Bohn and Habul.
TEAM-MATES TURNED TITLE RIVALS
They shared victories at the Nürburgring and Suzuka but, just like at Bathurst and Spa, Kelvin van der Linde and Raffaele Marciello have been split this weekend as both bid to become IGTC drivers’ champion for the first time.
It speaks volumes for BMW’s commitment to inter-team competition that it has chosen to separate its leading drivers. After all, pairing them and Augusto Farfus would have guaranteed Van der Linde the title before a wheel had turned. But, thankfully, the championship will boil down to results at Indianapolis, just as it did last year when Charles Weerts was crowned.
Van der Linde will have Weerts in his corner again this weekend when the new GT World Challenge Europe powered by AWS champions and Suzuka 1000km winners join forces with Valentino Rossi. Indy’s Pro crew regulations mandate at least one Bronze or Silver-graded driver, and the latter does not get much faster than the MotoGP legend turned GT3 ace who makes his first IGTC appearance at IMS.
Marciello, on the other hand, has former champion Farfus – who’s opportunity to win the crown ended when he was paired with the Swiss – and another of WRT’s GT World Challenge Europe regulars, Al Faisal Al Zubair, for company.
The five-point difference will be overturned if Marciello claims IGTC victory. But anything less than that will require at least one eligible car to finish between himself and Van der Linde. The latter would also win any tiebreak scenario thanks to three victories versus two.
Porsche, Mercedes-AMG and Ferrari do not have a dog in the drivers’ championship fight. But their cars, which along with BMW’s total encompass 20 potential IGTC points’ scorers, could very well spoil the party for either Van der Linde or Marciello.
Porsche isn’t just battling for outright victory. It also has a manufacturers’ crown to defend. A one-two finish would be enough to overturn BMW’s 14-point advantage regardless of where Bavaria’s cars end up, and with a race-high seven entries – three of which are Pro – it’s by no means an impossibility.
It can also call on the same combination that finished second 12 months ago when Wright’s Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer and Laurin Heinrich were only denied victory by a five-second time penalty applied at the chequered flag.
There’s also continuity in Wright’s second car. The team might have changed from last year but the same trio of Au, Loek Hartog and 2024 Indy pole winner Patric Niederhauser are reunited in a 911 that could give the Pros a run for their money. That was certainly the case at Suzuka where Au and Hartog plus Richard Lietz finished just 0.3s shy of the overall podium.
RS1 should also feature prominently thanks to Alex Sedgwick, Jan Heylen and Alessio Picariello, while the Bronze-graded D’Silva is entered in Pro due to his world-class co-drivers Sven Müller and Ricardo Feller.
Mercedes-AMG has an excellent opportunity to add a second Indy victory to its IGTC CV thanks to the four Pro entries amongst its six-strong assault.
IGTC regulars GMR make the trip from Hong Kong and have a particularly strong line-up in the shape of established factory duo Maro Engel and Luca Stolz, and Mercedes-AMG Junior Tom Kalender. Likewise Lone Star, which raced at Indy last year and has one of its IMSA drivers, Lin Hodenius, alongside Jules Gounon and Maxime Martin.
JMF’s Michai Stephens, Mikael Grenier and Lucas Auer will also be contenders, but it's Mercedes-AMG’s fourth Pro car entered by 75 Express that's likely to garner most attention. That’s because it features GT3 debutant but Indianapolis 500 winner and two-time IndyCar Series champion Will Power who has also claimed five more victories on the circuit’s road course.
Power shares the car with two fellow Australians, Kenny Habul and Chaz Mostert. The latter is jetting in from Bathurst where he contested Supercars’ blue riband ‘1000’ on Sunday. Theirs, like EBM’s entry, has been classified as Pro despite Habul bidding to become IGTC’s Independent Cup champion for the fourth time.
Two Ferraris round out IGTC’s contenders, but neither are likely to threaten the outright result. Instead, AF Corse’s 296s are gunning for GT World Challenge America Pro-Am and Am honours. Both will, however, score points towards IGTC’s drivers’ and manufacturers’ standings.
The Indianapolis 8 Hour presented by AWS goes green at 12:20 local time (-4 GMT) on Saturday. Watch it as well as Friday’s Pre-Qualifying, Qualifying and Pole Shootout on SRO’s GT World YouTube channel.
INDIANAPOLIS 8 HOUR TIMETABLE
Wednesday 15 October
16:30 – 18:00: Test 1
Thursday 16 October
10:20 – 11:50: Test 2
18:25 – 18:55: Bronze Test
18:55 – 20:25: Free Practice
Friday 17 October
09:50 – 11:20: Pre-Qualifying
15:35 – 15:50: Qualifying 1
15:57 – 16:12: Qualifying 2
16:20 – 16:35: Qualifying 3
17:45 – 18:00: Pole Shootout
Saturday 18 October
12:20 – 20:20: Race