The stage is officially set for tomorrow’s Indianapolis 8 Hour after a tense and dramatic Pole Shootout that saw the top ten qualifiers from the earlier combined qualifying sessions return to the track for one final show of speed before they head off for battle at the Brickyard on Saturday.
It initially appeared to be a Team WRT lockout, with Kelvin van der Linde setting the early pace in the No. 46 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVO, before being narrowly eclipsed by teammate Raffaele Marciello in the sister No. 777 BMW entry.
However, the momentum soon shifted as Random Vandals Racing and Lone Star Racing joined the fight at the front. In the final minutes, Jules Gounon vaulted to the top of the timesheets aboard the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, only to be dethroned seconds later by Philipp Eng, who delivered a blistering flying lap in the No. 51 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO to claim overall pole position.
*Update: GTWC Decision no. 4 - Technical Infraction
The No. 51 did not meet the published BOP weight post Pole Shootout. All lap times from the Pole Shootout are invalidated and the Car is moved to the 10th position on the Grid.
Team WRT’s pair of BMWs ultimately settled into third and fourth, while the No. 99 Random Vandals BMW driven by Connor De Phillippi rounded out the top five.
Mercedes-AMG machinery filled out the next three positions, with Chaz Mostert placing sixth in the No. 75 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, followed by Lucas Auer in the No. 34 JMF Motorsports car, and Maro Engel in the No. 888 Mercedes-AMG Team GMR entry.
Last year’s Pro class winners Wright Motorsports qualified ninth with Laurin Heinrich behind the wheel of the No. 120 Porsche 911 GT3 R, while Justin Rothberg completed the top ten with the No. 29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.
“We are starting on pole, it’s obviously really nice,” said Varun Choksey. “Most importantly, we get to stay out of trouble at the start. Let's try to kick off the Indy 8 Hour the right way. It means a lot to the guys and it’s nice to have a little bit of good fortune coming our way—hopefully we can keep that going.”
“The car was so well prepared from the moment it rolled off the truck,” added Philipp Eng. “We just had very clean practice sessions and improved step by step. I’m very happy for the guys because it’s my first time joining Random Vandals and I love it here. We have a long race ahead, but I’ve been in this position before, having won in 2023 with WRT. Let’s see how tomorrow goes.”
Let’s Get Racing
The GT World Challenge America powered by AWS and Intercontinental GT Challenge series will return for the final round of the season, the Indianapolis 8 Hour, on Saturday afternoon, October 18th at 12:20 PM ET.
If you can’t make it to Indianapolis Motor Speedway, watch all the action live on RACER TV, or tune in to SRO’s free live streams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #Indy8H.
Additionally, viewers can watch the brand-new multi-viewer streaming experience in partnership with Vbrick and GPX Stream. This innovative platform gives fans unprecedented control over their race day experience, allowing them to seamlessly switch between multiple live onboard streams in real time for GT World Challenge America powered by AWS while simultaneously accessing the live leaderboard, race broadcast, and Twitch chat.