Porsche factory driver Kévin Estre will join Therese Lahlouh and Thomas Merrill at Wright Motorsports for the Indianapolis 8 Hour from October 8–11.
Estre will make his first start in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Intercontinental GT Challenge race, sharing Wright Motorsports’ No. 242 Porsche 911 GT3 R with the team’s full-season GT World Challenge America powered by AWS pairing.
The eight-hour race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway will also double as the final round of the 2026 GT World Challenge America season.
Estre targets the bricks
The appearance will reunite Estre with Wright Motorsports after he joined the team for the 2023 Rolex 24 At Daytona. On that occasion, the Frenchman raced the No. 77 VOLT Lighting Porsche 911 GT3 R alongside Alan Brynjolfsson, Trent Hindman and Max Root.
Estre will arrive at the Indianapolis 8 Hour with plenty of recent miles around the circuit. He will contest next week’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship round at Indianapolis with Porsche Penske Motorsport, sharing the No. 6 Porsche 963 with Laurin Heinrich in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks.
That appearance will give Estre valuable track time less than three weeks before he returns to Indianapolis to join Lahlouh and Merrill for the eight-hour race.
“I’m really glad to do that race,” Estre said. “I haven’t done it yet, and it’s an iconic racetrack in the US.
“I’m happy to join and see what we can do there. Hopefully, we can kiss those bricks. That would be a nice picture. It’s one I’m missing in my living room.”
For Lahlouh, sharing the car with one of Porsche’s leading factory drivers represents another major step in her first full season of GT3 competition.
“To have Kévin joining Thomas and me for Indianapolis is an incredible opportunity,” Lahlouh said. “His record with Porsche speaks for itself, but what excites me most is the chance to learn from him throughout such a demanding event.
“This has been a huge development year for me. Thomas, Wright Motorsports and everyone at Porsche Motorsport North America have helped me make that transition into GT3 racing, and adding Kévin to the lineup gives us another tremendous resource for the biggest race of our season.
“We’re going to Indianapolis determined to put everything we’ve learned this year into one complete performance. The Indy 8 Hour is a race I’ve been looking forward to all season, and it would be pretty special to help Kévin add that missing bricks photo to his living room.”
Building through 2026
Lahlouh and Merrill entered 2026 together for Lahlouh’s first full GT3 campaign after she progressed through Porsche Sprint Challenge USA West and Porsche Sprint Challenge North America.
The partnership also moved Merrill from Lahlouh’s coaching role into the same cockpit, with the pair contesting the new three-hour GT World Challenge America format in Wright Motorsports’ Porsche.
They opened the season at Sonoma Raceway with a top-five Pro-Am finish after climbing eight positions overall.
Their first GT World Challenge America podium followed at Circuit of The Americas, where Lahlouh and Merrill finished second in Pro-Am and third overall, helping Wright Motorsports complete a one-two class result. Their charge through the field also earned the No. 242 pairing the race’s Hard Charger award.
The pair returned to the top five in Pro-Am at Road America, finishing fourth in class and sixth overall after gaining 15 positions during the three-hour race – scoring their second Hard Charger award of the season.
Eight-hour finale at Indianapolis
Merrill will bring previous Indianapolis 8 Hour experience to the lineup, having contested the event in a Mercedes-AMG GT3 before beginning his first full GT World Challenge America campaign with Lahlouh in 2026.
Before heading to Indianapolis, Lahlouh and Merrill will contest the penultimate round at Barber Motorsports Park from September 25–27. They will then welcome Estre into the No. 242 Porsche for an eight-hour fight to reach Victory Lane and kiss the bricks.