- Tight Pro Battle Between AF Corse and Mercedes-AMG Team JMF Motorsports
- Wright Motorsports Takes Charge in Pro-Am Class
- AF Corse USA Holds Strong in Am Category
Four hours down, four to go at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway, as the DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour reaches its halfway mark following an action-packed opening half. From early lead changes and intense battles to dramatic retirements and championship implications, the endurance contest has already delivered plenty of excitement across all three classes.
Pro Class
As the green flag waved to commence eight hours of racing at the Brickyard, Turner Motorsport’s Justin Rothberg led the field into Turn 1 in the No. 29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. Although he dropped one position overall, he retained the Pro class lead.
The No. 34 Mercedes-AMG Team JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Michai Stephens was on the charge early, making a series of quick overtakes to move into the Pro class lead within the opening fifteen minutes.
However, misfortune struck early for another Mercedes-AMG entry, as Lin Hodenius in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO was involved in a collision that resulted in significant damage. The incident ultimately forced Hodenius and teammates Alex Palou and Luca Stolz to retire from the race.
The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) EVO also sustained damage in a separate incident but was able to return to the track following repairs, albeit one lap down.
Another Full Course Caution, triggered by a stranded Pro-Am entry, prompted several teams to head to pit lane for service and driver changes. Despite the reshuffling, the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG maintained its position at the front of the Pro field.
With five and a half hours remaining, Niklas Nielsen began closing in on Stephens aboard the No. 12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, with less than a second separating the two contenders. Meanwhile, Connor De Phillippi was steadily recovering ground for Turner Motorsport, reducing the gap to the leaders.
Three hours into the race, De Phillippi returned to pit lane to hand the BMW over to Robby Foley. The frontrunners followed shortly thereafter, with Maxime Martin taking over the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG and Frederik Schandorff stepping into the No. 12 Ferrari.
Cold tires and heavy traffic added another layer of intensity to the battle, as Schandorff found a way through the slower traffic while Martin struggled to bring his tires up to temperature, losing ground to several Pro-Am competitors in the process.
Taking full advantage of the opportunity, Schandorff found clean air and began extending his advantage as the race approached its halfway point.
Pro-Am Class
Alex Sedgwick started second overall and first in class aboard the No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO, wasting no time taking the overall race lead on the opening lap.
Behind him, RS1’s Danny Dyszelski delivered a strong opening stint, moving into second in class and fourth overall aboard the No. 28 Porsche. Jason Daskalos followed a few positions further back in the No. 27 Mercedes-AMG Team JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO.
A Full Course Caution for debris on the front straight brought the field back together, prompting several teams, including Dollahite Racing and RS1, to take advantage of the opportunity to pit. While RS1 elected to keep Dyszelski behind the wheel, Dollahite Racing opted for a driver change, with Scott Dollahite taking over driving duties.
Unfortunately, the team's promising start soon unraveled when a steering rack issue sent the No. 6 Ford off into the grass, with the car eventually brought behind the wall.
Further trouble followed for the No. 27 Mercedes-AMG, as Daskalos came to a halt on track, triggering another Full Course Caution. The mechanical failure proved terminal, forcing the team to retire after just over two hours of racing.
With several different strategies unfolding throughout the Pro-Am field, Wright Motorsports emerged in a strong position as the halfway mark approached.
Laurin Heinrich powered the No. 31 Wright Motorsports Porsche to the front of the class, putting the team well ahead of championship rivals GMG Racing and into the provisional championship points lead.
Heinrich also remains in contention for the Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers' championship, with an overall victory required to keep his title ambitions alive.
Am Class
The Am class experienced its own share of drama in the opening hours, with Jay Schreibman involved in early contact with a Pro-Am competitor that sent him into a spin. Despite the setback, Schreibman recovered and worked his way back through the field, eventually climbing to second in class behind MAD Joker Racing's Marc Austin.
Oswaldo Negri later made his way past during his stint as the class order continued to evolve through the opening half of the race.
As the four-hour mark approached, Benny Simonsen held the Am class lead aboard the No. 163 AF Corse USA entry, with Peter Dempsey following closely behind in the MAD Joker Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO he shares with Ben Keating and Marc Austin.
Jamie Morrow rounded out the class order aboard the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, with another four hours of racing still to come.
Up Next
The second half of the DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour continues into the night with the race concluding at 8:30 PM ET, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free live streams on SRO RaceControl, YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #Indy8H.