Team WRT Withstands Trials to Win IGTC PRO Class
Wright Motorsports Caps Season with Win at IMS
PRO-AM Class Win Goes to CrowdStrike by Riley
Indianapolis 8-Hour Results
The fourth running of the Indianapolis 8-Hour presented by AWS crowned its winner, the No. 30 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Philipp Eng, Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon Van Der Linde of the IGTC PRO Class. The FGTWC PRO Class celebrated the No. 45 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R as its winner. The PRO-AM Class win went to the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 of George Kurtz, Colin Braun and Nolan Siegel.
Championships for the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS were decided with the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R of Eric Filgueiras and Stevan McAleer wrapping up the PRO Class Championship. The PRO-AM Class crowned George Kurtz and Colin Braun in the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 as champions.
A First, First for IGTC PRO Class Winner Team WRT
The No. 30 Team WRT BMW win gave Team WRT its first win on American soil. Its driver's greatest competition of the day came in the form of teammates. The No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 of Augustus Farfus, Charles Weerts and Maxime Martin led late into the race but, within the sixth hour had a coming together with a PRO-AM Class car. The collision allowed both entries to continue but took the No. 31 Team WRT BMW out of the lead.
The incident advanced the top qualifying No. 77 Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo Racing Mercedes-AMG of Maximilian Goetz, Jules Gounon and Raffaele Marciello to a second-place finish. The No. 999 Maro Engel, Daniel Juncadella and Luca Stolz. The No. 31 Team WRT BMW would round out the field in fourth. The IGTC PRO Class carries its momentum into the final Intercontinental GT Challenge powered by Pirelli round, Gulf 12 Hours in the United Arab Emirates.
Wright Motorsports Win Kept Championship Fight Tight
The No. 45 Wright Motorsport Porsche of Jan Heylen, Madison Snow and Trent Hindman joined the PRO Class later in the season, keeping the championship off the table and making the win the entry’s top honor of the season. Second place may have felt like a win for the No. 28 RS1 Porsche of Eric Filgueiras, Stevan McAleer and Klaus Bachler as the team walked away with the PRO Class Championship. Third place went to No. 53 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Seth Lucas, Trenton Estep and Matteo Cairolli began the race sixth in class. Ever the consistent team the trio fought back for its fourth-place finish and solidified a third-place finish in the championship.
Fourth place went to a very competitive No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX. Ashton Harrison, Mario Farnbacher and Kyle Marcelli fought back after three incidences with the No.85 Rearden Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R in the PRO-AM Class to finish fifth. The No. 21 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 went behind the wall during the first hour of the race. While the team returned drivers Manny Franco, Alessandro Balzan and Ferrari Factory Driver Lilou Wadoux to race action, the team was never able to overcome the lap deficit. They finished fourth ahead of the No. 94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3 of Bill Auberlen, Chandler Hull and Robby Foley.
CrowdStrike by Riley Wins PRO-AM Class and Championship
The PRO-AM Class winners Colin Braun, George Kurtz and Nolan Siegel qualified 17th overall, a far cry from overall pole sitter No. 20 Huber Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R but as the clock wound down the No. 04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG came alive. The No. 20 Hubler Motorsport Porsche of Laurin Heinrich, Antares Au and Alfred Renauer took home the second-place finish. Third-place finishers Kenton Koch, Jon Branam and Matt Bell in the No. 27 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 overcame tremendous adversity with last-minute driver elections, transponder issues and an early drive-through penalty.
The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Adam Adelson, Elliot Skeer and Callum Benjamin Illot finished fourth in class. The No. 38 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Samantha Tan, Neil Verhaegen and Jake Walker certainly had pace but a late pit lane violation would serve the team with a late 10-second time penalty, relegating the team to a fifth-place finish. Tan finishes the year fourth in the points championship. The No. 535 Sky Tempesta Racing Ferrari 488 GT3 EVO of Eddie Cheever III, Jonathan Hui and Christopher Froggatt finished the race sixth.
Seventh place went to the No. 007 TRG Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 of Derek DeBoer, Valentin Hasse-Clot and Ben Tuck. The trio finished high enough in the class to give DeBoer a third-place finish in the points championship. The No. 4 Grove Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Brenton Grove, Stephen Grove and Earl Bamber finished eighth in class. Ninth place in the PRO-AM Class went to the No. 85 Rearden Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R of Jake Pederson, Vesko Kozarov and Christian Engelhart. The entry couldn’t seem to stay away from the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsport Acura entry of the FGTWC PRO. The two cars came together three times over the eight-hour race.
The No. 33 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 of Justin Wetherill, Ryan Dalziel and Onofrio Triarsi continued after contact with the No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 IGTC PRO Class entry. However, their run to the front of the field came to an end with the incident and would finish the race 10th in class. The No. 08 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Scott Smithson, Thomas Sargent and Bryan Sellers dealt with a late right rear suspension failure. The team repaired the car and pushed on to finish 11th. Finally, the No. 91 DXDT Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Jeff Burton, Corey Lewis and Philip Ellis finished 12th after loss of power parked the Mercedes-AMG in the second hour of the race.
The 2023 Season Comes to an End
The 2023 Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS calendar has come to a close, but the host of SRO Motorsports America series, including the GT America powered by AWS, Pirelli GT4 America and TC America powered by Skip Barber series finish the year Sunday, Oct. 8 with one final race. Subscribe to the GT World YouTube page to see how the season shakes out for competitors. Fans can also join the conversation on Twitch with host Ash Vandelay on the SROMotorsports channel.