Welcome to Indianapolis 8 Hour race day! The fourth annual Indy 8 Hour starts today at 12:15 PM ET (local time). Full coverage will be available on the SRO GT World YouTube channel with Ryan Myrehn, Bob Varsha, and Calvin Fish joined by pit reporter Amanda Busick. An alternative simulcast hosted by Ash Vandelay […]
The post Indy 8H: Saturday Paddock Notes first appeared on dailysportscar.com.Welcome to Indianapolis 8 Hour race day! The fourth annual Indy 8 Hour starts today at 12:15 PM ET (local time).
Full coverage will be available on the SRO GT World YouTube channel with Ryan Myrehn, Bob Varsha, and Calvin Fish joined by pit reporter Amanda Busick.
An alternative simulcast hosted by Ash Vandelay will be streamed live on the SRO Motorsports Twitch channel.
Live Timing & Scoring
Kiebler out, Koch in at TR3
Kenton Koch has been drafted in as a last-minute replacement for Paul Kiebler in the #27 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
Koch won both GT World Challenge America races at VIRginia International Raceway sharing the TR3 Mercedes with Daniel Morad, and won overall in yesterday evening’s GT4 America race at Indy.
DSC received no further statement from TR3 Racing regarding this change, which has been granted under force majeure.
Wright Motorsports staying with new Porsche 992
Minutes before Qualifying, Wright Motorsports submitted a request to change the chassis on the #120 car driven by Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer, and Callum Ilott – and revert back to the older 991.2-generation Porsche 911 GT3 R.
That request was not made in time to make the change in time for Qualifying.
But after some consideration and improvements made in the setup, the #120 crew will stay with the 992-generation Porsche for today’s race, where they’ll start 13th.
Adelson and Skeer lead George Kurtz and Colin Braun by three points in the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am standings – whichever driver combination finishes ahead will likely win the title.
Clarification on DXDT Corvette effort
A representative of DXDT Racing has confirmed to DSC this morning that the plan for 2024 is still to run two new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in GT World Challenge America once they arrive, after starting the season with their current Mercedes-AMG GT3s.
This is in contrast to earlier reports elsewhere that suggested DXDT would run only one Corvette in GT World Challenge.
However, there is the possibility of one of DXDT’s current gentleman drivers running a Mercedes under a different entrant name for the full 2024 season.
TRG set to race updated Vantage GT3 in 2024
TRG (The Racers’ Group) plans to compete next season with the updated Aston Martin Vantage GT3 which will be available to customer teams next season.
A representative of the team confirmed that TRG’s long-term partnership with Aston Martin Racing will continue in 2024, off the back of the recent announcement of Aston Martin’s continued customer racing efforts with the updated Vantage GT3 and GT4.
Derek DeBoer has shared the car with Aston Martin works drivers Valentin Haase-Clot and Ross Gunn in GT World Challenge America, recording four Pro-Am class podiums and one overall podium finish. DeBoer and “VHC” are sharing the car this weekend with Ben Tuck.
The TRG representative pointed towards the new Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on display near the pagoda and told DSC, “We’re not worried about that thing, because we have an even better weapon at our disposal next year!”
BimmerWorld aiming to maintain unbeaten streak at Indy
BimmerWorld Racing starts fifth in today’s race and is trying to win its class at the Indianapolis 8 Hour for the fourth consecutive year. In 2020 and 2021, Bill Auberlen, Chandler Hull, and team founder James Clay worked together to win the GT4 class.
BimmerWorld stepped up to GT3 last year, and Auberlen, Hull, and Richard Heistand won the Pro-Am class and finished third overall in the new M4 GT3.
Now competing in the FGTWCA Pro category (again, separate from IGTC Pro due to GT World Challenge America’s requirements for a Silver-graded driver in its Pro entries) the lineup is Auberlen and Hull, joined by Robby Foley this year. In addition to the team’s winning streak, Auberlen is also trying to close down a seemingly impossible 30-point deficit in the GT World Challenge America Pro standings.
The #94 BimmerWorld BMW needs to win its class and have the #28 RS1 Porsche finish sixth and last in its class (or retire) to win the title.
“Everybody’s asked, ‘Do you want to win the overall?’ You always want to win the overall, but the main thing is we need to win our class,” said Auberlen during Pre-Qualifying. “We could wind up winning the championship in our class. That’s the priority. Then the icing on the cake would be to win the overall against all the factory guys.”
IGTC championship implications
It is unlikely that any of the three Intercontinental GT Challenge championships will be decided today.
BMW will need a 44-point advantage over Mercedes-AMG to clinch the Manufacturers’ Championship tonight, which is unlikely unless all four of Mercedes’ IGTC nominees retire or finish well down the order with BMW scoring maximum points.
Sky Tempesta Racing’s Jonathan Hui would need to win the race and have Antares Au and Stephen Grove retire in order to win the Independent Cup. Hui leads Grove by 13 points and Au by 18.
And Jules Gounon cannot clinch the IGTC Drivers’ Championship as co-driver Raffaele Marciello will remain within 19 points at the end of today’s race.
Images © Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports America
The post Indy 8H: Saturday Paddock Notes first appeared on dailysportscar.com.