IndyCar champion Palou joins works Mercedes outfit for Indianapolis 8 Hour

Three-time IndyCar champion Alex Palou will make a return to GT3 racing when he joins works Mercedes outfit Lone Star Racing for the Indianapolis 8 Hour race next month.

The Spaniard will join factory drivers Fabian Schiller and Luca Stolz for the Intercontinental GT Challenge finale on 3-5 October, marking his first GT3 outing since 2019.

That year, Palou contested seven of the eight Super GT rounds in a McLaren 720S GT3 entered in the GT300 class, and peaked with second at Autopolis alongside 2004 Le Mans 24 Hour winner Seiji Ara.

"I went to cheer Dani Juncadella two years ago when he raced in Indianapolis, and I wanted to do the race if there was a chance," explained Palou, who clinched his third US open-wheel title by seeing off Will Power at Nashville SuperSpeedway earlier this month.

"I received this excellent opportunity through AMG with a chance to win the race. 

"While I will have to learn the characteristics of the car, Indianapolis is a track that I know very well, and I also have some previous experience racing in the GT3 cars. 

"The overall grip will be less than what I am normally used to but at the same time, it’s very tough to be on the limit because of the GT3 cars’ weight. 

"I am really looking forward to having fun and fighting for the win at the Indy 8h. It would be amazing to close out the season on a high with another trophy."

#80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3: Salih Yoluc, Rui Pinto de Andrade, Scott Andrews

Photo by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Images

Lone Star's entry will be joined in the Pro class at the Brickyard by a GruppeM Racing entry for Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Mikael Grenier, while the GT World Challenge America championship will form a combined grid for its final round.

BMW squad WRT will seek to defend the victory it secured last year with Dries Vanthoor, Philipp Eng and Sheldon van der Linde, although has yet to nominate drivers.

Palou has made sporadic sportscar appearances alongside his IndyCar commitments with Chip Ganassi Racing over the past three years.

He raced a Ganassi-run Cadillac DPi-V.R at the 2022 Daytona 24 Hours, and this year sampled its hybrid-powered V-Series.R LMDh at Daytona before finishing seventh on his Le Mans debut.

Ganassi will cease to run Cadillac's factory IMSA SportsCar Championship and World Endurance Championship efforts in 2025, with Wayne Taylor Racing and Jota taking over the respective programmes.