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Race report
IMSA Indianapolis

IMSA Indianapolis: Eng, Krohn lead BMW 1-2

BMW lands first win of 2024 IMSA campaign in a 1-2 at Indianapolis

#24 BMW Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Jesse Krohn, Philipp Eng, #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly

#24 BMW Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Jesse Krohn, Philipp Eng, #25 BMW Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8: Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

BMW M Team RLL secured a magnificent 1-2 in a thrilling six-hour IMSA race on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Grand Prix road course.

Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn combined to take top honours, with team-mates Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly close behind after fending off a strong challenge from the Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy.

Based just a few miles away in the suburbs of Indianapolis, former Indy 500 winner Bobby Rahal’s team had managed only a pair of top-five finishes from the previous seven races this season. And its lone previous GTP triumph, achieved last year at Watkins Glen, had been inherited after the Penske Porsche of Jaminet and Tandy, which had taken the chequered flag, failed post-race scrutineering. But there was no doubting the veracity of its performance on Sunday.

All bar three of the 11 GTP cars in the field led at one stage or another, including – for the very first time – the Lamborghini SC63 of Romain Grosjean, Matteo Cairoli and Andrea Caldarelli, which remained in contention until suffering a broken suspension following contact with a GT car. Fortunes ebbed and flowed as the afternoon progressed, with first one manufacturer and then another seemingly poised to take control.

The race had begun on a track that was still slightly damp following rain earlier in the day. Sebastien Bourdais’ Chip Ganassi Racing-run Cadillac V-Series.R was the early pacesetter after the Frenchman had secured his second pole of the season, although he was soon overhauled by Felipe Nasr’s Penske Porsche 963, which flew from seventh on the grid and was in the lead before even three laps were in the books.

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr

#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr

Photo by: Art Fleischmann

A majority of the second hour was run behind the safety car due to huge puddles of standing water following a heavy rain shower. Thereafter the race was remarkably trouble-free, especially considering the fact that a massive field of 56 cars had taken the green flag.

The final restart came with 56 minutes remaining and the Acura ARX-06 of Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor was in the lead, followed by the pair of BMWs and Jaminet’s Porsche. After earlier being the first driver to venture onto slick tyres as the track dried following the rain storm, Eng soon found a way past team-mate De Phillippi.

He then swiftly moved onto Deletraz’s tail before taking him by surprise with an incisive pass under braking for Turn 13 – most definitely not one of the circuit’s primary overtaking places. De Phillippi followed him through and, while the gap to the pursuing Porsche never stretched to much more than a couple of seconds, the team-mates were able to control the pace and cement an emotional victory.

Steven Thomas and Mikkel Jensen were joined by Hunter McElrea to secure TDS Racing’s second successive LMP2 victory at Indianapolis, while the two GT classes were swept by Porsche 911 GT3-Rs.

In GTD Pro, Laurin Heinrich’s polewinning run for AO Racing was annulled after the car failed to meet the minimum ride height after qualifying, but that proved to be but a minor inconvenience, and the German combined with Michael Christensen to take an emphatic victory.

From a bumper crop of 22 GTD cars, meanwhile, Adam Adelson/Elliott Skeer/Jan Heylen emerged as top dogs.

IMSA Indianapolis - Race results

   
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Cla Drivers # Chassis Laps Time Interval Pits Points Retirement
1 Finland J. Krohn Austria P. Eng BMW M Team RLL 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 219

6:00'54.050

  7    
2 United States C. de Phillippi United Kingdom N. Yelloly BMW M Team RLL 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 219

+1.647

6:00'55.697

1.647 8    
3 United Kingdom N. Tandy France M. Jaminet Porsche Penske Motorsport 6 Porsche 963 219

+2.947

6:00'56.997

1.300 8    
4 Netherlands T. van der Helm United Kingdom R. Westbrook United Kingdom P. Hanson JDC/Miller Motorsports 85 Porsche 963 219

+19.176

6:01'13.226

16.229 8    
5 United States J. Taylor Switzerland L. Deletraz Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti 40 Acura ARX-06 219

+42.434

6:01'36.484

23.258 7    
6 United States R. Taylor Portugal J. Barbosa Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti 10 Acura ARX-06 219

+52.525

6:01'46.575

10.091 7    
7 Italy G. Bruni Netherlands B. Viscaal Belgium A. Picariello Proton Competition 5 Porsche 963 218

+1 Lap

6:01'12.454

1 Lap 7    
8 Netherlands R. van der Zande France S. Bourdais Cadillac Racing 01 Cadillac V-Series.R 216

+3 Laps

6:00'56.382

2 Laps 7    
9 United States T. Steven Denmark M. Jensen
H. McElrea TDS Racing
11 ORECA 07 215

+4 Laps

6:01'05.940

1 Lap 12    
10 United States N. Boulle Poland J. Smiechowski France T. Dillmann Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports 52 ORECA 07 215

+4 Laps

6:01'31.989

26.049 8    
11 United States D. Merriman United Kingdom R. Dalziel
C. Zilisch Era Motorsport
18 ORECA 07 215

+4 Laps

6:01'54.356

22.367 13    
12 United States P. Hyett France P. Chatin Australia M. Brabham AO Racing 99 ORECA 07 215

+4 Laps

6:02'07.343

12.987 10    
13 United States G. Robinson Brazil F. Fraga Australia J. Burdon Riley 74 ORECA 07 214

+5 Laps

6:01'36.548

1 Lap 12    
14 Argentina L. Perez Companc Denmark N. Nielsen United States D. Murry Richard Mille AF Corse 88 ORECA 07 214

+5 Laps

6:01'41.461

4.913 7    
15 D. Goldburg United Kingdom P. di Resta
B. Garg United Autosports USA
22 ORECA 07 214

+5 Laps

6:01'49.016

7.555 13    
16 Canada J. Farano United States M. Dinan Ireland C. Eastwood Tower Motorsports 8 ORECA 07 213

+6 Laps

6:01'26.431

1 Lap 14    
17 United States D. Cameron Brazil F. Nasr Porsche Penske Motorsport 7 Porsche 963 212

+7 Laps

6:01'46.153

1 Lap 7    
18 Germany L. Heinrich Denmark M. Christensen AO Racing 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 208

+11 Laps

6:01'26.232

4 Laps 6    
19 United Kingdom H. Tincknell Germany M. Rockenfeller Ford Multimatic Motorsports 64 Ford Mustang GT3 208

+11 Laps

6:01'38.759

12.527 5    
20 Spain A. Garcia United Kingdom A. Sims Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports 3 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 208

+11 Laps

6:01'41.587

2.828 5    
21 United Kingdom J. Hawksworth United Kingdom B. Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan 14 Lexus RC F GT3 208

+11 Laps

6:01'43.617

2.030 7    
22 United Kingdom R. Gunn Spain A. Riberas Heart Of Racing Team 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo 208

+11 Laps

6:01'45.190

1.573 5    
23 Canada R. De Angelis Germany M. Farnbacher Heart Of Racing Team 027 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo 208

+11 Laps

6:01'53.721

8.531 5    
24 Australia K. Habul Australia J. Love Australia C. Mostert Sun Energy 1 75 Mercedes AMG GT3 208

+11 Laps

6:02'17.373

23.652 8    
25 United States B. Sellers United States M. Snow United States N. Verhagen Paul Miller Racing 1 BMW M4 GT3 208

+11 Laps

6:02'17.542

0.169 12    
26 Brazil D. Serra Italy D. Rigon Risi Competizione 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 207

+12 Laps

6:01'09.987

1 Lap 6    
27
A. Adelson
E. Skeer Belgium J. Heylen Wright Motorsports
120 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 207

+12 Laps

6:01'46.354

36.367 7    
28 United States R. Foley United States P. Gallagher
J. Walker Turner Motorsport
96 BMW M4 GT3 207

+12 Laps

6:01'48.819

2.465 6    
29 Germany M. Kirchhofer United Kingdom O. Jarvis Pfaff Motorsports 9 McLaren 720S GT3 EVO 207

+12 Laps

6:01'51.986

3.167 7    
30 Canada M. Grenier United States K. Koch United States M. Skeen Korthoff/Preston Motorsports 32 Mercedes AMG GT3 207

+12 Laps

6:01'57.294

5.308 5    
31 Canada M. Goikhberg Italy L. Spinelli Canada D. DeFrancesco Forte Racing 78 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 207

+12 Laps

6:01'58.880

1.586 7    
32 United States R. Ward Switzerland P. Ellis Netherlands I. Dontje Winward Racing 57 Mercedes AMG GT3 207

+12 Laps

6:02'01.617

2.737 7    
33 Canada O. Fidani United Kingdom M. Bell Germany L. Kern AWA 13 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD 207

+12 Laps

6:02'07.703

6.086 8    
34 Italy R. Lacorte Italy G. Sernagiotto Italy A. Fuoco Cetilar Racing 47 Ferrari 296 GT3 207

+12 Laps

6:02'09.496

1.793 7    
35
J. Pedersen
Netherlands K. van Berlo
R. Dickinson Kellymoss with Riley
90 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 207

+12 Laps

6:02'15.827

6.331 7    
36 United States B. Iribe Switzerland F. Schandorff United Kingdom O. Millroy Inception Racing 70 Ferrari 296 GT3 206

+13 Laps

6:01'01.238

1 Lap 8    
37 Canada K. Marcelli Costa Rica D. Formal
G. Doyle Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti
45 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 206

+13 Laps

6:01'17.219

15.981 7    
38 United States J. Potter United States A. Lally United States S. Pumpelly Magnus Racing 44 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo 206

+13 Laps

6:01'34.505

17.286 8    
39
K. Li
Denmark A. Fjordbach New Zealand B. Leitch MDK Motorsports
86 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 206

+13 Laps

6:02'10.610

36.105 9    
40 Sweden H. Hedman Sweden R. Lindh Finland T. Vilander DragonSpeed 56 Ferrari 296 GT3 205

+14 Laps

6:01'11.072

1 Lap 7    
41 United States J. Andretti Colombia G. Chaves Canada S. Hargrove Andretti Motorsports 43 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) 205

+14 Laps

6:02'14.695

1'03.623 10    
42 United States T. Milner Netherlands N. Catsburg Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R 204

+15 Laps

6:01'26.596

1 Lap 9    
43 Turkey S. Yoluc Portugal R. Andrade Australia S. Andrews Lone Star Racing 80 Mercedes AMG GT3 203

+16 Laps

6:01'19.518

1 Lap 12    
44
S. Monk
Colombia T. Calderon United Kingdom S. McAleer Gradient Racing
66 Acura NSX GT3 193

+26 Laps

6:01'30.682

10 Laps 7    
45 United States B. Keating United Kingdom B. Hanley Chile N. Pino United Autosports USA 2 ORECA 07 188

+31 Laps

6:02'12.292

5 Laps 14    
46 United States J. Hand Germany D. Muller Ford Multimatic Motorsports 65 Ford Mustang GT3 164

+55 Laps

6:02'16.999

24 Laps 11    
dnf
G. Levorato
United States C. Lewis United Kingdom B. Barker Proton Competition
55 Ford Mustang GT3 162

+57 Laps

4:54'57.490

2 Laps 7   Retirement
dnf Switzerland R. Frey Denmark M. Gatting Belgium S. Bovy Iron Dames 83 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 162

+57 Laps

4:55'05.454

7.964 7   Retirement
dnf Denmark D. Andersen
S. Lucas
United States S. Huffaker MDK by High Class Racing
20 ORECA 07 158

+61 Laps

4:39'54.686

4 Laps 10   Retirement
dnf
M. Franco
A. Costa
Monaco C. Sbirrazzuoli Conquest Racing
34 Ferrari 296 GT3 156

+63 Laps

4:43'23.637

2 Laps 11   Retirement
dnf Italy M. Cairoli Italy A. Caldarelli France R. Grosjean Lamborghini Iron Lynx 63 Lamborghini SC63 152

+67 Laps

4:24'49.141

4 Laps 5   Retirement
dnf France S. Mann France F. Heriau Spain M. Molina Af Corse 21 Ferrari 296 GT3 103

+116 Laps

3:20'32.095

49 Laps 5   Retirement
dnf O. Triarsi
C. Scardina
R. Agostini Triarsi Competizione
023 Ferrari 296 GT3 82

+137 Laps

2:57'32.825

21 Laps 6   Retirement
dnf Brazil P. Derani United Kingdom J. Aitken United Kingdom T. Blomqvist Whelen Cadillac Racing 31 Cadillac V-Series.R 66

+153 Laps

2:10'48.891

16 Laps 5   Retirement
dnf United States F. Montecalvo Canada P. Thompson United States A. Telitz Vasser Sullivan 12 Lexus RC F GT3 27

+192 Laps

50'09.491

39 Laps 2   Retirement
dnf Germany P. Maximilian Germany L. Engstler Iron Lynx 19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 2

+217 Laps

3'33.135

25 Laps 1   Retirement

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