BMW scored an incredible one-two finish at the Battle on the Bricks, the 6-hour IMSA SportsCar Championship race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Philipp Eng took the #24 M Hybrid V8 across the finish line with a 1.647s lead over his Team RLL teammate Connor De Phillippi in the #25.
It was the first win for the #24 that Eng shared with Jesse Krohn in the second season of the GTP class and the first one-two for the German-American team.
Renger van der Zande took the lead at the halfway point in the #01 Cadillac; the opening three hours were filled with extremely changeable conditions. The race began with light rain at the green flag that turned into a heavier downpour, forcing a shutdown for nearly an hour as track crews worked to clear standing water from several spots on the circuit and in the pit lane. The restart came with just over four hours to go.
The #01 Cadillac was one of seven GTP cars that shared the lead in the first half. Van der Zande led from Nick Yelloly in the #25 BMW as the field followed the safety car into neutralisation in the fourth hour.
The skies remained overcast when the race restarted, but the rain eventually stopped and the teams reverted to fitting Michelin slick dry tyres as the track dried.
The other class leaders at the end of the three hours were the #11 TDS Racing Oreca in LMP2, the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW in GTD PRO and the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche in GTD.
When the green flag waved again with just over four hours to go, the rain soon stopped, the track dried out and a proper race ensued between the 56 cars present.
#7 Team Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Dane Cameron, Felipe Nasr
Photo by: Art Fleischmann
In GTP alone, eight drivers shared the lead, with Eng passing Louis Deletraz in the #40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura to take the lead with a bold move into Turn 13 with 46 minutes to go. Eng was challenged several times by De Phillippi, but held on to secure his second career win and Krohn’s third.
Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet finished third overall and in GTP in the #6 Team Penske Porsche, while the #7 of Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron suffered power steering issues and finished ninth in class.
Also in the top five was the #85 Porsche of JDC-Miller Motorsports, followed by the #40 and #10 Acuras, and the #5 Porsche of Proton, while the #01 Cadillac finished eighth.
The Lamborghini of Cairoli/Caldarelli/Grosjean was out after 133 laps due to damage sustained following contact with a GT, after the SC63 prepared by Iron Lynx had also been leading in the pouring rain.
Steven Thomas, Mikkel Jensen and Hunter McElrea took the LMP2 win in the #11 TDS Racing Oreca, while Laurin Heinrich and Michael Christensen extended their GTD PRO lead with victory in the #77 AO Racing Porsche ‘RexyA.
Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer and Jan Heylen take GTD win in the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche.
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