GMG triumphs at the Indianapolis 8 Hour

Surely a Pro-Am Cup team winning the Indianapolis 8 Hour wasn’t in anyone’s bingo card, but with sim racer turned factory driver Ayhançan Güven doing an exceptional job in his stints to assist Ricardo Pera and Kyle Washington, the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3R Evo had a dream Saturday (10) at the mythical speedway, ending the season for both the Intercontinental GT Challenge and the GT World Challenge America.
 
The start had the No. 29 Turner BMW winning the run to the first corner but losing ground to the No. 6 Dollahite Ford later, just before contact threw some cars off track, and along with the debris at Turn 1, a full course yellow was called.
 
Losing positions to the No. 34 JMF Mercedes and the No. 8 McCann Porsche proved to be a bad deal to Justin Rothberg as the No. 29 wasn’t close enough to attack while still having the visual contact with them, and with Danny Dyszekski and Matias Perez Companc going hard to put the No. 28 RS1 Porsche and the No. 12 AF Corse Ferrari ahead, Rothberg saw himself out of the overall top 5 after 35 minutes of racing.
 
The first hour ended with a Safety Car period due to debris, with the field taking the moment to jump into the first pit cycle, which shuffled the order behind the No. 6 as the No. 28 became second while having the Pro Cup top two on its back, but once the Pro-Am Cup leaders stopped, the No. 34 JMF Mercedes took the overall lead while being chased by the No. 12, with the No. 27 JMF Mercedes being the new Pro-Am Cup leader. Just a while later, the No. 6 went straight to the garage as suspension issues plagued the Ford Mustang GT3 Evo, staying there as the team couldn’t find a sollution.
 
Due to a driver positioning infringement during the second pit cycle, the No. 27 had a penalty, which turned the order in favor of the No. 28, but with the RS1 car in the different strategy, the No. 27 could retake the Pro-Am Cup lead, if it wasn’t for it stopping on track with a terminal driveline problem, bringing another Safety Car period, putting the No. 14 Riley BMW in the Pro-Am Cup lead and in third overall. While the No. 12 kept chasing the No. 34 during the third hour, the No. 69 Archangel McLaren rose to the Pro-Am Cup lead as Tom Fleming pushed hard to bear Jesse Krohn and the No. 14.
 
Maxime Martin wasn’t comfortable with the cold tires in the out lap after the third pit cycle, and less than a lap was enough for Frederik Schandorff to go ahead of the Belgian, just waiting the cycle to end to claim the overall lead. Just outside the overall podium, the No. 31 Wright Porsche took the Pro-Am Cup lead once the No. 32 GMG Porsche pitted, but with distinct strategies in place, either the No. 28 or the No. 32 would appear in the top spot of the class and mix with the Pro Cup cars.
 
Slowly, the No. 34 fell out of contention and the No. 29 took its place, but even the advantage in tire heat couldn’t put the No. 29 ahead of the No. 12, and both still had to deal with a No. 32 that was trying to make a different strategy become an overall win. After a long time putting pressure, Robby Foley tricked Schandorff into defending the inside, and when the No. 12 overshot the first corner, the No. 29 took the second place and the Pro Cup lead with just a bit left to enter the final hour.
 
The final hourstarted with the No. 12 using the final pit cycle to its advantage, but once both the Ferrari and the BMW left the pits, Robby Foley did it again and passed Schandorff by finding an opening in the ideal line. After the final cycle was over, the No. 32 GMG Porsche had a healthy lead over the No. 69 Archangel McLaren, and even to the No. 29 Turner BMW, seeing no threats around until the finish line.
 
Indianapolis 8 Hour - Race results
 
Despite some hiccups along the way, the No. 11 MAD Joker Mercedes was the class of the field in the Am Cup, with Freedom 100 winner Peter Dempsey being fundamental in the class win.
 
While Maxime Martin lifted the IGTC drivers title, it was Porsche that was crowned the best manufacturer, while Kerong Li got the Independent Cup trophy. In GTWC America, Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg (No. 29) turned the fortunes in their favor with the class win and took the Pro Cup title out of a tight three-way battle. In the Pro-Am Cup, as Kyle Washington was the only full season driver in the No. 32 car, he took the title with a comfortable margin to Dave Musial Jr. and Ryan Yardley. As for the Am Cup, since most of the time the No. 163 AF Corse Ferrari didn’t have competition in the class, Jay Schreibman took the title.
 
PHOTO: SRO/Fabian Lagunas