Philipp Eng stormed to pole position for Saturday’s Intercontinental GT Challenge Indianapolis 8 Hour, delivering a blistering 1:22.271 lap in the #51 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 Evo. The Austrian narrowly edged out Jules Gounon in the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo by just 0.012 seconds in a dramatic Pole Shootout under the lights at the Brickyard.

The fight for supremacy in the Intercontinental GT Challenge qualifying session was intense, with Raffaele Marciello starting third in the #777 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo, followed by his teammate Kelvin van der Linde in the #46 WRT BMW, securing an all-WRT second row. Connor De Phillippi completed the top five in the #99 Random Vandals BMW, ahead of Chaz Mostert (#75 75 Express), Lucas Auer (#34 JMF Motorsports), and Maro Engel (#888 GruppeM Racing). Laurin Heinrich rounded out the Pro class in ninth with the #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R, while Turner Motorsport’s #29 BMW will start tenth overall and on Pro-Am pole.

The grid battle during Intercontinental GT Challenge qualifying began earlier in the day across three segments that saw fierce competition and shifting momentum between Mercedes-AMG and BMW entries.

Qualifying Session

Q1 opened with Raffaele Marciello setting the tone for the #777 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3 Evo, going fastest overall, showing BMW’s early pace in the IGTC fight.

In Q2, the #04 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo received a Stop and Go penalty for pit lane speeding, while Maxime Martin took control of the session for Lone Star Racing, putting the #80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo at the top of the timesheets — giving Mercedes the upper hand in the Intercontinental GT Challenge battle for pole.

Q3 brought a brief red flag when Alessio Picariello’s #18 RS1 Porsche stopped on track, costing the team a chance to make the Pole Shootout. After the interruption, Maro Engel set the pace with the #888 Mercedes-AMG Team GruppeM Racing, recording a 1:22.585 lap ahead of Lucas Auer (#34 Team Mercedes IMF) and Connor De Phillippi (#99 Random Vandals BMW), keeping the tension high in the IGTC qualifying rounds.

Qualifying Combined

When the combined times were calculated, Lone Star Racing’s trio of Jules Gounon, Maxime Martin, and Lin Hodenius emerged on top with an average of 1:22.747, ahead of #888 GruppeM Racing and #777 AlManar Racing by WRT BMW. The #34 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG and #46 WRT BMW completed the top five from Intercontinental GT Challenge qualifying.

That strong performance carried into the evening, with Random Vandals Racing ultimately converting their momentum into pole position thanks to Philipp Eng’s outstanding lap in the final Intercontinental GT Challenge shootout at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The stage is now set for tomorrow’s eight-hour endurance showdown — the Intercontinental GT Challenge Indianapolis 8 Hour — where strategy, consistency, and teamwork will decide who conquers the Brickyard.

Indianapolis 8 Hour gets underway Saturday at 12:20 p.m. EST

 

All Pictures by Intercontinental GT Challenge / SRO-JEP