IMSA Indianapolis: Van Der Linde Delivers WRT Breakthrough

With tight points battles in all four classes, the penultimate round of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship was pivotal. The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway unquestionably lived up to billing. For some, championship hopes strengthened. For others, Indy may be where they look if the championship slips through their grasps. The final regular round of the season definitely had no shortage of action.

Calamity From Go

Off the start, the bronze drivers in LMP2 checked up being so close to the GTPs. But that was only the beginning. Firstly, Nick Yelloly and Louis Deletraz collide at Turn 2, sending the No. 93 into a spin. The Acura was found to have more damage and replaced the rear clip in a later pit stop. Secondly, another spin behind at Turn 1 caused further damage. The Penske Porsches collided with help from Dries Vanthoor in the WRT BMW. Kevin Estre would keep the No. 6 straight while Julien Andlauer in the No. 7 would end up backwards.

While backwards, the other Porsche of Tijmen van der Helm would make slight contact. Unquestionably, it would be the LMP2 class coming off worse. Phil Fayer, PJ Hyett and George Kurtz all suffered heavy damage. Only Fayer and the No. 2 United Autosport Oreca was out on the spot. AO Racing and Crowdstrike Racing by APR were able to get back to the garage for repairs and rejoin the race, 15 and 42 laps down respectively.

Contenders Collide

The race would get into a rhythm after the fifteen-minute full course yellow period as the field would stay clean and green. With an hour to go, Connor De Philippi and Nicky Catsburg collided going into Turn 1. The contact loosened the rear bumper on the No. 1 BMW, which finally fell off exiting Turn 12. The result was the second full course yellow of the race.

With the yellow, some cars were close on fuel…too close. The No. 77 AO Racing Porsche and No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari were penalized for more than emergency service in a closed pit. Both cars were given stop and sixty penalties. Both cars were taken out of contention. Out on track, Roman de Angelis in the Aston Martin Valkyrie was taking the fight to Laurin Heinrich on the restart. Behind de Angelis, Marco Wittman in the No. 25 BMW saw an opportunity to overtake both. However, Wittmann collided with De Angelis with both spinning into the Turn 7 grass.

GTP: Leaving it Late

Earl Bamber and Action Express dominated the race leading the majority of the proceedings. However, the BMW M Hybrid V8 came alive in the closing stages. Sheldon van der Linde kept closing in on the Cadillac as the race crept toward the end. Finally, with six minutes remaining, van der Linde seized his moment. After being pushed off at Turn 7 the lap prior, the South African used a GTD PRO Ford Mustang to get under Bamber going into Turn 12 to take the lead and pull away.

For BMW, it’s their second win at Indianapolis in the last three years and the first win for the brand since Road America over a year ago. Specifically, this is the first win for Team WRT in the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. WRT came into this new venture running the BMW prototype program stateside ten toes down. The team has a separate crew running these cars from their WEC operations, which run out of a satellite base in North Carolina. The team has had podiums but always fell short of a win until today. Now the work has paid off and one can only wonder where else can this team go.

Second for Action Express means all they have to do is start at Petit Le Mans to clinch the team championship. The drivers championship is a bit more complex. With Laurin Heinrich and Kevin Estre finishing third behind Jack Aitken and Bamber, Aitken’s lead over Heinrich is 137 going to Petit. But as you are about to read, Aitken has as comfortable a lead you are going to find in this paddock.

LMP2: Era On Fumes

In the opening hour, InterEuropol had their third straight win signed, sealed and delivered. But then trouble struck as Jeremy Clarke collided with the DXDT Corvette of Mason Filippi sending the No. 36 for a spin. Race control took a dim view of the proceedings and Clarke was issued a drive-thru penalty for incident responsibility. The car went a lap down and never recovered. A golden opportunity to cushion their championship advantage went begging with a sixth-place finish.

The majority of the second half was dominated by Paul Di Resta in the No. 22 for United Autosports. However, fuel strategy thanks to the final yellow would determine the winner. Christian Rasmussen pitted with the rest of the LMP2 field with fifty-seven minutes left. Surely he wouldn’t make it to the end, right? Well Era Motorsport gave it a shot. Even as the other cars in class scrambled to the pits in the dying moments, Rasmussen held firm. In the end, Rasmussen had just enough to score the victory for he and Nick Boulle.

A Bronze driver in his first race this season teaming up with a guy who got the call-up last week to run this race wins on empty. Only at Indy. Oh, and their first win in IMSA in over two years. Harry Ticknell brought Bryan Herta Autosport by PR1/Mathiasen home in second, fifteen second back with United Autosports No. 22 third. LMP2 has the tightest points battle going to Petit Le Mans. Clarke and Tom Dillmann managed to take the championship lead, but only just. They are only 4 points clear of Alex Quinn and George Kurtz. Daniel Goldburg and the AO Racing duo of Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett are also within 108 of the lead in striking distance.

GTD PRO: Multimatic Repeats as Paul Miller Slips

Hoping to play the fuel mileage game, RLL Team McLaren led most of the final hour. Behind Corvette, the McLaren was the second fastest car in GTD PRO throughout the weekend and the car was very strong out front. Straightaway, the question became could the fuel hold up. Behind the McLaren, the other teams were preparing themselves for when the McLaren would pit and positioning themselves for when they did. The championship leaders at Paul Miller Racing were in the cat bird’s seat to take advantage…until they weren’t. With twenty minutes remaining, De Philippi went for a spin exiting Turn 10 sending the No. 1 tumbling down the order.

Second place became a fight between Dennis Olsen in the No. 64 Mustang and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette. The two stayed in close quarters, nose-to-tail for the final fifteen minutes. Up front, the fuel for the No. 59 McLaren finally ran out with a minute to go. Newly-crowned Indy NXT Champion Nikita Johnson had no choice but to surrender the lead in heartbreaking fashion. Despite two attempts from Catsburg at Turn 7 to make a move, the Norweigan held firm and kept the Corvette at bay.  For the No. 64 team, it is their second consecutive win at Indianapolis and keeps Ford alive in the manufacturer’s championship. It’s the first win of the season for Olson and Barker. For Barker particularly, Indy is his first ever IMSA victory. Behind the Mustang and Corvette, Calderelli sneaks in to give Pfaff another podium in third.

Speaking of Catsburg, he and Tommy Milner take the GTD PRO points lead. But the situation is not much different than how the weekend began. Leaving Indianapolis, the top three in points are separated by just 53 with one race remaining.

GTD: Turner Breakthrough Gives BMW Double Brickyard Delight

Robby Foley took the lead in GTD when Albert Costa had to come and serve his penalty with forty-five minutes to go. He would never look back to score victory for he and Patrick Gallagher in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW. Foley held off spirited drives from Felipe Fraga in the No. 16 Riley-Myers Mustang and Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes.

This race for Winward was 2026 in a nutshell. They started on pole thanks to qualifying being cancelled and set by the rulebook. Only the car was moved to the back for the start due to not making the reconnaissance lap on time. Russell Ward and Ellis both would have to work their way up through the field all afternoon. Finally, Ellis used the final hour to go from seventh to second and getting within half a second of Foley at the flag.

Back to Turner, this is their first IMSA win since Road America two years ago. Furthermore, this was an emotional win as the team dedicated the win to former Turner driver Matt Dalton, who passed away in August during the VIR weekend.

Behind Turner and Winward was a valiant result for 13 Autosport. Matt Bell and Orey Fidani round out the podium in their No. 13 Corvette. Critically, this result puts Fidani ahead in the race for the Bob Akin award over Brendan Iribe. Fidani has a provisional 35-point advantage going to Petit Le Mans.

Oh yeah, points. Six. Just six. That’s all that separates Ellis and Ward from Gallagher and Foley in the GTD race. Dudu Barichello, who finished fifth today, is also in with a fighting chance. The Brazilian is only 116 points back of the lead going to Petit.

Ten Hours…So Much to Settle…

All that remains is Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The last race win of the season, championships, bragging rights and so much more are yet to be decided. The final stop of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship is the 29th running of the Motul Petit Le Mans, September 30-October 3.

 

Race Results: Click HERE

 

Headline Photo: The No. 24 BMW Team WRT M Hybrid V8 – Photo Courtesy: W Racing Team