IMSA Indianapolis: Eng, Krohn lead BMW 1-2

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 (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

Main Information Additional Data Additional Data Driver Info

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Main Information Additional Data 1  -  2
Cla	Drivers	#		Chassis	Laps	Time	Interval	Pits	Points	Retirement
1	J. Krohn P. Eng BMW M Team RLL	24		BMW M Hybrid V8	219	6:00'54.050		7
2	C. de Phillippi N. Yelloly BMW M Team RLL	25		BMW M Hybrid V8	219	+1.647 6:00'55.697	1.647	8
3	N. Tandy M. Jaminet Porsche Penske Motorsport	6		Porsche 963	219	+2.947 6:00'56.997	1.300	8
4	T. van der Helm R. Westbrook P. Hanson JDC/Miller Motorsports	85		Porsche 963	219	+19.176 6:01'13.226	16.229	8
5	J. Taylor L. Deletraz Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	40		Acura ARX-06	219	+42.434 6:01'36.484	23.258	7
6	R. Taylor J. Barbosa Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti	10		Acura ARX-06	219	+52.525 6:01'46.575	10.091	7
7	G. Bruni B. Viscaal A. Picariello Proton Competition	5		Porsche 963	218	+1 Lap 6:01'12.454	1 Lap	7
8	R. van der Zande S. Bourdais Cadillac Racing	01		Cadillac V-Series.R	216	+3 Laps 6:00'56.382	2 Laps	7
9	T. Steven M. Jensen H. McElrea TDS Racing	11		ORECA 07	215	+4 Laps 6:01'05.940	1 Lap	12
10	N. Boulle J. Smiechowski T. Dillmann Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	52		ORECA 07	215	+4 Laps 6:01'31.989	26.049	8
11	D. Merriman R. Dalziel C. Zilisch Era Motorsport	18		ORECA 07	215	+4 Laps 6:01'54.356	22.367	13
12	P. Hyett P. Chatin M. Brabham AO Racing	99		ORECA 07	215	+4 Laps 6:02'07.343	12.987	10
13	G. Robinson F. Fraga J. Burdon Riley	74		ORECA 07	214	+5 Laps 6:01'36.548	1 Lap	12
14	L. Perez Companc N. Nielsen D. Murry Richard Mille AF Corse	88		ORECA 07	214	+5 Laps 6:01'41.461	4.913	7
15	D. Goldburg P. di Resta B. Garg United Autosports USA	22		ORECA 07	214	+5 Laps 6:01'49.016	7.555	13
16	J. Farano M. Dinan C. Eastwood Tower Motorsports	8		ORECA 07	213	+6 Laps 6:01'26.431	1 Lap	14
17	D. Cameron F. Nasr Porsche Penske Motorsport	7		Porsche 963	212	+7 Laps 6:01'46.153	1 Lap	7
18	L. Heinrich M. Christensen AO Racing	77		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	208	+11 Laps 6:01'26.232	4 Laps	6
19	H. Tincknell M. Rockenfeller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	64		Ford Mustang GT3	208	+11 Laps 6:01'38.759	12.527	5
20	A. Garcia 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	J. Hawksworth B. Barnicoat Vasser Sullivan	14		Lexus RC F GT3	208	+11 Laps 6:01'43.617	2.030	7
22	R. Gunn A. Riberas Heart Of Racing Team	23		Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	208	+11 Laps 6:01'45.190	1.573	5
23	R. De Angelis M. Farnbacher Heart Of Racing Team	027		Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	208	+11 Laps 6:01'53.721	8.531	5
24	K. Habul J. Love C. Mostert Sun Energy 1	75		Mercedes AMG GT3	208	+11 Laps 6:02'17.373	23.652	8
25	B. Sellers M. Snow N. Verhagen Paul Miller Racing	1		BMW M4 GT3	208	+11 Laps 6:02'17.542	0.169	12
26	D. Serra D. Rigon Risi Competizione	62		Ferrari 296 GT3	207	+12 Laps 6:01'09.987	1 Lap	6
27	A. Adelson E. Skeer J. Heylen Wright Motorsports	120		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	207	+12 Laps 6:01'46.354	36.367	7
28	R. Foley P. Gallagher J. Walker Turner Motorsport	96		BMW M4 GT3	207	+12 Laps 6:01'48.819	2.465	6
29	M. Kirchhofer O. Jarvis Pfaff Motorsports	9		McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	207	+12 Laps 6:01'51.986	3.167	7
30	M. Grenier K. Koch M. Skeen Korthoff/Preston Motorsports	32		Mercedes AMG GT3	207	+12 Laps 6:01'57.294	5.308	5
31	M. Goikhberg L. Spinelli D. DeFrancesco Forte Racing	78		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	207	+12 Laps 6:01'58.880	1.586	7
32	R. Ward P. Ellis I. Dontje Winward Racing	57		Mercedes AMG GT3	207	+12 Laps 6:02'01.617	2.737	7
33	O. Fidani M. Bell L. Kern AWA	13		Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	207	+12 Laps 6:02'07.703	6.086	8
34	R. Lacorte G. Sernagiotto A. Fuoco Cetilar Racing	47		Ferrari 296 GT3	207	+12 Laps 6:02'09.496	1.793	7
35	J. Pedersen 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	B. Iribe F. Schandorff O. Millroy Inception Racing	70		Ferrari 296 GT3	206	+13 Laps 6:01'01.238	1 Lap	8
37	K. Marcelli 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	J. Potter A. Lally S. Pumpelly Magnus Racing	44		Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	206	+13 Laps 6:01'34.505	17.286	8
39	K. Li A. Fjordbach B. Leitch MDK Motorsports	86		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	206	+13 Laps 6:02'10.610	36.105	9
40	H. Hedman R. Lindh T. Vilander DragonSpeed	56		Ferrari 296 GT3	205	+14 Laps 6:01'11.072	1 Lap	7
41	J. Andretti G. Chaves S. Hargrove Andretti Motorsports	43		Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	205	+14 Laps 6:02'14.695	1'03.623	10
42	T. Milner 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	S. Yoluc R. Andrade S. Andrews Lone Star Racing	80		Mercedes AMG GT3	203	+16 Laps 6:01'19.518	1 Lap	12
44	S. Monk T. Calderon S. McAleer Gradient Racing	66		Acura NSX GT3	193	+26 Laps 6:01'30.682	10 Laps	7
45	B. Keating B. Hanley N. Pino United Autosports USA	2		ORECA 07	188	+31 Laps 6:02'12.292	5 Laps	14
46	J. Hand D. Muller Ford Multimatic Motorsports	65		Ford Mustang GT3	164	+55 Laps 6:02'16.999	24 Laps	11
dnf	G. Levorato C. Lewis B. Barker Proton Competition	55		Ford Mustang GT3	162	+57 Laps 4:54'57.490	2 Laps	7		Retirement
dnf	R. Frey M. Gatting S. Bovy Iron Dames	83		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	162	+57 Laps 4:55'05.454	7.964	7		Retirement
dnf	D. Andersen S. Lucas 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 C. Sbirrazzuoli Conquest Racing	34		Ferrari 296 GT3	156	+63 Laps 4:43'23.637	2 Laps	11		Retirement
dnf	M. Cairoli A. Caldarelli R. Grosjean Lamborghini Iron Lynx	63		Lamborghini SC63	152	+67 Laps 4:24'49.141	4 Laps	5		Retirement
dnf	S. Mann F. Heriau 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	P. Derani J. Aitken T. Blomqvist Whelen Cadillac Racing	31		Cadillac V-Series.R	66	+153 Laps 2:10'48.891	16 Laps	5		Retirement
dnf	F. Montecalvo P. Thompson A. Telitz Vasser Sullivan	12		Lexus RC F GT3	27	+192 Laps 50'09.491	39 Laps	2		Retirement
dnf	P. Maximilian L. Engstler Iron Lynx	19		Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	2	+217 Laps 3'33.135	25 Laps	1		Retirement
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