SPEEDWAY, Ind. — BMW M Team RLL’s Philipp Eng passed his teammate Connor de Phillippi with 30 minutes to go Sunday (Sept. 22) to take the lead. From there, Eng held on to win the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway with teammate Jesse Krohn.
It is the first victory for the No. 24 team since the GTP formula launched last year and the BMW M Hybrid V8’s first win on the track. The No. 25 team won last year at Watkins Glen, but only got the win a couple of hours after the race after the No. 6 Porsche was penalized.
For BMW M Team RLL, the win comes after a wild week. Back on Wednesday, the team’s shop was raided by the FBI as part of an investigation that doesn’t involve the IMSA team.
“I have to tell you, given all the craziness of this week, this may rank as our greatest victory as a team,” team owner Bobby Rahal said during the post-race press conference. “This may be, outside of my Indy 500 win [in 1986]… the most important win we’ve had because it’s just so timely and it just represents all the effort that all of us have put in, these guys, RLL and of course BMW Motorsport. Great day for us.”
Eng and Krohn’s margin of victory was 1.647 seconds over de Phillippi and Nick Yelloly. Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Kevin Estre and Mathieu Jaminet were third, then JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Phil Hanson, Tijmen van der Helm and Richard Westbrook. Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Global’s Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor were fifth.
Chip Ganassi Racing’s Sebastien Bourdais started on pole under threatening skies. Sure enough, raindrops started falling in the first couple of laps of the race.
Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Felipe Nasr was able to take the overall lead from Bourdais on the second lap, but Bourdais was able to keep pace. Meanwhile, Deletraz spun and dropped back.
An early caution for Richard Mille AF Corse’s Luis Perez Companc spinning into the gravel in turn 4 bunched the pack up. Perez Companc was able to continue, but lost a couple of laps.
The rain started to fall in earnest towards the end of the first hour, leading to a mixed pit strategy. Some pitted early, while others stayed out on slicks.
When Sheena Monk stalled due to a wire issue to bring out the second yellow, teams pitted. Some took a second set of slicks, while others changed to wets.
Those that changed to a second set of slicks reconsidered when the rain picked up significantly during the yellow. Conditions were terrible at the restart and Vasser Sullivan’s Frankie Montecalvo ended up in the wall to bring out another yellow.
Montecalvo was done for the day. With standing water everywhere, this ended up being a long caution.
Once the race restarted, Bourdais led with both factory Porsches giving chase. However, Nasr was penalized for passing under yellow. As rain continued to fall, the race was a duel between the No. 6 Porsche, the Ganassi Cadillac and the Lamborghini Iron Lynx SC63.
The day for the Lamborghini ended when Andrea Caldarelli collided with the Proton Competition Mustang of Ben Barker in turn 10. This contact broke the left rear suspension.
In the third hour, the rain stopped, resulting in the track quickly drying out. At the halfway point, Onofrio Triarsi spun into the trap to bring out a caution. Here, a number of teams pitted for slick tires. A second group led by Eng stayed out.
Renger van der Zande restarted down the order and wasted no time in getting himself back to the lead on his slicks. However, it wasn’t to last.
Things kicked it up a notch in the fifth hour when van der Zande cut his right rear tire and missed turn 12. He was forced to trundle around on the flat tire for a full lap before pitting. That put him down a lap.
With 75 minutes to go, Nasr’s car stalled on the frontstretch and brought out the final caution in the middle of a round of stops. Deletraz had not made his pit stop, meaning that he was on a lap of his own.
Following stops and wave arounds, Deletraz maintained the lead with both Eng and de Phillippi giving chase. De Phillippi was able to get past Eng, then took the fight to Deletraz.
With 40 minutes to go, de Phillippi was able to outbrake Deletraz entering turn 1 to take the overall lead. Eng followed past shortly afterwards. Any chance for a decent finish ended for Deletraz when he nerfed SunEnergy1 Racing’s Chaz Mostert into a spin and got a drive-through penalty for it.
The remainder of the race was shaping up to be a duel between the BMW M Team RLL teammates. Eng was able to take the lead from de Phillippi with 30 minutes to go, but de Phillippi stayed right in his wake.
The race allowed Jaminet to put himself in the mix as well. However, Eng was able to hold on to take the win.
LMP2 saw Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Nick Boulle start from pole, but he wasn’t up front for long. United Autosports’ Ben Keating started third and quickly moved himself to the front.
Keating went back and fourth with the No. 52 with Boulle and Jakub Smiechowski at the wheel for the first couple of hours. In the third hour, TDS Racing’s Hunter McAlrea came to the front and dominated much of the middle of the race with teammate Mikkel Jensen. The caution for Nasr’s issues shook things up.
Tom Dillmann ended up with the class lead at the final restart, but no could make it from there. AO Racing’s Matt Brabham was his nearest challenger, but he was spun out by Richard Mille AF Corse’s Nicklas Nielsen, despite Nielsen being a lap down.
Ultimately, United Autosports’ Paul di Resta ended up with the lead after the final stops. However, he was no match for Jensen. Jensen was able to run down di Resta and take the lead in turn 1 with 39 minutes to go
After struggling for much of the day, Era Motorsport got back on the lead lap late in the going with Connor Zilisch at the wheel. Zilisch tried his hardest to get up to the front, but he ended up making contact with di Resta, breaking part of di Resta’s nose. He was forced to serve a drive-through penalty.
Once in the lead, the factory Peugeot racer was able to drive off into the distance. He was easily able to take the class win along with McAlrea and Steven Thomas.
TDS Racing’s margin of victory was 26.049 seconds over Dillmann, Boulle and Smiechowski. Zilisch, Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman were able to get back to third. Brabham, Paul-Loup Chatin and PJ Hyett were fourth, while Riley Motorsports’ Josh Burdon, Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson were a lap down in fifth.
In GTD Pro, following the penalty that was given to Laurin Heinrich, Corvette Racing with Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Nicky Catsburg started from pole and led early. Teammate Alexander Sims, who started fourth, moved up and usurped his own teammate.
AO Racing’s Michael Christensen took control of the race in the third hour. For most of the rest of way from there, AO Racing’s main competition was the Ford Multimatic Motorsports No. 64 of Mike Rockenfeller and Harry Tincknell.
Heinrich had the class lead on the final restart over Rockenfeller. He then drove away to take the win.
Christensen and Heinrich’s margin of victory was 12.527 seconds over Rockenfeller and Harry Tincknell. Sims and Antonio Garcia were third, then Vasser Sullivan’s Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth. The Heart of Racing’s Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas were fifth.
GTD saw Korthoff/Preston Motorsports’ Mikael Grenier start on pole in his Mercedes and lead early. However, once the rains came, the field was jumbled significantly.
After the long third caution, Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher ended up in the class lead, but Wright Motorsports’ Jan Heylen was hot on his heels. It didn’t take long for Heylen to take the advantage and pull away.
The green and gold Porsche dominated much of the race. Over the final 50 minutes of the race, Heylen was able to build a six-second lead over Turner Motorsport’s Robby Foley. That was more than enough for Heylen to hold on for the win with Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer.
Wright Motorsports’ margin of victory was 2.465 seconds over Foley, Gallagher and Jake Walker. Grenier, Kenton Koch and Mike Skeen were third, then Forte Racing’s Devlin DeFrancesco, Misha Goikhberg and Loris Spinelli. Winward Racing’s Indy Dontje, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward were fifth.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks Unofficial Results
There is one more race on the schedule for WeatherTech teams in 2024. That is the 27th running of the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta. The race is scheduled to go green at 12:10 p.m. ET on Oct. 12. Coverage will air live starting at Noon ET on NBC. At 3 p.m. ET, the race will begin a three-hour segment exclusive to Peacock. The race will move to USA Network at 6 p.m. ET and stay there through the finish.
About the author
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.
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