It was an intense hour at the Speedway as drivers set off for three back-to-back Qualifying sessions in an attempt to advance to the Pole Shootout. With only ten teams moving on, the margins were slim and important positions were on the line.
IGTC’s GruppeM Racing were the top qualifiers overall, showcasing impressive speed across all three Qualifying sessions. In FGTWCA Pro, it was Wright Motorsports who settled the score and got the final say, with Herberth Motorsport serving as the leaders in the Pro-Am category.
FGTWCA Pro Class
In the opening Qualifying 1 session, Luca Mars was the man to beat in the FGTWCA Pro class, rising to the top of the class charts in his No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports Acura NSX GT3 EVO22. Varun Choksey remained in close proximity, as his No. 28 ST Racing BMW M4 GT3 ran only a mere 0.076 seconds behind. On his sixth flying lap, Jake Pedersen moved his No. 85 RS1 Porsche 992 GT3 R into third in class.
RS1 further improved in Qualifying 2, with Kay van Berlo moving the team to the top of the leaderboard. Elliott Skeer joined the Porsche party, putting the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 992 GT3 R in second place, while Bill Auberlen gave ST Racing another appearance in the top 3.
Laurin Heinrich had a point to prove in Qualifying 3, not only going fastest in class in his Wright Motorsports machine, but also clocking in quickest time overall. Further down the field, Philipp Eng secured a second-place finish in class for ST Racing, while Trent Hindman ensured that RS1 were consistently able to deliver as well.
When combining the Qualifying results, Wright Motorsports were the best Pro class entry, sitting in sixth overall, while ST Racing and RS1 were the final two teams to make it into the Pole Shootout showdown to come.
IGTC Pro Class
Three-time IndyCar series champion Alex Palou was running in first for the majority of Qualifying 1 in the No. 4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. As the session progressed, Dries Vanthoor raised a challenge in the No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3. However, it was Maro Engel who went on to set the fastest lap overall with under 5 minutes remaining, and continued to improve on his own times in the No. 130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.
It was a similar story in Qualifying 2, as Lone Star Racing’s Fabian Schiller was originally quickest overall, but Mik Grenier came charging to the front in the GruppeM machine with 6 minutes to go. Team WRT then went on to move up one slot, this time with Sheldon Van Der Linde behind the wheel, maneuvering his way in front of Schiller.
Qualifying 3 saw Lone Star back in top form once again in the first few laps as Luca Stolz soared around the Speedway. However, history continued to repeat itself as Jules Gounon took control of his Mercedes, setting the fastest IGTC Pro time in the process. Stolz was relegated to second, with WRT’s Charles Weerts in third.
As the session came to a close, GruppeM Racing were the clear frontrunners as they punched their ticket to the Pole Shootout with ease, although Lone Star Racing and Team WRT will be joining them, eager to attempt to disrupt their flow. The three teams qualified first, second, and third overall.
Furthermore, the sister No. 33 Team WRT car also solidified their spot in the shootout, finishing fourth overall, just ahead of the fellow No. 99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 IGTC entry in fifth.
Pro-Am Class
Jayden Ojeda was the fastest driver in the Pro-Am class in Qualifying 1, putting his No. 75 Express Mercedes-AMG GT3 comfortably ahead of second-place finisher Prince Jefri Ibrahim in the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG GT3, and Antares Au in the No. 10 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 992 GT3 R.
Herberth Motorsport gained a couple of places in Qualifying 2 as Loek Hartog moved the Porsche up the order. Meanwhile, Jordan Love allowed Triple Eight JMR to claim a second consecutive P2 finish, while Tom Sargent put on a strong performance to put the No. 32 GMG Racing Porsche 992 GT3 R into the mix in third.
Qualifying 3 saw Herbeth’s Patric Niederhauser emerge as the frontrunner. GMG Racing were able to do one better as Ayhancan Guven went second-quickest, with Lucas Auer and 75 Express returning to the top 3 in class.
When all was said and done, the combined times saw Herberth Motorsport and Triple Eight JMR move on to the Pole Shootout, finishing seventh and eighth overall respectively. However, 75 Express just missed the cutoff mark, concluding the session in eleventh.
Let’s Get Racing
The Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS and Intercontinental GT Challenge fields will return to the track for the Pole Shootout later this evening on Friday, October 4th at 5:35 PM ET.
If you can’t make it to IMS, be sure to tune-in to SRO’s free livestreams all weekend long on YouTube (GTWorld) and Twitch (SROMotorsports) and follow all the action through our social media channels and the event hashtag #Indy8H.