2024 IMSA Battle on the Bricks
The 2024 IMSA Battle on the Bricks (officially known as the 2024 Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks) was a sports car race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on September 22, 2024. It was the tenth round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the fourth round of the Michelin Endurance Cup.
Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn secured BMW's and Team RLL first win in IMSA's SportsCar Championship since the 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen after holding off late charges from the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport car. It was Team RLL's first win with the BMW M Hybrid V8 where it actually took the chequered flag first. Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly, driving the other RLL-fielded BMW, finished second, resulting in a historic first 1–2 finish for the M Hybrid V8 prototype. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy finished in third, less than three seconds behind Eng and Krohn.
Background
[edit]Preview
[edit]
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023.[1] It was the second consecutive year the IMSA SCC hosted a race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the third time a race was held here since the series' inception in 2014. The 2024 IMSA Battle on the Bricks was the tenth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA.[2] The race was held at the fourteen-turn 2.439 mi (3.925 km) Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on September 22, 2024.[2]
Balance of performance
[edit]Ahead of the event, IMSA published a bulletin regarding the latest balance of performance (BoP) changes in the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes.[3] In the GTP class, the Porsche received a 3 kilogram weight increase, whilst also receiving an increase of 6 kilowatts in power. The BMW was up 2 kilograms from Road America, with a power increase of 7 kilowatts. The Acura received 1 kilogram of additional ballast, whilst remaining at the highest possible power level of 520 kilowatts. The Cadillac only saw a power increase of 5 kilowatts. Finally, the Lamborghini, which returned for the first time since Watkins Glen, had the minimum weight of 1030 kilograms, with an power output of 518 kilowatts.[3] In the GTD Pro and GTD classes, the BMW received a 6.7 horsepower reduction, whilst the Ford lost 8.8 horsepower with a 1 millimeter smaller air restrictor. Furthermore, the Acura received a loss in power of 11.4 horsepower. Finally, the Mercedes saw a power boost of 6.7 horsepower, whilst the air restrictor will be opened up by 0.5 millimeters.[3]
Standings before the race
[edit]Preceding the event, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 2386 points, 100 ahead of Porsche teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy. Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande sat in third, 185 points behind Cameron and Nasr.[4] The LMP2 Drivers' Championship was led by Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann with 1564 points, 27 points ahead of second-placed Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson. Ryan Dalziel sat in third, a further 64 points behind.[4] The GTD Pro Drivers' Championship saw Laurin Heinrich leading with 2519 points, only 17 ahead of second-placed Ross Gunn. Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow sat in third, 111 points behind Heinrich.[4] In GTD, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward led the Drivers' Championship with 2718 points, 284 points ahead of second-placed Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher. Mikaël Grenier sat in third place, a further 256 points behind.[4] The Teams' Championships were led by Porsche Penske Motorsport, Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, AO Racing, and Winward Racing, respectively, whilst the Manufacturers' Championships were led by Porsche in GTP and GTD Pro, and Mercedes-AMG in GTD.[4]
Entry list
[edit]The entry list was revealed on September 11, 2024, and featured 56 entries: 11 entries in GTP, 10 in LMP2, 12 in GTD Pro, and 23 entries in GTD.[5] On September 18, 2024, Heart of Racing Team announced that they would move the No. 27 entry up to GTD Pro to assist Ross Gunn in the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship battle.[6]
Practice
[edit]There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday morning and one on Saturday morning. Both the session on Friday morning and on Saturday morning lasted 90 minutes.[10]
Qualifying
[edit]Saturday's afternoon qualifying session was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car.[10] The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.[11]
Qualifying results
[edit]Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with ‡.
| Pos. | Class | No. | Entry | Driver | Time | Gap | Grid |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | GTP | 01 |  Cadillac Racing
|
 Sébastien Bourdais
|
1:14.592 | — | 1‡ |
| 2 | GTP | 40 | Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti
|
 Louis Delétraz
|
1:14.817 | +0.225 | 2 |
| 3 | GTP | 6 |  Porsche Penske Motorsport
|
Mathieu Jaminet
|
1:14.848 | +0.256 | 3 |
| 4 | GTP | 31 | Whelen Cadillac Racing
|
 Jack Aitken
|
1:14.936 | +0.344 | 4 |
| 5 | GTP | 25 | BMW M Team RLL
|
Connor De Phillippi
|
1:14.996 | +0.404 | 5 |
| 6 | GTP | 10 | Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti
|
Ricky Taylor
|
1:15.008 | +0.416 | 6 |
| 7 | GTP | 7 | Porsche Penske Motorsport
|
 Felipe Nasr
|
1:15.083 | +0.491 | 7 |
| 8 | GTP | 24 | BMW M Team RLL
|
 Philipp Eng
|
1:15.120 | +0.528 | 8 |
| 9 | GTP | 5 | Proton Competition Mustang Sampling
|
 Gianmaria Bruni
|
1:15.343 | +0.751 | 9 |
| 10 | GTP | 63 | Lamborghini – Iron Lynx
|
Romain Grosjean
|
1:15.495 | +0.903 | 10 |
| 11 | GTP | 85 | JDC–Miller MotorSports
|
 Tijmen van der Helm
|
1:15.767 | +1.175 | 11 |
| 12 | LMP2 | 52 |  Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports
|
Nick Boulle
|
1:17.618 | +3.026 | 12‡ |
| 13 | LMP2 | 11 | TDS Racing
|
Steven Thomas
|
1:18.079 | +3.487 | 13 |
| 14 | LMP2 | 2 | United Autosports USA
|
Ben Keating
|
1:18.091 | +3.499 | 14 |
| 15 | LMP2 | 99 | AO Racing
|
P. J. Hyett
|
1:18.107 | +3.515 | 15 |
| 16 | LMP2 | 22 | United Autosports USA
|
Dan Goldburg
|
1:18.180 | +3.588 | 16 |
| 17 | LMP2 | 88 | Richard Mille AF Corse
|
 Luis Pérez Companc
|
1:18.681 | +4.089 | 17 |
| 18 | LMP2 | 74 | Riley
|
Gar Robinson
|
1:18.976 | +4.384 | 18 |
| 19 | LMP2 | 18 | Era Motorsport
|
Dwight Merriman
|
1:20.028 | +5.436 | 19 |
| 20 | LMP2 | 20 |  MDK by High Class Racing
|
Dennis Andersen
|
1:20.315 | +5.723 | 20 |
| 21 | LMP2 | 8 | Tower Motorsports
|
 John Farano
|
1:20.596 | +6.004 | 21 |
| 22 | GTD Pro | 77 | AO Racing
|
Laurin Heinrich
|
1:23.150 | +8.558 | 561 |
| 23 | GTD Pro | 4 | Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
|
Nicky Catsburg
|
1:23.209 | +8.617 | 22‡ |
| 24 | GTD Pro | 64 | Ford Multimatic Motorsports
|
Mike Rockenfeller
|
1:23.245 | +8.653 | 23 |
| 25 | GTD Pro | 1 | Paul Miller Racing
|
Neil Verhagen
|
1:23.261 | +8.669 | 24 |
| 26 | GTD Pro | 3 | Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports
|
Alexander Sims
|
1:23.298 | +8.706 | 25 |
| 27 | GTD Pro | 23 | Heart of Racing Team
|
 Alex Riberas
|
1:23.344 | +8.752 | 26 |
| 28 | GTD Pro | 62 | Risi Competizione
|
Daniel Serra
|
1:23.399 | +8.807 | 27 |
| 29 | GTD Pro | 027 | Heart of Racing Team
|
Roman De Angelis
|
1:23.506 | +8.914 | 28 |
| 30 | GTD | 32 | Korthoff/Preston Motorsports
|
Mikaël Grenier
|
1:23.537 | +8.945 | 29‡ |
| 31 | GTD | 55 | Proton Competition
|
Giammarco Levorato
|
1:23.799 | +9.207 | 30 |
| 32 | GTD Pro | 75 |  SunEnergy1 Racing
|
Chaz Mostert
|
1:23.856 | +9.264 | 31 |
| 33 | GTD Pro | 19 | Iron Lynx
|
Maximilian Paul
|
1:23.886 | +9.294 | 32 |
| 34 | GTD Pro | 14 | Vasser Sullivan
|
Jack Hawksworth
|
1:23.909 | +9.317 | 33 |
| 35 | GTD Pro | 9 | Pfaff Motorsports
|
Marvin Kirchhöfer
|
1:23.923 | +9.331 | 34 |
| 36 | GTD | 12 | Vasser Sullivan
|
Parker Thompson
|
1:23.939 | +9.347 | 552 |
| 37 | GTD | 96 | Turner Motorsport
|
Patrick Gallagher
|
1:23.948 | +9.356 | 35 |
| 38 | GTD Pro | 65 | Ford Multimatic Motorsports
|
Dirk Müller
|
1:23.984 | +9.392 | 36 |
| 39 | GTD | 57 | Winward Racing
|
Russell Ward
|
1:24.114 | +9.522 | 37 |
| 40 | GTD | 78 | Forte Racing
|
Devlin DeFrancesco
|
1:24.128 | +9.536 | 38 |
| 41 | GTD | 45 | Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti
|
 Danny Formal
|
1:24.355 | +9.763 | 39 |
| 42 | GTD | 34 | Conquest Racing
|
Manny Franco
|
1:24.386 | +9.794 | 40 |
| 43 | GTD | 83 | Iron Dames
|
Michelle Gatting
|
1:24.482 | +9.890 | 41 |
| 44 | GTD | 66 | Gradient Racing
|
Sheena Monk
|
1:24.559 | +9.967 | 42 |
| 45 | GTD | 90 | Kellymoss with Riley
|
Jake Pedersen
|
1:24.595 | +10.003 | 43 |
| 46 | GTD | 86 | MDK Motorsports
|
 Kerong Li
|
1:24.660 | +10.068 | 44 |
| 47 | GTD | 023 | Triarsi Competizione
|
Charlie Scardina
|
1:24.702 | +10.110 | 45 |
| 48 | GTD | 21 | AF Corse
|
François Heriau
|
1:24.788 | +10.196 | 46 |
| 49 | GTD | 120 | Wright Motorsports
|
Adam Adelson
|
1:24.796 | +10.204 | 47 |
| 50 | GTD | 70 | Inception Racing
|
Brendan Iribe
|
1:25.154 | +10.562 | 48 |
| 51 | GTD | 47 | Cetilar Racing
|
Roberto Lacorte
|
1:25.184 | +10.592 | 49 |
| 52 | GTD | 44 | Magnus Racing
|
John Potter
|
1:25.337 | +10.745 | 50 |
| 53 | GTD | 43 | Andretti Motorsports
|
Jarett Andretti
|
1:25.427 | +10.835 | 51 |
| 54 | GTD | 13 | AWA
|
Orey Fidani
|
1:25.722 | +11.130 | 52 |
| 55 | GTD | 80 | Lone Star Racing
|
 Salih Yoluç
|
No Time Established3 | 53 | |
| 56 | GTD | 56 | DragonSpeed
|
 Rasmus Lindh
|
No Time Established4 | 54 | |
| Sources:[12][13] | |||||||
- 1 The No. 77 AO Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD class after failing post-qualifying technical inspection, and lost pole position in GTD Pro.[14]
- 2 The No. 12 Vasser Sullivan entry was moved to the back of the GTD class after failing post-qualifying technical inspection.[14]
- 3 The No. 80 Lone Star Racing entry had all its lap times deleted after working on the car during qualifying.
- 4 The No. 56 DragonSpeed entry had all its lap times deleted after working on the car during qualifying.
Race
[edit]Post-race
[edit]Class winners are in bold and ‡.
References
[edit]- ^ Bradley, Charles (August 4, 2023). "IMSA reveals 2024 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship calendar". Motorsport.com. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 IMSA Schedules Revealed at Road America". imsa.com. August 4, 2023. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ a b c Dagys, John (September 11, 2024). "BMW, Ford Pegged Back for Indy in Latest Wave of BoP Changes". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ a b c d e "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. September 9, 2024. Archived (PDF) from the original on September 9, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ "Battle on the Bricks – Pre-Event Entry List" (PDF). imsa.com. IMSA. September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ a b Dagys, John (September 18, 2024). "Heart of Racing Moves No. 27 Aston to GTD Pro for Indy". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved September 18, 2024.
- ^ Euwema, Davey (September 16, 2024). "Engstler Joins Iron Lynx for Battle on the Bricks". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved September 16, 2024.
- ^ O'Connell, RJ (September 11, 2024). "56 Cars Entered For IMSA Battle On The Bricks 6H". Dailysportscar. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ Euwema, Davey (September 11, 2024). "56 Cars for Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved September 12, 2024.
- ^ a b "2024 IMSA Official Schedule and SR Indianapolis 091124 V1" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. September 11, 2024. Retrieved September 21, 2024.
- ^ "2024 IMSA Sporting Regulations and Series Supplementary Regulations" (PDF). Retrieved September 21, 2024.
- ^ "03_Results_Qualifying_Amended.PDF" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. September 21, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ "02_Grid_Race_Provisional.PDF" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. September 21, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ a b Dagys, John (September 21, 2024). "No. 77 AO Porsche Fails Post-Qualifying Tech". Sportscar365. John Dagys Media. Retrieved September 22, 2024.
- ^ "03_Results_Race_Unofficial.PDF" (PDF). imsa.results.alkamelcloud.com. Alkamel Systems. September 22, 2024. Retrieved September 22, 2024.