Drivers at the two-day test appreciate the significance of racing at the Brickyard

Thirty-three cars from the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series are taking advantage of a two-day IMSA-sanctioned test at Indianapolis Motor Speedway ahead of IMSA’s official return to the 2.439-mile, 14-turn road course for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks, set for Sept. 15-17.

Tijmen van der Helm, co-driving the No. 5 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 with Mike Rockenfeller, posted the overall fastest lap of Day 1 at 1 minute, 15.244 seconds (116.692 mph) during the second session.

The Battle on the Bricks event marks the return of top-tier sports car racing to IMS for the first time since IMSA ran on the road course as a support race during NASCAR’s Brickyard weekend from 2012-14.

With sports car racing on an upward trajectory in America and around the world, IMS owner Penske Entertainment determined the time is right for Indianapolis to host IMSA as a standalone headliner.

“I think it’s mega for IMSA to come back here,” said Jack Hawksworth, who won his debut American sports car start in the Prototype Challenge class at Indianapolis in 2014, the last time the WeatherTech Championship visited.

“To have (IMS) on the card is really, really good,” added Hawksworth, who along with co-driver Ben Barnicoat leads the GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) standings in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. “IMSA has ended up being where I’ve done the majority of racing in my career. It’s cool to be coming back here for the first time since that first IMSA race.”

In addition to the WeatherTech Championship headliner on Sunday of race weekend, the Battle on the Bricks support card includes an extended four-hour round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and doubleheaders for the IMSA-sanctioned Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America. 

Two things will make the addition of IMSA to the speedway’s calendar significant and unique. First, the Michelin Pilot Challenge race will be staged at twilight, running from 4:30-8:30 p.m. ET to end in darkness. 

More importantly, spectators will be permitted for the first time ever to camp in the IMS infield in a large open area near Turn 3 of the oval. That opportunity itself has even the most hardcore speedway fans buzzing for the IMSA weekend. 

“Camping is an essential part of the race weekend for many of our loyal fans,” stated IMS President Doug Boles, whose campsite was already set up in the infield this week for the IMSA test. 

“IMSA features some of the most evocative manufacturers and machines in global motorsports, so a return to IMS is a perfect fit,” Boles added, “and camping inside IMS is the perfect way to get as close to the action as possible while enjoying a great time with family and friends. “ 

Sebastien Bourdais, co-driver of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R prepared by Indianapolis-based Chip Ganassi Racing, is the driver with the most Indianapolis experience in the IMSA field. Bourdais made nine starts in the Indianapolis 500 and an additional 10 Indy car starts on the IMS road course.

Bourdais, a native of Le Mans, France, who has raced sports cars on and off since 1999, also shared the overall winning Riley-Ford Daytona Prototype in the 2012 IMSA race at the speedway. The layout of the road course has been modified since that victory and Bourdais now drives a hybrid-powered Cadillac in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class.

“It’s a very different era for the cars, but the biggest difference is actually the layout of the track,” Bourdais said. “I actually really liked that track; this one is a completely different challenge, but the feel is quite similar. 

“Obviously it’s great to be back here at the speedway,” he added. “It’s going to be a great event for IMSA and something that everybody wants to be part of. Indianapolis is a great motor racing town, and it was very much desired by the crowd to put something together here.”

And if he should win again, Bourdais is ready.

“Everybody wants to kiss the bricks, right?

The results of the first session are HERE, and those of the second one are HERE.