Weerts wins Indy 8 Hour to clinch IGTC drivers' title; Porsche crowned manufacturers' champions

Charles Weerts is the new Intercontinental GT Challenge champion after the BMW he shared with Team WRT co-drivers Dries Vanthoor and Sheldon van der Linde overcame Wright Motorsports on corrected time to win a nail-biting Indianapolis 8 Hour Presented by AWS by just 0.260s.

Porsche also clinched its first IGTC manufacturers’ title since 2020 despite a five-second post-race penalty costing it victory at the Brickyard where Laurin Heinrich battled valiantly but ultimately in vain to remain sufficiently ahead of Vanthoor over the final 30 minutes.

The German shared his 911 GT3 R with newly crowned Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS champions Adam Adelson and Elliott Skeer who more than played their part in Wright’s eye-catching performance against the factory-supported international entries.

GruppeM’s Mercedes-AMG, meanwhile, enjoyed a trouble-free run to third overall in the hands of Maro Engel, Jules Gounon and Mikael Grenier. They were there or thereabouts all afternoon without ever mounting a serious victory challenge.

IGTC’s third and final championship, the Independent Cup, was won by Antares Au who also clinched the event’s Pro-Am victory in seventh overall with his Herberth co-drivers Loek Hartog and Patric Niederhauser.

The result remains provisional subject to technical checks.

BMW GOES BACK-TO-BACK AT THE BRICKYARD

The late battle between WRT and Wright was the culmination of two very different journeys to the head of the field.

Van der Linde started fourth but ended the opening stint second after battling pole man Niederhauser before their strategies diverged during the first Safety Car period. Herberth’s decision not to stop left it out of sequence with the rest, and its Pro-Am line up also ensured it dropped behind the Pro contingent once Au climbed aboard.

WRT’s #31 BMW was the chief benefactor and had established a 30-second lead just before half-distance when a Safety Car bunched the pack. That advantage was partly down to the battle for second involving GruppeM’s Mercedes-AMG and the second WRT entry crewed first by Dan Harper and then Augusto Farfus who collectively charged from 23rd to second over the first four hours following the post-qualifying engine change that dropped them to the back of the grid.

At that stage Harper and Max Hesse were firmly in drivers’ title contention. Indeed, passing the sister car would have seen them leapfrog Weerts in the standings. But their afternoon was ultimately derailed by a broken diffuser that dropped the car out of contention.

Instead, it was Wright’s decision not to pit during the next Safety Car period that brought Heinrich, Skeer and Adelson firmly into contention. The Porsche led approaching the end of hour five and then benefitted from stopping just before the next Safety Car period, which bunched the pack and prevented the car from losing a lap. Skeer then cycled back up to second when the rest of the field pitted under caution.

Second then became first soon after the restart when he completed a fine move on Alec Udell’s Corvette, which elected not to pit. He continued out front until Van der Linde caught and passed the 911 with two-and-one-quarter hours remaining.

Still, the Porsche remained firmly in contention and re-took the lead when #31 served a five-second penalty at its next pitstop. Heinrich and Vanthoor were now in to the finish but the advantage appeared to lie with Wright’s entry, which duly edged clear.

However, an infringement at its final pitstop offered WRT a glimmer of hope. Weerts was already cruising towards the drivers’ crown and Porsche was unlikely to lose the manufacturers’ title, but the proxy battle for Indy 8 Hour victory was played out roughly five seconds apart. The gap fluctuated by a few tenths each lap as both drivers attempted to fuel save after re-setting their stint lengths, but with 10 minutes remaining Vanthoor had the gap closer to four seconds.

Heinrich began the final tour 4.5s ahead but could only increase that by two tenths and ultimately missed out on victory by a similar margin.

WRT, BMW, Vanthoor and Van der Linde, meanwhile, completed back-to-back wins at the Brickyard to also finish second in IGTC’s standings behind their co-driver and new champion Weerts.

GruppeM came home 20.8s behind the M4 to complete an IGTC manufacturer podium lock-out, while the Racers Edge Acura and DXDT Corvette ensured as many different manufacturers finished inside the top five.

Porsche’s manufacturers’ championship triumph was also thanks to RS1’s Jake Pedersen, Kay Van Berlo and Trent Hindman who finished sixth overall and fourth in IGTC. 

A little further back came Herberth’s Pro-Am winners Niederhauser, Hartog and Au who sealed the Independent Cup mid-race when Prince Jefri Ibrahim’s Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG retired.

Mercedes-AMG’s best hope for points appeared to be, in qualifying trim at least, Lone Star Racing’s entry. But it fell out of contention thanks to a long first pitstop and related recurring battery issue.

Ayhancan Guven’s chances of defending his drivers’ championship lead were also dealt a blow by an early puncture. GMG’s afternoon went from bad to worse thereafter before the car was officially retired.

A tenth season of Intercontinental GT Challenge begins at the Bathurst 12 Hour on January 31 – February 2.