Julien Andlauer used a short-fill during the latest caution period to take the lead at the halfway point of the Motul SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America.
Porsche Penske Motorsport held a 1-2, with Kevin Estre in the #6 Porsche 963 following Andlauer in the #7 sister car.
The #24 BMW M Hybrid of BMW M Team WRT led the majority of the first half of the race at the 4.048-mile, 14-turn natural-terrain road course.
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From the Start…
#6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, Felipe Nasr
Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
Pole-sitter Nick Yelloly led the field to the split grid start and immediately put a gap on Acura Meyer Shank Racing teammate Tom Blomqvist in the #60 Acura ARX-06. GTD polesitter Lilou Wadoux also made a rapid start, opening a six-second class lead within the first six minutes.
Everything came to a halt 12 minutes into the race after the #16 Ford Mustang GT3 of Sheena Monk (Myers Riley Motorsports) ended up pounding the Turn 11 wall after she was tapped by the TDS Racing LMP2 machine of Tobi Lutke.
The race restarted 16 minutes later and while the GTP field negotiated the restart cleanly, it was near disaster for LMP2 race leader Daniel Goldburg (United Autosports USA), who lost the rear of his car at the restart and spun exiting the final corner. Fortunately, he didn’t hit anything and was able to get back going after falling down the running order. Misha Goikhberg (Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiesen) assumed the class lead.
#40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Tom Blomqvist
Photo by: Jake Galstad / Lumen via Getty Images
It was trouble for another LMP2 machine seven minutes later as Jon Field (Intersport Racing) went off at the exit of the Carousel and pounded the tire barrier, ending his day and bringing out the event’s second caution.
Most of the GTP field pitted for tyres and driver changes. Marco Wittmann stayed out in the No. 24 BMW, while Felipe Nasr took a short-fill in the No. 7 Porsche and Louis Deletraz kept the same tyres on the No. 40 Cadillac to come out ahead of Renger van der Zande, who took over the #93 Acura ARX-06 from Yelloly.
Additionally, the #14 Lexus RC F GT3 of Vasser Sullivan Racing, which started last (14th) in the GTD Pro class, used a short-fill to move Jack Hawksworth up to sixth in GTD Pro.
As the restart came with four minutes left in the opening hour, there was a massive coming together among the LMP2 class as the #79, #18, #22, #8, and #2 clashed but managed to continue on without bringing out a caution.
Three minutes later, Van der Zande and Kaylen Frederick were handed drive-through penalties for speeding during the caution-period pit stops.
Deletraz managed to get by Nasr to take over second, with Wittmann holding firm with a 5.7s lead. However, Deletraz was hit with a drive-thru penalty for blocking out of Turn 5. After serving the penalty, it was Sheldon van der Linde (BMW M Team WRT) that was promoted to second after getting around Nasr moments earlier.
With 4h41m remaining, Hawksworth pitted despite having half a tank remaining and also did a driver change with Ben Barnicoat taking over the #14 Lexus.
A couple of minutes later saw Wittmann come down pit lane and relinquish the lead, handing off to teammate van der Linde. Wadoux was then handed a drive-through penalty for failing to comply with controlled powertrain parameters. The penalties rolled on as the No. 911 Manthey Porsche, which had earlier led GTD Pro with Thomas Preining, received a mechanical black flag for failing to comply with tyre operating requirements and was required to pit for repairs.
#911 Manthey Porsche 911: Klaus Bachler, Thomas Preining, Aaron Telitz
Photo by: Brandon Badraoui / Lumen via Getty Images
DXDT Racing’s Mason Filippi pitted with 4h28m remaining and did a driver swap with Robert Wickens taking over.
A run of pit stops continued over the next 15 minutes, with van der Linde pitting from the race lead with 4h16m to go and remaining in the car.
Following the cycle of stops, van der Linde held a 22s lead on teammate Philipp Eng, in for Wittmann, with Frederik Vesti holding third in the #31 Whelen Cadillac. The LMP2 class was led by Bijoy Garg (Inter Europol Competition), with AO Racing’s Harry King out front in GTD Pro, and Heart of Racing’s Dudu Barrichello leading GTD.
The adventure continued for the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO, with Simon Mann in for Wadoux, ending up off-track in Turn 9 before continuing on.
The caution came out with 3h42m to go after Fran Rueda, in the #34 Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO for Conquest Racing, ran off and stopped at Turn 12.
Pit stops followed with van der Linde leading the GTP field down before being replaced by Dries Vanthoor. A short-fill allowed Andlauer to emerge ahead of Vanthoor, with Estre third in the sister Porsche Penske 963.
Right before the halfway mark, Paul Miller Racing’s Connor De Phillippi stuffed the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO into the Turn 12 tire barrier.
At halfway, Andlauer led Estre and Vanthoor in GTP. Toby Sowery headed LMP2, Nick Tandy led GTD Pro for AO Racing and Dudu Barrichello remained out front in GTD.
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