From IMS. I will have my thoughts on the race tomorrow.
| INDIANAPOLIS (Sunday, Sept. 20, 2026) – Sheldon van der Linde turned growing frustration to goosebumps-inducing elation with a dramatic late pass to lead the BMW M Team WRT to overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class victory Sunday in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. van der Linde drove the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 that he shared with Dries Vanthoor under the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R of Earl Bamber entering Turn 12 on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course and pulled away to win the two-hour, 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race by 2.926 seconds. SEE: Race Results It was the first WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory for the Belgian WRT team in its first season running BMW’s factory GTP program. “I was actually really frustrated after the restart (with 48 minutes remaining) because every time I was close to him (Bamber), we were in Turn 5 and 6 and he always got a run on me on the GTs,” van der Linde said. “As soon as I got into the lead, I got goosebumps with three laps to go, which is not ideal. You’re obviously trying to stay composed. “We’ve waited so freaking long for this, man. I even hurt my ribs trying to celebrate on the way out of the car. I’m so proud of Dries. He did an incredible job. We’ve been fighting for this one for so long.” Quick work by the WRT crew helped van der Linde vault to second behind Bamber on the final pit stop with 57 minutes to go, under full-course caution. After the restart with 48 minutes remaining, van der Linde stalked Bamber as both cars navigated slower traffic from the other three classes competing simultaneously on track with the premier-class GTP cars. With 27 minutes remaining, Bamber led by 1.282 seconds. But he was slowed by traffic over the next lap, letting van der Linde close to within .287 of a second. But van der Linde then was stuck in a thicket of traffic, letting Bamber extend his lead to 1.516 seconds with 21 minutes left. A preview of thrills to come came with seven minutes, 10 seconds to go when van der Linde caught Bamber, and the two prototypes went side by side in Turns 7 and 8 in a stirring joust for the lead. Bamber kept the top spot – but not for long. With about five minutes, 30 seconds left, Bamber and van der Linde approached the Ford Mustang driven by Dennis Olsen, running second in the GTD PRO class. Bamber eased to the left to clear Olsen on the approach to Turn 12, but at the same time, van der Linde darted to the right – with both prototypes surrounding Olsen’s car – and dove to the inside to take a lead he wouldn’t surrender. “He did a great move,” Vanthoor said of his teammate. “He sent it up the inside and made it stick.” Aitken took the lead in the No. 31 Cadillac about 40 minutes into the race when he passed Tom Blomqvist in the pole-winning No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06. Aitken and Bamber then led, except for pit cycles, until van der Linde’s winning pass in the waning moments. In the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, Nick Boulle and NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Christian Rasmussen co-drove to victory in the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 by 15.004 seconds over the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen ORECA LMP2 07 shared by Misha Goikhberg and Harry Tincknell. Rasmussen inherited the lead when class leader Paul Di Resta – the first cousin of INDYCAR SERIES legend Dario Franchitti – was forced to serve a drive-through penalty for passing under yellow. But it was far from a joyride to the finish for 2023 INDY NXT by Firestone champion Rasmussen, who was forced to baby the throttle in the closing laps to save fuel and coasted across the Yard of Bricks to take the win. “Nick did a great job in his first stint,” Rasmussen said. “Kept it clean, drove around people and put us in a good spot. We knew it was going to be tight, but we committed to the fuel save super early. We got it done. Man, so fun to be back in the P2 car.” Despite the thrilling GTP finish, the most dramatic race for the checkered came in the GTD PRO class. Olsen, driving the No. 64 Ford Racing Ford Mustang GT3 he shared with Ben Barker, dueled with Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R for the win on the final lap after they were within a few tenths of a second of each other for nearly every lap after the last restart. On the final lap, the Mustang and Corvette made contact, and Catsburg was forced into the grass. That let Olsen pull away to victory by .993 of a second .“I have a lot of respect for Nicky, and honestly I felt sorry for shoving him wide,” Olsen said. “But at the same time, I had this prototype inside and didn’t know what to do. I tried to stay in the middle as good as I could. But, yeah, anyway, we got the win.” The dramatic last-lap duel was set up because reigning INDY NXT by Firestone champion Nikita Johnson was forced to pit from the lead for a splash of fuel in the No. 59 RLL Team McLaren McLaren 720S GT3 EVO with one minute left in the race. Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley drove the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO to victory by .501 of a second over the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 shared by Russell Ward and Philip Ellis. The winning car featured a tribute to longtime Turner driver Matt Dalton, who passed away in August. “This day is for our boy Matt Dalton,” Foley said. “We miss him a lot. We knew he was with us today. This is his home track, basically, being from Indiana. This one is for him, and we’ll try to keep fighting.” Single-Make Support Series Complete Doubleheaders All three single-make series competing this weekend at IMS conducted the second race of their doubleheaders Sunday. Aaron Jeansonne drove the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche 911 Cup car to victory in the Porsche Carrera Cup North America race, beating Janne Stiak in the No. 40 ACI Motorsports Porsche 911 Cup car to the checkered flag by 1.651 seconds. Giano Taurino won the Lamborghini Super Trofeo race in the No. 88 Taurino Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo2. He triumphed by 2.939 seconds over the No. 2 RAFA Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo2 shared by INDY NXT by Firestone veteran Kiko Porto and Tyler Gonzalez. Nathan Nicholson earned a narrow win in the Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup presented by Michelin race. Nicholson, who finished second Saturday in Race 1, drove the No. 56 Advanced Autosports Mazda MX-5 to victory by .251 of a second over Jeremy Fletcher in the No. 22 McCumbee McAleer Racing Mazda MX-5. Sports car racing returns to IMS on Oct. 9-11 for the Indianapolis 8 Hour, an Intercontinental GT Challenge event that is the last major race of the year at The Racing Capital of the World. Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information. |
The Pit Window by Mike Silver 