Porsche Penske Motorsport returns to the venue of its maiden one-two victory with the 963 hybrid prototypes. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway hosts the penultimate round of this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship this coming Sunday (22 September). Porsche heads into the race as the leader of the manufacturers’ classification. Porsche Penske Motorsport and the works drivers Felipe Nasr from Brazil and Dane Cameron from the USA rank first in teams’ and drivers’ standings. The “Battle On The Bricks” will be contested for the first time over six hours. This also means that the race will count towards the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup for the first time, alongside the events in Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and at Road Atlanta. The customer teams Proton Competition and JDC-Miller MotorSports field two more Porsche 963 in Indianapolis. Five Porsche 911 GT3 R will tackle the two GT classes on the time-honoured racetrack.

Porsche Penske Motorsport travels to the famous “Brickyard” with great memories. At last year’s debut of the IMSA series in Indianapolis, the works team celebrated a one-two victory with its two Porsche 963 racing cars. The team and drivers are now eager to repeat this feat next weekend and place themselves in the best possible position in their bid for the manufacturers’, teams’ and drivers’ titles ahead of the season finale at Road Atlanta on 12 October. Porsche Penske Motorsport is also keen to continue its impressive run of successes: so far this season, the team based in Mooresville (North Carolina) has occupied a podium step with at least one Porsche 963 in all IMSA races.

“I’m enormously proud of what our works drivers and the team at the racetracks and at home in Weissach have achieved so far in the 2024 IMSA season,” says a delighted Thomas Laudenbach, Vice President Porsche Motorsport. “We’re leading the championship, we’ve won four times and have climbed the podium in all races. There is only one greater pay-off for such outstanding work: title wins. We will do everything in our power in Indianapolis to maximise our position for the season finale at Road Atlanta. This applies not only to our Porsche Penske Motorsport works team contesting the top GTP class, but also to the close collaboration with our customers in the GT categories.”

“We’re travelling to Indianapolis as the championship leaders. I expect nothing less than that we’ll leave there as leaders,” says Urs Kuratle, outlining his aspirations. The Director Factory Motorsport LMDh adds: “We won there last year and are aiming to repeat that feat this year. Indy is Roger Penske’s home circuit – he owns the facility. While no one has been able to test there since the 2023 race, we have extensive data and insights from last year at our disposal, so we should be prepared for the upcoming race.”

“For 2024, the race duration has been extended to six hours, so it is a true endurance event that will test all levels of the organisation and our Porsche 963,” states Jonathan Diuguid, Managing Director Porsche Penske Motorsport. “Our team has been working hard to improve our pace in Indianapolis. Interestingly, we achieved a one-two result last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. We aim to do the same this weekend. This team has been operating at a very high level all year. We just need more of the same this weekend.”

In the GTD Pro category, the AO Racing customer team hopes to score another podium finish. The team helmed by German Laurin Heinrich intends to take another step towards clinching the title. The former Porsche Junior shares the bright green dinosaur-liveried Porsche 911 GT3 R dubbed Rexy with works driver Michael Christensen from Denmark. Heinrich currently leads the drivers’ championship, while Porsche ranks first in the manufacturers’ championship. In the GTD class, MDK Motorsports and Wright Motorsports field two more ca. 416 kW (565 PS) 911 racers. In the amateur category, Andretti Motorsports returns to compete with a nine-eleven. Kellymoss with Riley tackles Indianapolis with the No. 90 car.

The race
The Indianapolis Motor Speedway in the US state of Indiana is one of the world’s oldest permanent racetracks. The facility – nicknamed the “Brickyard” due to the brick-paved start-finish line – was built in 1909 as a four-kilometre (2.5-mile) oval track. The famous Indy 500 is contested every year in the arena, which can seat almost 260,000 spectators and is the highlight of every IndyCar season. At the end of May last year, the American Penske driver Josef Newgarden added his name to the list of winners of the classic. In January 2024, the American was one of the successful crew in the Porsche 963 at the 24 Hours of Daytona.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will tackle its first 6-hour race in Indianapolis under the official title “Battle on the Bricks” on the 3.925-kilometre Grand Prix Road Course. This combination of long straights, fast oval sections and tight infield features 14 turns. From 2000 to 2007, Formula 1 raced on a similar layout. The Indianapolis Motor Speedway has been owned by the Penske Entertainment Group since 2020 and is therefore part of Roger Penske’s corporate empire.

Live stream of the race
Outside the USA and Canada, the race will be broadcast live over the full distance in a free stream on imsa.tv. The website scoring.imsa.com offers live timing. The tenth and penultimate round of the season gets underway on Sunday, 22 September at 11:40 am local time (17:40 pm CEST).

Drivers’ comments ahead of the race
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “The IMSA season continues at last! We’ve had a break of over six weeks since the last race at Road America – that took a bit of getting used to because the first half of the season was full-on. Now we need to get back into a good rhythm to continue our series of successes in North America. In 2023, we celebrated our first one-two victory in Indianapolis. Still, we can’t rest on our laurels: last year it was a sprint race over 2:40 hours, and now it’s more than twice the distance. I hope we can achieve another top result.”

Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “I’m looking forward to finally go racing again. Indianapolis is a legendary track on the IMSA calendar. We enjoyed great success there last year however, the competitive environment has changed since then – it’s much closer. The new six-hour duration throws another challenge at us but I’m confident that we’ll be good for another top result. The team is prepared and we’re ready to do everything we can on the racetrack.”

Gianmaria Bruni (Porsche 963 #5): “Hopefully we can pick up where we left off at Road America in Indianapolis. In other words, we want to progress further. I will join forces with Bent Viscaal again, and Alessio Picariello will support us. The ‘Indy’ race has recently become one of the real endurance races in the IMSA. I’m very much looking forward to driving the Porsche 963 on this impressive and storied circuit. Hopefully, we can achieve a strong result for Proton Competition and Porsche.”

Richard Westbrook (Porsche 963 #85): “I have great memories of the Indianapolis course from my Porsche Supercup races. I competed in Indy for the first time in 2005, and the year after I won both races there from pole position – that laid the foundation for claiming my first Supercup title. So, Porsche and I share a very special history there. Now, after a long break in the IMSA series, I’m finally back behind the wheel of the 963. I hope we can continue the upward trend from the previous race. However, the Indianapolis circuit is the exact opposite of Road America: it requires a lot of traction, decent mechanical grip and maximum top speed on the long straight. I’m super excited to see how the competition will pan out.”

Laurin Heinrich (Porsche 911 GT3 R #77): “With the penultimate race of the year approaching, we’re heading into the hottest phase of the season. We had a bit of a dry spell recently and our lead in the championship has shrunk to 17 points – that’s very tight considering the points system in the IMSA series. We will again be racing with our green dinosaur ‘Rexy’ at the two final races. Michael Christensen joins me in the cockpit for this event. He has a lot of experience, which is a huge boost for a young driver like me. The distances in Indianapolis and then Road Atlanta are longer, which will definitely make the races a little less stressful. We’re feeling confident.”

An overview of vehicles and drivers
GTP class (Porsche 963)
Proton Competition #5: Gianmaria Bruni (I) / Bent Viscaal (NL) / Alessio Picariello (B)
Porsche Penske Motorsport #6: Mathieu Jaminet (F) / Nick Tandy (UK)
Porsche Penske Motorsport #7: Dane Cameron (USA) / Felipe Nasr (BR)
JDC-Miller MotorSports #85: Tijmen van der Helm (NL) / Richard Westbrook (UK) / Phil Hanson (UK)

GTD-Pro class (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
AO Racing #77: Laurin Heinrich (D) / Michael Christensen (DK)

GTD class (Porsche 911 GT3 R)
Andretti Motorsports (#43): Jarett Andretti (USA) / Gabby Chavez (COL) / Scott Hargrove (CDN)
MDK Motorsports (#86): Anders Fjordbach (DK) / Kerong Li (CHN) / Brendon Leitch (NZ)
Kellymoss with Riley (#90): Jake Pedersen (USA) / Kay van Berlo (NL) / Riley Dickinson (USA)
Wright Motorsports (#120): Adam Adelson (USA) / Elliott Skeer (USA) / Jan Heylen (B)

The schedule (local time, CEST -6)
Friday, 20 September
11:15 – 12:45 hrs: Free practice 1

Saturday, 21 September
08:55 – 10:25 hrs: Free practice 2
15:40 – 15:55 hrs: Qualifying GTD-Pro / GTD
16:30 – 16:45 hrs: Qualifying GTP

Sunday, 22 September
11:40 – 17:40 hrs: Race