Indianapolis 8 Hour: Thursday Evening Paddock Notes
GT America Practices recently wrapped up at Indianapolis for the 40-minute, multi-class sprint races tomorrow and Sunday.
Across both half-hour sessions, new SRO3 Champion George Kurtz was fastest overall, setting a 1’24.955 to lead Practice 1, and a 1’24.292 to lead Practice 2 aboard his #04 CrowdStrike with Riley Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3.
The #191 TR3 Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 of Utah’s Jeff Burton was second-fastest in Practice 1, and Andy Pilgrim’s #56 SKI Autosport Ferrari 458 Italia GT3 was runner-up in Practice 2 – while Kyle Washington (#032 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3-R) was third-quickest in each session.
In the GT4 ranks, Ross Chouest was quickest in Practice 1, setting a 1’31.281 aboard his #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT4. Chouest enters the weekend fourth in a five-way battle for the championship.
Then, in Practice 2, Tom Capizzi in the #52 AutoTechnic Racing BMW M4 GT4 set the fastest time of the day, a 1’31.222 at the very end of the session.
The Pirelli tents and trailers are here and, for a race of this calibre, there’s more of it than usual.
Over the weekend we spoke with Pirelli North America Customer Racing Manager, Orazio Mastracchio, and Matteo Braga, Circuit Activities Manager, to talk about – among other items – just how many tyres they’ve brought for this weekend’s slate of racing.
“On a regular SRO weekend here in the US, considering all the classes – on average, you’re looking at maybe 100 cars on average, more or less on a weekend,” says Mastracchio on what a ‘standard’ allowance of tyres would look like.
“You’re looking at maybe 2,000 tyres, with the rain tyres, on a regular weekend. This weekend here we have doubled that, we have 4,000 pieces.”
“We don’t have a big amount because everything is limited by regulation,” added Braga. “And each car, you have a fixed number of tyres that we use.”
A longer version of this discussion will be available to read next week on DSC.
Along with a full slate of “full metal racing,” SRO is staging an eSports event at Indianapolis Motor Speedway this weekend – similar to the stage events held during GT World Challenge Europe weekends throughout 2022.
In partnership between the SRO and ASUS Republic of Gamers, the SRO eSports ROG Invitational will consist of two events, staged at the Pavilion across from the famous Indianapolis Motor Speedway Pagoda.
The Pro Race, held tomorrow evening at 5:00 PM during the Indy 8 Hours Pole Shootout, will feature a number of SRO America drivers from all different series – including GT World Challenge America regulars Steven Aghakhani, Guy Cosmo, and Jason Harward – plus prominent streamer and Craft-Bamboo Racing driver, Daniel Morad.
During the Indy 8 Hour itself, the Sim Race will be held featuring top sim racing specialists, some of whom will be representing real-world teams such as Turner Motorsport (via BS+ Competition) and Samantha Tan Racing.
In other administrative news, three drivers missed the required drivers’ briefing and their respective teams will be penalized with a loss of five minutes of track time in Free Practice, per driver: They are Michael Dinan of Turner Motorsport, and both Kyle Washington and Klaus Bachler of GMG Racing.
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