The 2024 IMSA Battle on the Bricks (officially known as the 2024 Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks) was a sports car race held at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Speedway, Indiana, on September 22, 2024. It was the tenth round of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the fourth round of the Michelin Endurance Cup.
Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn secured BMW's and Team RLL's first win in IMSA's SportsCar Championship since the 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen after holding off late charges from the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport car. It was Team RLL's first win with the BMW M Hybrid V8 where it actually took the chequered flag first. Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly, driving the other RLL-fielded BMW, finished second, resulting in a first 1–2 finish for the M Hybrid V8 prototype. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy originally finished in third place, but were later stripped from their podium place as their car made use of non-homologated parts. Phil Hanson, Tijmen van der Helm, and Richard Westbrook inherited third place.
Background Preview
International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the 2024 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2023. It was the second consecutive year the IMSA SCC hosted a race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, and the third time a race was held here since the series' inception in 2014. The 2024 IMSA Battle on the Bricks was the tenth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2024 by IMSA. The race was held at the fourteen-turn Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on September 22, 2024.
Balance of performance Ahead of the event, IMSA published a bulletin regarding the latest balance of performance (BoP) changes in the GTP, GTD Pro, and GTD classes. In the GTP class, the Porsche received a 3 kilogram weight increase, whilst also receiving an increase of 6 kilowatts in power. The BMW was up 2 kilograms from Road America, with a power increase of 7 kilowatts. The Acura received 1 kilogram of additional ballast, whilst remaining at the highest possible power level of 520 kilowatts. The Cadillac only saw a power increase of 5 kilowatts. Finally, the Lamborghini, which returned for the first time since Watkins Glen, had the minimum weight of 1030 kilograms, with a power output of 518 kilowatts. In the GTD Pro and GTD classes, the BMW received a 6.7 horsepower reduction, whilst the Ford lost 8.8 horsepower with a 1 millimeter smaller air restrictor. Furthermore, the Acura received a loss in power of 11.4 horsepower. Finally, the Mercedes saw a power boost of 6.7 horsepower, whilst the air restrictor will be opened up by 0.5 millimeters.
Standings before the race Preceding the event, Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 2386 points, 100 ahead of Porsche teammates Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy. Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande sat in third, 185 points behind Cameron and Nasr. The LMP2 Drivers' Championship was led by Nick Boulle and Tom Dillmann with 1564 points, 27 points ahead of second-placed Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson. Ryan Dalziel sat in third, a further 64 points behind. The GTD Pro Drivers' Championship saw Laurin Heinrich leading with 2519 points, only 17 ahead of second-placed Ross Gunn. Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow sat in third, 111 points behind Heinrich. In GTD, Philip Ellis and Russell Ward led the Drivers' Championship with 2718 points, 284 points ahead of second-placed Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher. Mikaël Grenier sat in third place, a further 256 points behind. The Teams' Championships were led by Porsche Penske Motorsport, Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, AO Racing, and Winward Racing, respectively, whilst the Manufacturers' Championships were led by Porsche in GTP and GTD Pro, and Mercedes-AMG in GTD.
Entry list
The entry list was revealed on September 11, 2024, and featured 56 entries: 11 entries in GTP, 10 in LMP2, 12 in GTD Pro, and 23 entries in GTD. On September 18, 2024, Heart of Racing Team announced that they would move the No. 27 entry up to GTD Pro to assist Ross Gunn in the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship battle.
Entrant Car Driver 1 Driver 2 Driver 3 Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) (11 entries) 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Sébastien Bourdais Renger van der Zande 5 Proton Competition Mustang Sampling Porsche 963 Gianmaria Bruni Alessio Picariello Bent Viscaal 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Mathieu Jaminet Nick Tandy 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Dane Cameron Felipe Nasr 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Filipe Albuquerque Ricky Taylor 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Philipp Eng Jesse Krohn 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 Connor De Phillippi Nick Yelloly 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R Jack Aitken Tom Blomqvist Pipo Derani 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 Louis Delétraz Jordan Taylor 63 Lamborghini – Iron Lynx Lamborghini SC63 Matteo Cairoli Andrea Caldarelli Romain Grosjean 85 JDC–Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 Phil Hanson Tijmen van der Helm Richard Westbrook Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) (10 entries) 2 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Ben Hanley Ben Keating Nico Pino 8 Tower Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson Michael Dinan Charlie Eastwood John Farano 11 TDS Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Mikkel Jensen Hunter McElrea Steven Thomas 18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07-Gibson Ryan Dalziel Dwight Merriman Connor Zilisch 20 MDK by High Class Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Dennis Andersen Scott Huffaker Seth Lucas 22 United Autosports USA Oreca 07-Gibson Bijoy Garg Dan Goldburg Paul di Resta 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca 07-Gibson Nick Boulle Tom Dillmann Jakub Śmiechowski 74 Riley Oreca 07-Gibson Josh Burdon Felipe Fraga Gar Robinson 88 Richard Mille AF Corse Oreca 07-Gibson Luis Pérez Companc Dylan Murry Nicklas Nielsen 99 AO Racing Oreca 07-Gibson Matthew Brabham Paul-Loup Chatin P. J. Hyett GT Daytona Pro (GTD Pro) (13 entries) 027 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Roman De Angelis Mario Farnbacher 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Neil Verhagen 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Antonio García Alexander Sims 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Nicky Catsburg Tommy Milner 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo Oliver Jarvis Marvin Kirchhöfer 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Ben Barnicoat Jack Hawksworth 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Luca Engstler Maximilian Paul 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Ross Gunn Alex Riberas 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Davide Rigon Daniel Serra 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Mike Rockenfeller Harry Tincknell 65 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 Joey Hand Dirk Müller 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Kenny Habul Jordan Love Chaz Mostert 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Laurin Heinrich Michael Christensen GT Daytona (GTD) (22 entries) 023 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 Riccardo Agostini Charlie Scardina Onofrio Triarsi 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 Frankie Montecalvo Aaron Telitz Parker Thompson 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R Matt Bell Orey Fidani Lars Kern 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 François Heriau Simon Mann Miguel Molina 32 Korthoff/Preston Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Mikaël Grenier Kenton Koch Mike Skeen 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Albert Costa Manny Franco Cédric Sbirrazzuoli 43 Andretti Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Jarett Andretti Gabby Chaves Scott Hargrove 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 Evo Andy Lally John Potter Spencer Pumpelly 45 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Graham Doyle Danny Formal Kyle Marcelli 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Antonio Fuoco Roberto Lacorte Giorgio Sernagiotto 55 Proton Competition Ford Mustang GT3 Ben Barker Giammarco Levorato Corey Lewis 56 DragonSpeed Ferrari 296 GT3 Henrik Hedman Rasmus Lindh Toni Vilander 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Indy Dontje Philip Ellis Russell Ward 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 Tatiana Calderón Stevan McAleer Sheena Monk 70 Inception Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 Brendan Iribe Ollie Millroy Frederik Schandorff 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Devlin DeFrancesco Misha Goikhberg Loris Spinelli 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo Rui Andrade Scott Andrews Salih Yoluç 83 Iron Dames Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 Sarah Bovy Rahel Frey Michelle Gatting 86 MDK Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Anders Fjordbach Brendon Leitch Kerong Li 90 Kellymoss with Riley Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Kay van Berlo Riley Dickinson Jake Pedersen 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 Robby Foley Patrick Gallagher Jake Walker 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) Adam Adelson Jan Heylen Elliott Skeer Source:
Practice There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday morning and one on Saturday morning. Both the session on Friday morning and on Saturday morning lasted 90 minutes.
In the first session, Jaminet set the fastest time in the No. 6 PPM Porsche at 1 minute, 16.138 seconds, 0.039 seconds faster than van der Zande's No. 01 CGR car. De Phillippi and his teammate Krohn were third and fourth for BMW. Jordan Taylor put the No. 40 WTR Acura fifth overall. Mikkel Jensen led LMP2 in TDS Racing's No. 11 car with a 1-minute, 17.368-second lap, faster than Dillmann's No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca. Kirchhöfer's 1:24.030 lap led the GTD Pro class in Pfaff's car, 0.075 seconds faster than Sellers' Paul Miller BMW; Roman De Angelis's No. 027 Heart Aston Martin was third. Riccardo Agostini's No. 023 Triarsi Ferrari recorded the fastest lap amongst all GTD cars: 1:23.855, followed by Spinelli's No. 78 Forte vehicle.
Louis Delétraz led the final session in the No. 40 WTR car with a lap of 1 minute, 15.422 seconds. Nasr's No. 7 PPM Porsche was second-fastest. Grosjean was third in the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini and Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 WTR Acura was fourth. Hanley led LMP2 with a 1:17.560 lap in United Autosports No. 2 Oreca, 0.172 seconds ahead of Dillmann's Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports car. Heinrich led GTD Pro in AO Racing's No. 77 car with a 1:23.494 lap, 0.092 seconds faster than Riberas' No. 23 Heart Aston Martin. Fjordbach's No. 86 MDK car paced GTD, followed by Ward's No. 57 Windward Mercedes-AMG. One red flag was shown during the session: Giammarco Levorato spun the No. 55 Proton Ford at turn 3 and stopped on track mid-session.
Qualifying Saturday's afternoon qualifying session was broken into three sessions, with one session for the GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro and GTD classes, which lasted 15 minutes each. The rules dictated that all teams nominated a driver to qualify their cars, with the Pro-Am LMP2 class requiring a Bronze rated driver to qualify the car. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order. IMSA then arranged the grid to put GTPs ahead of the LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD cars.
Qualifying results Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and with .