They may find it hard to believe, but it’s pretty safe to say Tom Blomqvist and Meyer Shank Racing have the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course figured out when it comes to practice and qualifying.
Next comes the most important part – a six-hour endurance race Sunday.
Former NTT INDYCAR SERIES driver Blomqvist won the overall and GTP class pole Saturday for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 prototype, turning a top lap of 1 minute, 14.569 seconds.
SEE: Qualifying Results
The pole continued a stretch of domination for Blomqvist and co-driver Colin Braun, another NTT INDYCAR SERIES veteran. They led the opening practice Friday and the pre-qualifying practice this morning on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
“We actually have thought this was a bit of a bad track for us,” Blomqvist said. “In the past, we’ve never really figured it out. So, the guys put a lot of energy into it to come up with something that makes more sense, and let’s give it a go. That’s what we came here with, something very different than what we’ve run in the past, and it’s worked from the get-go.
“So, that gives you a lot of confidence.”
Meyer Shank Racing also earned its fourth consecutive pole this season. The team also has two wins, on the Streets of Detroit and at Watkins Glen in June.
Now MSR will try to win this prestigious Michelin Endurance Cup event that starts at 11:40 a.m. ET Sunday and ends at 5:40 p.m.
“It’s a six-hour race, and the strategy is super-important,” Blomqvist said. “A lot can happen in an IMSA race. You need to make sure you make the right calls at the right time and be on the right side of the strategy. It’s very easy for something to be unlucky or to make a bad call, and that puts you out of the race.”
Jack Aitken qualified second at 1:14.610 in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R.
Wayne Taylor Racing, headquartered in nearby Brownsburg, put both of its prototypes on the second row. Louis Deletraz qualified third at 1:14.715 in the No. 40 Cadillac V-Series.R, while Ricky Taylor was fourth at 1:14.804 in the team’s No. 10 Cadillac.
The reigning winners, the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL entry of Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, qualified eighth in the 12-car GTP field at 1:15.133 with Dries Vanthoor behind the wheel.
Nick Boulle led a sweep of the first two qualifying spots in the LMP2 class by United Autosports USA. He was quickest at 1:17.846 in the team’s No. 2 ORECA LMP2 07, followed by Daniel Goldburg at 1:18.222 in the team’s No. 22 prototype.
Dan Harper took the top qualifying spot in the GTD PRO class for Paul Miller Racing, stopping the clocks at 1:23.259 in the team’s No. 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
Casper Stevenson won the pole in the GTD class with a best lap of 1:23.088 in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. That time was quicker than the pole for the factory-supported GTD PRO class.
McLaren Goes 1-2 in Michelin Pilot Challenge Race
Michael Cooper took the lead with less than one minute remaining and drove the No. 44 Ibiza Farm Motorsports McLaren Artura GT4 to overall and Grand Sport class victory in the Indianapolis Motor Speedway 120, a two-hour race for the Michelin Pilot Challenge series.
It was the second win of the season for Cooper and co-driver Moisey Uretsky. This also was the first 1-2 finish for McLaren in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition.
SEE: Race Results
“I just took any opportunity I was given, whether it was inside, outside, wherever,” Cooper said. “I was willing to try anything to get that win. We got a win at Daytona to open the season and haven’t had a podium since, so I thought it was worth risking for.
“I think everyone was really struggling with braking and grip overall. So, maybe I just managed that a little better early in the stint and had a bit more in the end.”
Jesse Lazare scrambled into second in the last minute to finish second in the No. 21 Motorsports In Action McLaren Artura GT4 that he shared with Alexandra Hainer. Robert Noaker and Cameron McLeod finished third in the No. 60 KOHR MOTORSPORTS Ford Mustang GT4.
Cooper and Lazare passed Noaker for first and second, respectively, with less than a minute to go, and Lazare also got past for second. Cooper completed a stirring drive from 17th to third from just past halfway until a caution bunched the field with 17 minutes to go.
American Cooper passed Canadian Lazare for second in Turn 1 with four minutes to go and then set his sights on Noaker. On the decisive pass, Noaker led down the back straightaway and through Turn 10, but Cooper then edged past in the next right-hand corner.
Spanish manufacturer Cupra earned its first Michelin Pilot Challenge victory in the Touring Car class, as co-drivers Eric Powell and Tyler Gonzalez won by 6.988 seconds in the No. 99 Victor Gonzalez Racing Team Cupra Leon VZ TCR. This is Cupra’s first season in IMSA competition, and it became the first manufacturer to earn its maiden IMSA win since Alfa Romeo in 2021.
The No. 7 Precision Racing LA Audi RS3 shared by Celso Neto and Ryan Eversley finished second, while Karl Wittmer and LP Montour drove the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 to third.
Ericsson’s Brother Wins Again in Lamborghini Series
Hampus Ericsson now has one up on his older brother, 2022 Indianapolis 500 presented by Gainbridge winner Marcus Ericsson, as he earned his second victory at IMS in two days by sweeping Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America events this weekend with co-driver Danny Formal.
The duo triumphed in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing Lamborghini Huracan by 11.067 seconds over teammates Trent Hindman and Jackson Lee, son of FOX Sports INDYCAR announcer Kevin Lee, in the No. 69 Huracan. Those WTR cars finished in the same order in Friday’s 50-minute race.
Aaron Jeansonne won the second 40-minute Porsche Carrera Cup North America race of the weekend. He drove the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car to victory by .981 of a second over the No. 78 Topp Racing Porsche of Ryan Yardley, who earned his second runner-up result of the weekend.
Race 1 winner Zachary Vanier placed third in the No. 9 JDX Racing Porsche.
Visit IMS.com for tickets and more information on the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks.
