Some of the best GT sports car drivers in the world – along with two Indianapolis 500 winners – will compete on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course Oct. 8-11 during the DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour event weekend.
The featured race is the Indianapolis 8 Hour on Saturday, Oct. 10, the longest event of the season at The Racing Capital of the World. Drivers will race through the afternoon, past sunset and into the evening with headlights on in the season finale for the headlining Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) and GT World Challenge America powered by AWS series on the 14-turn, 2.439-mile road course.
SEE: Indianapolis 8 Hour Entry List
Teams of three drivers sharing cars will race from 12:30-8:30 p.m. ET Saturday, with 28 cars expected to compete. Both headlining series race simultaneously, with overall winners in each series crowned.
A wide variety of evocative manufacturers will provide a thrilling array of sights and engine sounds during eight hours of action, including Aston Martin, BMW, Chevrolet, Ferrari, Ford, Lamborghini, McLaren, Mercedes-Benz and Porsche.
Two drivers with winning lineage at IMS will race in the marquee event Saturday – five-time and reigning NTT INDYCAR SERIES champion Alex Palou, who won the Indy 500 in 2025, and 2022 “500” winner Marcus Ericsson.
Palou joins title hopeful Luca Stolz and AMG Junior Lin Hodenius in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG in the IGTC event. Palou drove in the event with Lone Star in 2024, finishing 13th after his co-drivers’ stints were plagued by electrical problems.
“The Indianapolis Motor Speedway is a special place for me, and I am excited to be returning for another shot at the Indianapolis 8 Hour with Mercedes-AMG Team Lone Star Racing,” Palou said. “I have some unfinished business from my 2024 GT3 outing, so I am really happy to reunite with the team to have another opportunity to aim for the race win.
“I always love the atmosphere and the fans there, and I look forward to having an exciting race to finish the 2026 season with hopefully another memorable trophy.”
Ericsson will join his younger brother, Hampus Ericsson, and Derek DeBoer in the Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO. The team will compete in the Pro-Am class entry for the GT World Challenge America powered by AWS.
Marcus Ericsson has previous GT3 experience, including driving in this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona in a Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 fielded by Wayne Taylor Racing. The Ericsson brothers teamed up for the first time in a Leiper Motorsport Lamborghini in the Michelin 12 Hour Malaysia race last December at Sepang International Circuit.
“I’m incredibly excited to join Derek and my younger brother Hampus in the Random Vandals Racing No. 99 BMW,” Ericsson said. “Racing alongside Hampus and sharing a car with him is something I cherish deeply, so I’m very grateful to Random Vandals for giving us the opportunity to do this together.
Porsche is on the cusp of earning a record-tying fourth manufacturers’ title in the 11th season of the IGTC, and Kerong Li already has won the IGTC Independent Cup drivers’ championship in the No. 86 High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO. So, the attention will be focused on a unique race for the IGTC overall drivers’ championship.
Maro Engel of Germany leads the standings by seven points over fellow Mercedes-AMG driver and fellow German Stolz, with Belgian Maxime Martin just eight points back of the leader, also in a Mercedes-AMG.
But there’s a catch: Engel is not competing this weekend at IMS due to prior commitments in the German DTM touring car series.
So, all eyes will be on Stolz in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO and Martin in the No. 34 Mercedes-AMG Team JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO to see if they can overhaul the absent Engel. Palou could play a role in a title charge for Stolz, as they are sharing the No. 80 with Hodenius.
Regardless of the winner of the title, it’s a certainty the IGTC will crown an 11th different drivers’ champion in as many seasons. Mercedes-AMG drivers have won three of those titles, including INDYCAR SERIES veteran Tristan Vautier in 2018.
Intercontinental GT Challenge practice sessions will take place at 7 p.m. ET Thursday, Oct. 8 and 9:50 a.m. ET Friday, Oct. 9. Qualifying starts at 3:35 p.m. Friday.
Other sports car series racing from Thursday through Sunday at IMS include GT America powered by AWS, McLaren Trophy America, Pirelli GT4 America, TC America powered by Skip Barber Racing School and Toyota GR Cup North America.
Among the notable drivers competing in the support series are automotive and racing television personality Rutledge Wood and Keelan Harvick, the 14-year-old son of three-time Brickyard 400 winner Kevin Harvick, in Toyota GR Cup North America and “Malcolm in the Middle” actor Frankie Muniz and INDY NXT by Firestone veteran Nolan Allaer in Pirelli GT4 America.
Gates are open to the public Friday, Oct. 9, Saturday, Oct. 10 and Sunday, Oct. 11 for this event. Click these links to buy tickets and parking, to see the event schedule or to plan ahead for the DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour.
