Team Redline sweeps both classes in IMSA Esports return to Indianapolis Motor Speedway

Indianapolis Motor Speedway returned to the IMSA Esports Global Championship schedule in dramatic fashion on Sunday afternoon. The second race of the 2024 season saw 49 teams across two classes racing for two hours and 40 minutes around the 2.43-mile infield road course at the Racing Capital of the World in Speedway, Indiana. By the drop of the checkered flag, one team stood atop both classes.

Team Redline’s one GTP entry, the #20 BMW M Team Redline machine with Diogo Pinto and Chris Lulham, wasn’t the strongest car throughout the race, but they stayed out of trouble this week and held off another BMW M Team—that of the BS+COMPETITION outlet—for the GTP class victory.

When the season started a couple of weeks ago, it was thought that the #170 Team Redline Ferrari would be the better of the two GTDs entered, as opposed to the #171. In the closing laps at Road Atlanta, the #170 wound up beached at the top of the hill after a crash with one of the GTPs. The #171 was right there to pick up the pieces and claim the victory. On Sunday in Speedway, the #171 of Florian Lebigre and Enzo Bonito was unstoppable, taking the lead early and never relinquishing for the remainder.

“It was going to be extremely close, and with an extra lap, we would have been done. We knew it was going to be very close at the end but I didn’t expect it to be that close on the final lap. I didn’t want it to be that close, but with the blue flag rules we have in place here, the guys around me have the right to race me a lap down. That’s the way it is, and I’m glad we came out on top. It was very stressful.”

His teammate, Pinto, was equally as stressed outside of the car watching on, but stated that he had his full trust in his teammate. “That last lap was quite nerve-wracking, but I have full trust in ‘Silly Lully’ and he got the job done. That’s the important bits and I’m happy with the win.”

As for the GTD contingent, their strategy was spot on. The #105 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team Williams Esports duo of Beckham Jacir and Parker White attempted an alternate strategy, but when they gave the lead back in the closing minutes, it was just about managing the gap back to the AO Racing by Coanda Porsche, a.k.a. Rexy, while navigating the slower and faster traffic.

“I just had to manage the traffic,” Lebigre explained post-race. “Enzo did an amazing job in qualifying. Track position is really important on this track, so as soon as I had the opportunity to, I took the lead. Then, we were just managing the traffic, and tires, and fuel, and then I gave the car to Enzo and he did the job.”

“It was a little bit of a cruise until the end,” Bonito added. “Florian did an amazing first two stints, and even though, BoP-wise, we weren’t a favorite in this round, we still managed to win, so yeah, it was a great race, and we move on.”

THE RACE

Team Redline was on top by the end of things, but kicking off the race, the #4 CrowdStrike Racing Acura took the GTP pole position while the #118 AO Racing by Coanda Porsche started in front of the GTD field. Both cars led their respective fields to the green and paraded around as the fields behind worked themselves out.

There were a few early incidents, including one that took out the #170 Team Redline Ferrari for a second week in a row. The #82 Cadillac of the RAFA Esports Team, this week’s IMSA Wild Card entry presented by Michelin, also found trouble early with the #14 Simufy eSports Acura.

As the fields converged, the contact became more frequent. For the most part, however, the GTPs and GTDs played nice early on.

In the GTD ranks, the first lead change took place on Lap 16. The #171 Team Redline Ferrari used the long frontstretch to get a tow on the #118 AO Racing by Coanda Porsche. Rexy made the defensive move to cover the inside of the upcoming corner, but the Team Redline Ferrari was too quick, and made the move look easy.

Rexy, driven by Tristan Iglesias and Michael Janney, continued to slip back in the opening stint, losing the second spot to the 56 Racing team duo of  Gaël Valero and Antoine Bastard in the #156 Corvette. After the first round of pit stops, however, Rexy was back up to second and would settle in there for the remainder of the race. The #156 ultimately finished fifth in class.

Up in front in the GTP class, the #4 CrowdStrike Racing Acura, driven by Pablo Lazar and Scott Michaels, was dominant. However, before the first stint ended, their remarkable race began to unravel.

It all started when their lead was challenged. Lazar, in the car, was navigating the traffic decently, but the #5 Williams Esports Chillblast BMW was slicing and dicing expertly. Suddenly, the #5 was spun around off of the nose of the #144 Visceral Esports Mercedes-AMG entry. This set the Road Atlanta winners back to sixth, where they would only recover back to finish third by the end of the day.

Coming to the first pit stop of the race, there were five GTPs under a blanket behind the #4 Acura. The #11 Fiercely Forward Cadillac, driven by Christian Hildgaard and Marcos Núñez, opted for an alternate strategy, and pitted five laps early. This meant they would definitely need a third stop later on, but they were likely hoping to open up a gap large enough to take that gas and go within.

Meanwhile, the four remaining GTPs in the lead pack were all bunched up. The #4 Acura led the #33 Williams Esports Racing Prodigy BMW, and behind them, the BMW M teams swapped spots as the #20 Team Redline machine passed the #89 BS+COMPETITION entry. There was still a lot of race to go, but that may have been the difference by the end of the race.

GTP LEADER STRUGGLES

When it was time to pit, the #33 BMW managed to get by the #4 Acura moments prior. This would just be the start for the #4’s downfall. Moments before that pass, the #4 had gotten into a slower GTD as they lunged into Turn 1. Moments later, Lazar sped on pit road, sending the team from racing for the win to the back of the pack.

That contact with the GTD ultimately cost the #4 Acura a drivethrough penalty, sending them even further back, placing them last of the GTP classification. Just when things couldn’t get worse, they did, and the #4 came up quick on two more GTDs racing side-by-side at the chicane. Lazar tried to get past them before the infield chicane, but instead hit the turtles, launching the car sideways, into the wall, and out of the race.

The troubles would only continue for the GTP leaders for the rest of the afternoon. The #11 Cadillac led on the alternate strategy, but the #33 BMW led the field on the main strategy. For the #33, their troubles came on their second and expected-to-be-final stop, as they were unable to get all of the fuel in the car to make it to the end. After a third pit stop, the duo of Alxander Spetz and Atte Kauppinen, surely en route to victory, settled for a 10th place finish instead.

As for the #11, it was never realized if their plan would have worked out or not. The backstretch chicane proved to be a costly spot for many, including the #11 as the laps ticked down. Similar to the #4, the #11 just caught a couple of GTDs at the wrong time, tried to make it work anyway, but it didn’t pay off.

Arguably three of the fastest GTPs were out of contention as the laps wound down. Remember that pass that the #20 BMW made on the #89 earlier, before the first round of pits? Well, that ultimately put them in the top spot as the #89 BMW made their chase.

The #89 duo of Daniel Alves Lourenco and Phil Denes were decent all day, and following the cycle, found themselves about three seconds back with under 30 minutes to go. Denes got up on the wheel, and as Lulham in the #20 faced some of the toughest traffic of the entire day while trying to fuel save, the battle for the win was on with under 10 minutes to go.

On the final lap, they went side-by-side, but Lulham had the preferred groove as they split a slower GTD. That was all the #20 team needed for the Indy victory. As for the GTD field, the #171 never faltered, and won over the #118 by more than 11 seconds.

IMSA Esports Global Championship Race #2 at Indianapolis – GTP results

IMSA Esports Global Championship Race #2 at Indianapolis – GTD results

IMSA Esports Global Championship GTP points standings following Race #2 at Indianapolis

1. #5 Williams Esports Chillblast, 714
2. #89 BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION, 698
3. #20 BMW M Team Redline, 650
4. #60 SOELPEC Precision Racing, 610
5. #8 Coanda Esports, 560
6. #23 Race Clutch Black, 543
7. #95 Channel 199 Sim Racing, 517
8. #99 Apex Racing Team, 510
9. #15 Race Clutch Red, 469
10. #14 Simufy eSports, 463

IMSA Esports Global Championship GTP points standings following Race #2 at Indianapolis

1. #171 Team Redline, 762
2. #118 AO Racing by Coanda, 619
3. #114 Team PGZ, 599
4. #169 DRAGO RACING, 569
5. #105 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team Williams Esports, 554
6. #102 Grid-and-Go.com eSports, 545
7. #156 56 Racing Team, 497
8. #131 Sontek Racing – OverPower, 479
9. #198 Mercedes-AMG Esports Team ART, 477
10. #103 Grid-and-Go.com eSports, 444

Both the #5 Williams Esports Chillblast and #171 Team Redline teams continue to lead their respective classes at the halfway point of the season. Points for each class championship will be determined separately. As expected, each of the winners lead the way in points in their respective classes. There are also qualifying points to accumulate, so some teams that qualified better than they finished might be higher in the points as opposed to other teams that finished ahead of them, but qualified lower.

The third round of the championship season will take place in the new year, on January 5th, at Sebring International Raceway. The Grid Finder 240 will be another two hour, 40 minute multi-class endurance event across all the bumps that deserve respect in Sebring, Florida. The fourth and final race of the season, from Daytona, will take place a week later on January 12th.

Coverage will start at 1:30 pm ET with Countdown to Green presented by Traxion. The race starts at 2:00 pm ET, and will be broadcasted live on IMSA’s and iRacing’s YouTube, Facebook and Twitch social media channels.

For more information on the IMSA Esports Global Championship, visit iracing.com/imsa-esports.
For more information about the Virtual Competition Organisation (VCO), visit vco-esports.com.
For more information on iRacing and for special offers, visit iracing.com.

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