Antonio Garcia grabs 3rd place in IMSA 6-hour race at INDY

Antonio Garcia passed Jack Hawksworth in the # 14 Lexus RC F GT3 to finish 3rd just before the 6 hour “Battle on the Bricks” came to the end on the 2.439-mile road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

Alexander Simms and Garcia piloted the Pratt & Miller # 3 Z06 GT3.R Corvette to honors in a race disrupted by rain during the first 2 hours.

The Pratt & Miller crew did its usual good job swapping rain tires to slicks while the engineers managed fuel strategy on the go.

Luck played a major role as several full course caution flags and re-starts spared no one.

Nicky Catsburg in the # 4 Z06 GT3.R Corvette inherited the pole and held the lead.

But he was penalized near the one-hour mark by IMSA officials for avoidable contact.

Luck then went wrong for Tommy Milner later in the race.   While fighting for 5th place, an LMP2 prototype car bashed the right rear.

The car was retired after losing 4 laps for repairs and scored 11th (next to last) in the GTD PRO class.

Gunnar Jeannette’s AO team # 77 Porsche 911 GT3.R had won the pole but was sent to the back for a minor infraction.  Laurin Heinrich and Michael Christensen drove “T-Rexy” steadily through the field completing 208 laps to win the race and clinch the 2024 GTD PRO championship ahead of the 10-hour Petit Le Mans finale at Road Atlanta on October 12.

A combination of amateur and pro drivers adds another element to strategy in the GTD class.

Orey Fidani and Lars Kern driving 90-minute stints kept the AWA Team # 13 Z06 GT3.R in the hunt before Pro Matt Bell gained 8 spots in a wild drive and help from the team to finish 6th in a huge GTD class of 22 cars.

With INDY lengthened from 2 hours-40 minutes to 6 hours, using 3 drivers vs 2 might well have improved the odds for the Pratt & Miller team.

Our thanks to photographer Kevin Newman who was on the scene.