BMW Plays Strategy Just Right, Finishes 1-2 At Road America
Dries Vandoor and Philipp Eng celebrate in Road America’s Victory Lane.
(Photo courtesy of IMSA/Michael L. Levitt/Lumen Digital Agency)
By Dennis Krause
BMW M Team RLL has been fast all season long, scoring a number of Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) poles in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but no wins to show for their speed - until Sunday at Elkhart Lake’s Road America.
Dries Vanthoor and co-driver Philipp Eng drove their No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 to a 2.524-second win over teammates Marco Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde in the identical No. 25 sister car to score their first win of the season in the Motul Sports Car Grand Prix at Road America.
“Yeah, first of all, it’s a great, great team result, a great result for for BMW as well, as well, winning in there in the GTD class,” said Eng, who drove the final portion of the race. So that's it's a great day. I think the luck has not always been on our side this season, not always to blame it on the luck, but for sure, we also did many mistakes ourselves, which we have to look in house for. But today, it just worked out.”
Starting second and third in Sunday’s race, both BMW’s had slid to 10th and 11th in class due to pit strategy, an incident while pitting and four full course yellows totaling nearly an hour of running behind the safety car in the first half of the race. But running last and second last in the class allowed the team to gamble on pitting when the fuel window opened and would allow them to finish the race without pitting again. This time luck was on their side as the fifth, and final, full course caution came out ten minutes later, allowing the two BMWs to jump to first and second in the race when everyone else pitted.
“It started off with a very unlucky pit stop where mechanic got actually quite badly hurt,” Eng said. “Luckily, he's fine and he will recover. But yeah, because you're then in such a bad position, you can take some risk, and it worked out today. And also at the end, our pace actually improved, was strong enough to stay there.
“We've been showing that we've been fast all season with a couple of pole positions, but never really making that into a win. And today, even though we were not on pole position, we got that to work. So it doesn't really always show that you have to be on pole, but that you just have to execute a great race. And today, we finally, finally made sure we did that.
(Photo courtesy of IMSA/Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency)
Unofficially, 75-minutes of Sunday’s 2-hour, 40-minute race were run under yellow behind the safety car for numerous on-track incidents. Whether old scores were being settled or the pressure of the stretch run of the championship, Sunday’s race featured plenty of no holds barred, aggressive driving - in all four classes.
Vanthoor noted that the driving standards, Sunday, weren’t at their best.
“Yeah, I think for sure, there was a lot of cautions today. I think driving standards today were not the nicest. I think for everyone, it's something we have to look into and then try to improve. But yeah, it was a bit of a short race with all the with all the cautions, but that made strategy more interesting, and it luckily been enough here.”
“I think the driving standards in general have been not great today, to be honest,” van der Linde added. “I think that needs to be cleaned up by the race director. I think people love seeing close motorsports and people going on the gravel and door to door racing, but at some point, I think also for the fans to have constant racing, we need to tidy that up a bit. So yeah, I think it's a fine line of trying to balance it out and having a good spectacle, but at the same time, needs to be respectful.”
P.J. Hyett (L) and Dane Cameron celebrate with “Spike” after taking their second consecutive IMSA LMP2 victory.
Photo courtesy of IMSA/Michael L. Levitt/Lumen Digital Agency)
The dream weekend for P.J. Hyett and AO Racing continued in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2). After taking his third straight pole on Saturday, Hyett and co-driver Dane Cameron scored their second consecutive series win of the season in their No. 99 ORECA LMP2 07 - Gibson, nicknamed “Spike”.
“My perspective, it was kind of a dream weekend, not just from the race, the championship points standing, home race,” said Hyett. “I mean, getting pole, winning - it’s hard to beat what happened here this weekend. That's my favorite racetrack in the country, to bring home a victory for the AO crew.
“It's just amazing. Yeah, just amazing.”
Leading the LMP2 point standings with two endurance races to go, Hyett and Cameron have settled into a rhythm in the second half of the season. With four wins now at Road America, Cameron feels there’s something special about the 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit.
“Yeah, it's my favorite place in the country, for sure, maybe, maybe in the world,” said Cameron. “I just love it here. I've always run well here for whatever reason, and everything I've ever driven. Been coming here since I was a toddler, basically to watch racing, and been racing here for almost 20 years myself now. So, yeah, I love that. Love the place. Love the experience.
“It's been fun to bring my boys here also and enjoy one of the best spectator facilities, also in the country. So, yes, just it's rolling really well right now.
“Spike” has now won two consecutive IMSA LMP2 races.
(Photo courtesy of IMSA/Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency)
“We knew we were good,” Cameron continued. “Daytona was close and kind of little bumpy to get going. We needed to kind of stabilize things a little bit. Obviously, I was new and some other changes that PJ and Gunnar (Jeanette, team co-owner) made to the project behind the scenes, so kind of for everyone to get integrated there a little bit, get comfortable establish some new world order a little bit, and get some procedures in place. And I think that's all really bearing fruit.
“Now, PJ is driving phenomenally well at the moment, which is making my life a lot easier, which I really appreciate, proud of his work at the moment. To get the one out of the way at CTMP (Canadian Tire Motorsports Park) was a really big deal. I'm new to the project, but it's been building for them, and a lot of near misses, and a lot of should have, what it could have, some things like that. So it was kind of weighing on the “Spike” half of AO for sure, to get a race win.
“I know PJ wanted one incredibly bad for all of his efforts here, to get that first IMSA one. So we knew once that one was out of the way, that everyone was going to relax a little bit and exhale, and it was going to kind of make life a little bit easier. Really proud of that effort all weekend from the team. I think everyone's just a little more relaxed now that that they know they can do it, you know? I knew that we could and but that it's rolling from here.”
Neil Verhagen celebrates his first IMSA GTD PRO win as co-driver Madison Snow looks on.
(Photo courtesy of IMSA/Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency)
When “Rexy”, AO Racing’s No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R (992) pitted for fuel with 14-minutes remaining, that gave the lead and the eventual win to the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 EVO team of Madison Snow and Neil Verhagen in Grand Touring Daytona PRO (GTD PRO).
“Yeah, it's really nice being back on the podium, especially to get us a win,” Snow said. “It’s been a tough year. This GTD PRO class is really competitive. And, one of our biggest competitors is the (No.) 48 (team) car, because they are such a strong competitor and such a strong driver line up over there too. So it's been definitely difficult for us, but it's really nice for Neil and I to get out here and get our first win and have it be a special one.”
(Photo courtesy of IMSA/Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency)
The win was Verhagen’s first in the series, coming in his 12th race. After coming close at CTMP recently, Verhagen wasn’t about to take it for granted that Laurin Heinrich in the Porsche was going to have to pit for more fuel.
“Judging off Mosport, I had no idea what was going to happen,” Verhagen recalled. “So anything was possible. I wanted to be up front. I knew that we had enough to make it, and I didn't want to leave anything to chance if “Rexy” could make it with with enough cautions, I could see that he was fuel saving a lot in the car as well, too. I have to say, Laurin did an incredible job. He defended very well. It was very difficult to even pass while fuel saving. He did a very good job.”
Onofrio Triari (L) and Kenton Koch (R) revel in first GTD victory for Triarsi Competizione.
(Photo courtesy of IMSA/Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency)
In Grand Touring Daytona (GTD), driver Kenton Koch muscled his was past the No. 36 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of DXDT Racing’s Alec Udell with six minutes remaining for the win. It was the first victory for Triarsi Competizione and co-driver Onofrio Triarsi and the third for recent team addition, Koch.
For team principal Triarsi, the win was the result of all the hard work by the No. 021 Ferrari 296 GT3 crew.
“Obviously for us, we put a lot of work to get here. It's an amazing feeling for everyone. The amount of late nights that the team has put in through all the different troubles that we've experienced in past races. This definitely feels like a true victory for us. Kenton's done an amazing job a second time in the car. You know, we mesh really well. He's an incredible driver and we're excited to see what this brings us. But most importantly, you know, the team deserve this one, and everybody's extremely happy.”
With the wild ride this season has been for Koch, it feels like he’s found a home at Triarsi.
“Yeah, it feels really good, especially with the up and down year that it's been but Triarsi has accepted me with open arms and into their family. And it really does feel like a family within the program and the first race at Mosport (CTMP) was one of the most enjoyable experiences that I've had coming to a program for the first time. It's awesome to see how hard these guys work and how they treat their crew, and how Onofrio treats the crew as well. And to be partnered with them is certainly a pleasure and to bring them a win, and is over the moon.”
GTP and LMP2 competitors now enter a late-summer break, as IMSA’s GT classes headline the next event on the schedule – the August 22-24 Michelin GT Challenge at VIRginia International Raceway. The full four-class WeatherTech Championship field reconvenes September 19-21 for the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute. Follow him on X @DennisKrause500 or motorsportsminute.bluesky.social or motorsportsminute on Threads or MotorsportsMinute+ on Facebook.