GT / Tourism

Audi (Saintéloc Racing) wins the 8 Hours of Indianapolis

During the 8 Hours of Indianapolis – second round of the Intercontinental GT Challenge – it was a French team that stood out. Saintéloc Racing won with Christopher Haase, Markus Winkelhock and Patric Niederhauser, after a very lively race.

Published on 18/10/2021 à 09:14

Medhi Casaurang

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Audi (Saintéloc Racing) wins the 8 Hours of Indianapolis

The Saintéloc Racing Audi R8 LMS wore the colors of the United States in Indianapolis. © IGTC

Already victorious at the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, Alessandro Pierguidi, Nicklas Nielsen and Come Ledogar started from pole position. Their Ferrari (488 GT3 n°51), as well as the sister car of Alessio Rovera, Antonio Fuoco and Callum Ilott (n°71) were favored by the predictions before the start. The first part of the test confirmed this impression, despite great opposition coming in particular from Mercedes (with the Team AKKA ASP and Craft-Bamboo Racing teams).

The second half of the race was marked – in the purest American tradition – by numerous interruptions: to remove debris from the track, to evacuate stuck cars, we did not hesitate to bring out the safety car or the Full Course Yellows. This choppy rhythm played on pneumatic strategies and reshuffled the cards a little. This is how the No. 8 Audi R3 LMS GT25 Evo of Christopher Haase, Markus Winkelhock and Patric Niederhauser, already in the lead in the 3rd hour, got back in front.

The decision was made in the last hour. Future winner Patric Niederhauser was in the tailpipes of Callum Ilott in the #71 AF Corse Ferrari before the final round of pit stops with 50 minutes to go. He stopped first, while Callum Ilott at the same time made a mistake when braking for the first time and hit a Aston Martin who wanted to give him space, then hit the wall by ricochet. He gave up on the spot.

Thanks to offbeat strategies and the intervention of the safety car, Dries Vanthoor (Audi Sport Team WRT no. 32) and Jules Gounon (Mercedes-AMG Team Craft-Bamboo no. 99) believed themselves to be the smartest and emerged in head in front of Patric Niederhauser. But the first was going to be penalized for non-compliance with the decisions of the race management, the second was going to be sent into the background by a car that was 1 lap behind.

This is how, 30 minutes from the goal, Patric Niederhauser took control. Raffaele Marciello, Daniel Juncadella and Timur Boguslavskiy (Mercedes-AMG GT3 of the Team AKKA ASP team no. 89) are 2nd after a discreet but solid race. The podium is completed by the #3 KPAX Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo (Jordan Pepper, Andrea Caldarelli and Mirko Bortolotti).

Medhi Casaurang

Passionate about the history of motorsport across all disciplines, I learned to read thanks to AUTOhebdo. At least that's what my parents tell everyone when they see my name inside!

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