The six-hour Battle on the Bricks endurance race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway Road Course is set for 56 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship entries on 22 September.
Unlike last year’s inaugural Battle on the Bricks, which marked a return for the Indy venue to IMSA competition in the form of a 160-minute sprint race, returns this year as the second six-hour race after the Glen.
The 10th and penultimate round of the 2024 schedule will host 56 cars across four categories, featuring a mixture of two and three-driver lineups in each entrant.
In the GTP category, there are 11 LMDh machines looking to conquer the Brickyard as they fight for the overall win.
Proton Competition’s #5 Porsche 963 will feature the usual Gianmaria Bruni and Bent Viscaal duo, along with their endurance driver Alessio Picariello.
Reigning champions Wehlen Cadillac Engineering are also set to utilise their endurance driver Tom Blomqvist who will aid Jack Aiken and Pipo Derani as the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R will aim to make the most of opportunities in order to defend their title, current situated fourth behind the other #01 Chip Ganassi-run Cadillac.
JDC Miller MotorSports and their #85 Porsche 963 will bring Phil Hanson, their endurance driver, to assist Tijmen van der Helm and Richard Westbrook after he asserted strong form at Watkins Glen, carrying out impressive overtaking maneuvers.
Hanson also competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, in a JOTA-run Porsche 963, which is set to host their 6 Hours of Fuji race one week prior and so Hanson be the only GTP driver to participate in both the WEC and IMSA events.
Lamborghini Iron Lynx returns to GTP competition after having encountering an engine issue at the previous endurance round at Watkins Glen, which took place on 23 June.
Matteo Cairoli, Andrea Caldarelli and Romain Grosjean will take on the driving duties having been assigned for Lamborghini’s first IMSA Endurance Cup campaign with the #63 SC63, with the exception of the Le Mans 24 Hours where it joined its WEC sibling.
LMP2 is headed by 10 entries, all of which including their respective endurance pilots to make it three drivers in each car though without the single Ligier representation.
The #18 Era Motorsport Oreca 07 has brought back Dwight Merriman since they tested out IMSA newbie Stewart Wiltshire at the Chevrolet Grand Prix and the Sportscar Weekend.
Sean Creech Motorsport has not opted to enter their #33 Ligier JS P217, which was the only car from the manufacturer amidst the class of Oreca 07s. They will return for Petit Le Mans with a new Bronze-graded driver.
In the 12-strong GTD Pro class, recent winners Paul Miller Racing will use their endurance driver Neil Verhagen.
Meanwhile Iron Lynx have only named Maximilian Paul so far in their #19 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2.*
Championship leaders AO Racing are under pressure to fend their 16-point lead on Heart of Racing.
Finally, 23 cars will run in the GTD class featuring various returnees competing in the Endurance Cup including Cetilar Racing, Magnus Racing, Lone Star Racing and the Iron Dames – who will have also driven at the WEC’s Fuji race.
DragonSpeed will make their GTD debut with Ferrari machinery and onto Petit Le Mans, as Inception Racing will also field a 296 GT3 having concluded a smokey end in VIRginia with their McLaren 720S.
See here for the full provisional entry list for the Battle on the Bricks.
Editor’s Note:
Luca Engstler will make his IMSA debut in the #60 Lamborghini as a co-driver with Paul, Iron Lynx has confirmed.*
