Polesitter Jack Aitken leads with an hour gone in the IMSA Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis, but it’s not been all plain sailing for the Briton in the #31 Action Express Cadillac.
He started the car from pole and retained the lead, but almost immediately the race was neutralised because of debris from a GTD car on the front straight.
Aitken subsequently retained the lead again at the restart, but the race was soon neutralised for a second time in less than 15 minutes after George Kurtz beached his #04 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca LMP2 car in the gravel at turn 4.
The majority of the GTPs, and the rest of the field, took this opportunity to pit under caution. From the GTPs, only Ricky Taylor in the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac, and Matt Campbell in the #6 Porsche, stayed out.
Aitken, then, was in the net lead, as he’d stopped, along with the cars behind him. He challenged Campbell for second at the restart but couldn’t make it work. He did, though, get by later, and then soon passed R. Taylor for the lead of the race.
So, Aitken leads in the red #31 Action Express Cadillac. R. Taylor is second in the #10 Cadillac, with Campbell third in the #6 Porsche.
In LMP2, polesitter Boulle has lead since the start in the #2 United Autosports Oreca. He pitted under the second caution alongside the other LMP2s, and now has a three-second lead from Steven Thomas in the #11 TDS Racing Oreca. Third is the sister #22 United Autosports Oreca of Dan Goldburg, five seconds back from his teammate in the sister car.
Heinrich and Hodenius lead GTD classes
Laurin Heinrich leads GTD Pro, onboard the #77 AO Racing ‘Rexy’ Porsche 911 GT3R. Polesitter Dan Harper, in the #48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, is third. He retained the lead at the start and at the second restart, but lost it in the pitstop shuffle during the second caution. In between them is Mike Rockenfeller in the #64 Ford Mustang GT3, four seconds adrift from Heinrich. Harper is a further few seconds away.
Finally, Lin Hodenius leads in GTD, driving the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3. He took the lead at the start, jumping polesitter Casper Stevenson, in the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3, who dropped a few positions.
Hodenius has led the class since. Stevenson has climbed back up to second, around two seconds off Hodenius. Third is Manny Franco in the #34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3.
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