In a high-stakes 15-minute shootout at Indianapolis Motor Speedway, ten teams across three classes battled for the coveted pole position ahead of the Indianapolis 8 Hour endurance race. With fierce competition on track, it was the No. 10 Herberth Motorsport Pro-Am Porsche 992 GT3 R that emerged victorious, claiming their second consecutive ROWE Motor Oil Pole Award.
Patric Niederhauser set the pace early in the session, propelling the Herberth Motorsport team into the overall lead. Despite late pushes from rivals, Niederhauser’s blistering lap time proved untouchable, cementing his team’s spot at the front of the grid.
“I knew I had to push hard, but this team has given us an amazing car,” Niederhauser said. “It’s a real team effort, and I’m thrilled to have delivered for them.”
IndyCar star Alex Palou made waves in the No. 4 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, climbing into second place with only minutes remaining. However, he couldn’t catch Niederhauser and settled for second. Meanwhile, Laurin Heinrich, who had held second place in the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 992 GT3 R, was bumped down to third by Palou’s late charge.
Herberth Motorsport’s triumph marked a continuation of their pole dominance, following last year’s success at the same event. Teammate Loek Hartog jokingly remarked, “We told Patric to go for the lap record, and he missed it by just 0.1 seconds!”
Joining Wright Motorsports on the second row was Dries Vanthoor in the No. 31 Team WRT BMW M4 GT3, followed by Arjun Maini in the No. 888 Triple Eight JMR Mercedes-AMG GT3, rounding out the top five. Maro Engel in the No. 130 GruppeM Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 finished sixth.
Several BMW teams will be in hot pursuit as the green flag drops for Saturday’s endurance race, with ST Racing’s No. 28 BMW M4 GT3, Team WRT’s No. 33 BMW M4 GT3, and Random Vandals Racing’s No. 99 BMW M4 GT3 starting seventh, eighth, and ninth, respectively. RS1 completed the top 10 with their No. 85 Porsche 992 GT3 R.
The Fanatec GT World Challenge America Powered by AWS and Intercontinental GT Challenge fields will take to the track on Saturday, October 5th, for the Indianapolis 8 Hour, with the green flag set to drop at 12:15 p.m. ET.
