BMW takes 1-2 victory in scrappy IMSA Road America race

Written by Natalie Johnston

Race-winning No.24 BMW M Team RLL car | Credit: Jake Galstad / IMSA

BMW M Team RLL take a 1-2 victory with No.24 securing their first victory of the season. With multiple full-course yellows and more drive-through penalties than green flag laps, BMW came out on top at IMSA Road America.

The GTPs led the field away at 1:10 pm CST. The No.93 Meyer Shank Acura led into the first corner, weaving heavily down the front straight.

The start was quickly halted by Daniel Goldberg in the No.22 United Autosports USA LMP2 car, getting involved with George Kurtz in the No.04 Crowdstrike Racing car and crashing into the barrier on the exit of turn one. Hot off the start, the GT classes had to avoid the No.22, which was parked backward on the right side of the track. This incident brought out a full-course yellow, as there was debris spewed across the track.

After 15 minutes, we were back to green, the Acura and both BMW GTPs weaving heavily once again. The No.99 AO Racing maintained the lead of the LMP2 field from pole. The No.81 Dragonspeed Ferrari and No.57 Winward Racing Mercedes continued to lead GTD Pro and GTD, respectively.

The No.70 Inception Racing Ferrari collided with the wall on the outside of turn seven after catching too much curb. With a broken front suspension and damaged steering, the Inception Ferrari was forced to stop on track, which brought out another full-course caution.

Giacomo Altoe in the No.81 Dragonspeed was given a warning for being too far from the car in front under the pace car. Soon after, the pits opened for the prototypes. The No.31 Whelen Cadillac gained a spot on the No.60 Meyer Shank Acura on pit lane. The BMWs split strategy, bringing in the No.24 car. Both Porsche Penskes came into the pit, with the No.7 car in front of the No.6.

The entire LMP2 field came into the pit, minus the No.61 Team Tonis car. The pits then opened for the GTs. The majority of the GTD Pro and GTD grid came into the pits. The BMW and Corvette teams split their strategies, bringing in the No.3 Pratt Miller Corvette and the No.1 Paul Miller BMW. The No.14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus stayed out. The No.57 Winward Racing did not pit, alongside the No.021 Triarsi Ferrari, the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, and the No.13 AWA Racing Corvette. The No.9 Pfaff Lamborghini opted for a driver change, Calderelli in the car.

The No.57 Winward Racing car | Credit: Jake Galstad / IMSA

On the restart, Nick Yelloly maintained the lead in his No.93 Acura, leading the first full green flag lap, closing in on the 40-minute mark. Leader of the GTD class, Russell Ward in the No.57 Winward Mercedes, quickly put pressure on the last GTD Pro of Laurin Heinrich in the No.77 AO Racing Porsche. Ward logged the fastest lap of the entire GT field in qualifying on Saturday.

Dries Vanthoor, in his No.24 BMW, gained a place on Jordan Taylor in the No.40 Wayne Taylor Cadillac, moving up into fourth position. Russell Ward continued on his charge through the GT field, chasing down the No.65 Ford Multimatic Mustang. The No.65 had a rear left body panel loose after overtaking the No.77 AO Racing Porsche off track.

PJ Hyett in the No.99 AO Racing maintained the lead as we crossed over the first minimum drive time threshold. The GTPs came through the sharp end of the GT field with one hour and fifty minutes to go. Tommy Milner in the No.4 Corvette Racing came into the pits for their driver change, Nicky Catsburg into the car. Up at the top, Jack Aitken in the No.31 Whelen Cadillac gained a place from Ross Gunn in the No.23 Valkyrie.

Tonis Kasemets in the No.61 Team Tonis LMP2-- yet to pit-- ran up on Hyett in the AO No.99 car. This was just before he went off track and picked up an advertisement board as a souvenir before coming in for an unscheduled pit stop. The No.52 car brought out a full-course yellow while the No.3 Corvette Racing car was already in the pit lane, a massive advantage for the team. The No.81 Dragonspeed Ferrari was not so lucky, inadvertently entering a closed pit.

The incident involving Naveen Rao in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen occurred on the outside of turn 10, unassisted.

Pits opened for the prototypes, the entire GTP grid pitted, and only one LMP2 car stayed out: the No.79 JDC Miller. Drama in the GTP field, as the No.6 Porsche Penske went for a short energy refuel, putting them at the very front of the field. Earl Bamber, now in the No.31 Cadillac, came out in second position, ahead of Ricky Taylor in the No.10 Wayne Taylor Cadillac. The No.24 and No.25 BMW cars came out of the pit lane at the very back of the field.

The GT pits opened soon after. Some of the leaders stayed out, including the No.14 Vasser Sullivan and the No.3 Corvette. Aaron Telitz and the No.14 Lexus were yet to pit just over an hour into the race through three full-course yellows. The No.57 Winward Mercedes came out of the pits at the front, now with Philip Ellis at the wheel. Both Corvette Racing Corvettes returned to the track following their incidents.

The No.3 Corvette Racing Corvette racing in GTD Pro | Credit: IMSA

On the restart, the No.3 Corvette was spun from the lead by Dan Harper in the No.48 Paul Miller BMW in turn one. Two corners later, No.3's teammate, the No.4 Corvette, was spun by the No.77 "Rexy" Porsche in turn three due to a concertina effect caused by the No.48 BMW moving slowly. The No.66 Gradient Racing Ford and the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin were forced to go wide to avoid the incident and collided. The Heart of Racing car sustained left-side damage, losing its left mirror in the process.

The green flag reappeared with an hour and fifteen minutes to go, led by Mathieu Jaminet in the No.6 Porsche Penske car. The No.7 and the No.10 cars battled in the second sector, with the No.7 holding onto their fourth position successfully.

Philip Ellis in the championship-leading No.57 Winward Racing Mercedes made up multiple spots off the restart, taking advantage of the field bunching up at the end of the first green flag lap.

A series of penalties was served when the pits reopened following the short yellow. The No.60 Meyer Shank Acura came into the pits to serve its drive-through penalty for running over team equipment, reemerging last. The No.48 Paul Miller BMW served its drive-through penalty for incident responsibility with the No.3 Corvette. The No.9 Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini served their drive-through penalty for leaving the pits with equipment attached prior to the full-course yellow.

The No.14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus finally came into the pits, Ben Barnicoat entering the car. The No.61 Team Tonis came into the pits for the third time as soon as they saw the green flag, hoping to possibly go to the end with fuel save.

The No.6 Porsche Penske Motorsport car on track | Credit: Porsche Newsroom

Jaminet in the No.6 Porsche Penske machine maintained the lead from the restart. Approaching an hour remaining, Dane Cameron in the No.99 "Spike" AO Racing led the LMP2s, Neil Verhagen in the No.1 Paul Miller BMW led the GTD Pros, and Philip Ellis in the No.57 Winward Mercedes led the GTDs.

The No.64 Ford Multimatic and the No.81 Dragonspeed Ferrari fought for fifth position for four straight laps, the Ferrari making contact with the Mustang in turn five. Both BMW GTP cars game into the pits with just under an hour to go, looking to go the rest of the way.

After a short 25 minutes of green flag racing, Nick Tandy in the No.7 Porsche ran Ricky Taylor in the No.10 Cadillac off the track and brought out yet another full-course yellow. The No.10 car was able to get going again after struggling to restart.

The pits opened for the prototypes soon after, probably the last stops for the GTPs and LMP2s. Everyone except the No.24 and No.25 BMWs came into the pits, as they had pit just 12 minutes prior. The No.7 and No.6 Porsche Penskes left the pit lane in P1 and P2.

In LMP2, there was a battle for position on pitlane between the No.8 Tower Motorsports, No.11 TDS Racing, and the No.2 United Autosports cars. Speaking of the United Autosports, the No.22 United Autosports car made it back out on track after crashing on the first lap to try and collect some points. The No.61 Team Tonis pitted once again, coming out last on track.

Pit lane opened for the GTs soon after. The No.65 Ford Multimatic, both Corvette Racing Corvettes, the No.81 Dragonspeed, No.57 Winward, No.12 Vasser Sullivan and the No.13 AWA all came in for what should be their final pit stops.

No.99 "Spike the Dragon" AO Racing car racing at Road America | Credit: IMSA

With the timing of the BMW GTPs' pit stops, they cycled up to the top of the timing screens, the No.24 leading from the 25. Nick Tandy in the No.7, sitting in third position, was put under review for his incident with the No.10. The No.99 "Spike" AO Racing retained the lead, leading from the No.43 Inter Europol. In GTD Pro, the No.77 "Rexy" AO Racing Porsche led from the No.1 Paul Miller BMW. GTD was led away from the restart by Alec Udell in the No.36 DXDT Racing Corvette.

On the restart, the No.7 Porsche Penske was passed by the No.93 Meyer Shank Acura and its teammate, the No.6, in the first few corners. Even more bad news for the No.7 came when they were doled a 'Stop + 60 seconds' penalty for incident responsibility with the No.10.

An incident between the No.12 Vasser Sullivan and the No.57 Winward Racing was put under review. Soon after, the No.57 was pushed off the track by the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, which was subsequently also put under review.

Nick Tandy in the No.7 Porsche came in to serve his penalty with just over 30 minutes remaining. Philipp Eng in the No.24 continued to lead the GTP class comfortably.

The incident between the No.12 and the No.57 led to a drive-through for Jack Hawksworth, the No.12. The No.57 was found guilty in the incident involving the No.27, and received a drive-through themselves.

With just under 15 minutes to go, the No.77 "Rexy" AO Racing Porsche pitted from the lead for fuel and tyres, dropping to eighth place. The No.14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus similarly came in for fresh tyres and more energy as the time wound down.

A long battle between the No.48 BMW, No.9 Pfaff, No.81 Ferrari, and No.4 Corvette punctuated the final stint with late braking and frequent contact. Notably, the No.9 was charged with incident responsibility and a drive-through penalty with nine minutes remaining. The No.4 Corvette Racing Corvette was forced to pull off the track due to extensive damage after falling back from the four-way battle two laps prior.

No.36 DXDT Racing car | Credit: Fabian Lagunas / SRO Motorsports Group

Alec Udell in the No.36 DXDT Racing Corvette ran right up to the back of this battle, lapping faster than the back of the GTD Pro field. Shortly after catching them, the No.021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari collided with the No.36, running Udell off the track and assuming the lead of GTD. Udell fell down the order soon after, being passed by the No.78 and the No.34 with two laps to go.

The IMSA field finally saw the checkered flag, ending the melee that was this 160-minute sprint.

The BMW M Team RLL secured a 1-2 finish, with a first win for the No.24 car driven by Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor.

Dane Cameron and PJ Hyett were absolutely dominant all race in their No.99 "Spike" AO Racing machine, taking home first place in LMP2 for the second straight race.

The No.1 Paul Miller Racing BMW, driven by Neil Verhagen and Madison Snow, won in GTD Pro. A great result after being outscored by the No.48 Paul Miller so far this season.

The No.021 Triarsi Competizione Ferrari won in GTD, driven by Onofrio Triarsi and Kenton Koch.

Race Result

GTP

1st No.24 BMW, Eng, Vanthoor

2nd No.25 BMW, Wittmann, van der Linde

3rd No.93 Acura, Yelloly, van der Zande

4th No.31 Cadillac, Aitken, Bamber

5th No.6 Porsche, Jaminet, Campbell

LMP2

1st No.99 AO Racing, Hyett, Cameron

2nd No.43 Inter Europol Competition, De Phillippi, Clarke

3rd No.11 TDS Racing, Thomas, Jensen

4th No.2 United Autosport USA, Fayer, Hanley

5th No.18 Era Motorsport, Lutke, Ohta

GTD PRO

1st No.1 BMW, Snow, Verhagen

2nd No.64 Ford, Priaulx, Rockenfeller

3rd No.81 Ferrari, Altoè, Costa

4th No.3 Corvette, Garcia, Sims

5th No.65 Ford, Vervisch, Mies

GTD

1st No.021 Ferrari, Triarsi, Koch

2nd No.78 Lamborghini, Goikhberg, Farnbacher

3rd No.34 Ferrari, Franco, Serra

4th No.96 BMW, Gallagher, Foley

5th No.45 Lamborghini, Hindman, Formal