The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to Indianapolis Motor Speedway for the Battle on the Bricks Sept. 18-20, marking the final sprint race of the season with a 44-car grid spanning GTP, LMP2, GTD Pro, and GTD. Recent penalties have also put driving standards and race control’s approach to contact back in focus.
At the most recent IMSA race – the GTD sprint round at Virginia International Raceway – officials handed out seven penalties, six of which were drive-throughs.
The most contentious decision came late in the race when the #27 Heart of Racing Team and driver Tom Gamble were assessed a late-race drive-through penalty for incident responsibility and avoidable contact while battling Philip Ellis for the GTD class lead. Notably, Gamble received the penalty despite giving up the position moments after the tight battle for the lead.
The heightened scrutiny has raised questions about how drivers will approach racing at Indianapolis.
Mikkel Jensen, driver of the #2 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07, enters the weekend fourth in LMP2 points alongside co-driver Phil Fayer. Jensen – the 2021 class champion, Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring winner, and undefeated across three starts at IMS – said drivers have faced uncertainty over how race control interprets the limits of acceptable contact.
“I don't know, I think it's been a bit uncertain how much you can push the boundaries in IMSA over the last couple of years, because last year you were not allowed to not leave any race room to anybody even having their nose in around the outside,” Jensen said. “Then at some point, it was kind of forgotten, because I felt like no penalties were given. After that, and now it's coming back a bit again, so you obviously judge a little bit from what has happened at the past races, because sometimes you feel like things are allowed, and sometimes they're not.”
Jensen added that every overtaking attempt still carries some risk.
“In this sport, there's no situation that's the same, so you always have to judge the situation, and sometimes you're right, sometimes you're wrong,” Jensen said. “I think there's no exact situation that can be compared in race control, because every moment is different, so… there's always risk when you go for a move.”
In the GTP category, drivers appear unfazed by the officiating focus. Nick Yelloly, who sits third in driver points with co-driver Renger van der Zande in the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06, comes in with strong Indy pedigree, including back-to-back podiums in 2023 and 2024.
“Yeah, I mean, just continue to race, at least from our point of view, the same way we have,” Yelloly said. “I don't feel like we've had very much issues or run-ins at all with the powers that be and very, very little contact. So, I think we've been doing a good job on our side, and we'll keep it clean, but hard and fair as always, and yeah, just looking forward to get going.”
Defending race winner Earl Bamber took a similar view. Bamber, co-driver of the GTP points-leading #31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R alongside Jack Aitken, has captured wins at Detroit and Watkins Glen this season.
Uniquely, it was Aitken who was involved in a late-race collision with Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Kevin Estre on the final restart at Road America, Estre was subsequently placed on probation, with IMSA also taking a firmer approach to driving standards in later rounds.
“Yeah, I'd say the same for us,” Bamber said. “We've sort of steered clear of the powers that be, so we don't really need to change much on our side. But yeah it'll be interesting to see the level of aggression of the field when it all rolls out on Sunday.”
