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Photo: Toyota Toyota GR Cup North America championship leader Spike Kohlbecker set the opening pace for the weekend aboard his No. 15 TechSport Racing Toyota GR 86 Cup car in Practice 1 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Twenty-eight of the 29 entries hit the track for the Thursday’s session, which marked the series only-on track on the day’s slate. Kohlbecker’s time of 1:39.658 topped the charts in the first session, ahead of championship suitor, Jeremy Fletcher. Fletcher finished the initial on-track runs in second in his No. 22 Copeland Motorsports machine, two-tenths of a second short of Kohlbecker with a 1:39.884. Garret Manes completed the top three piloting his No. RVA Graphics Motorsports by Speed Syndicate entry with a fast lap of 1:40.347. Keelan Harvick, son of 2014 NASCAR Cup Series champion, Kevin Harvick, made an early impression on the board in his first official stint behind the wheel of the No. 812 for RAFA Racing. Harvick converted his time of 1:...

Photo: Gruppe C Photography/Porsche Laurin Heinrich said he’s entering the Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour in a similar frame of mind to last weekend’s Motul Petit Le Mans, in having a “shot” to go for a championship title but on the offensive. The Porsche factory driver, who less than seven days ago had an outside chance of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP title, has arrived at Indianapolis Motor Speedway in a similar position for the Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers’ championship. Heinrich is the only non-Mercedes-AMG driver that still holds a title chance in SRO Motorsports Group’s globe-trotting GT3 series, with the 24-year-old German sitting 15 points behind effective leader Luca Stolz and 14 back on Maxime Martin. While Maro Engel, who won both the Meguiar’s Bathurst 12 Hour and Nürburgring 24 and finished runner-up in the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, is on DTM duty for the second consecutive IGTC race, the championsh...

Photo: Fabian Lagunas/SRO Ayhancan Guven continued to lead the way in the second and final test session for Saturday’s Desder Indianapolis 8 Hour, keeping GMG Racing’s Pro-Am class Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo atop the time charts. The Turkish driver reeled of a benchmark 1:23.655 in Thursday morning’s 90-minute session, improving on his pace-setting time from Wednesday afternoon by more than six-tenths. Guven ended up 0.132 second quicker than the No. 6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO of Chris Mies, with two more Porsches, from RS1 and Tsunami RT, ending up third and fourth, respecticely. The top nine positions were all occupied by Pro-Am class entries, with Thomas Fleming putting the No. 69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo fifth. The No. 017 Kellymoss Porsche was sixth quickest, followed by the sister Nos. 88 and 13 entries. Quickest of the Pro class competitors was the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche, formerly the No. 242 Pro-Am class entry, which...

Photo: RacingPixels/Creventic Creventic has finalized its 2027 Prototype Cup Europe calendar with a planned visit to Circuit Paul Ricard in July. The LMP3-based series will make its maiden visit to the French circuit in the penultimate event of its five-round championship on July 9-11. Its 2027 calendar was released in August with events scheduled at Mugello, Spa-Francorchamps, Red Bull Ring and Circuit de Barcelona-Catalunya. The championship, which is organized in partnership with the ACO and Michelin, will enter its second year in 2027. Creventic also confirmed that it will retain its format of two 55-minute races across the course of each weekend. The Paul Ricard event will act as a support race for the one-make Lamera Cup, which holds endurance events across Europe. The remainder of the Prototype Cup Europe season will support Creventic’s Michelin 24H European Series. “We are happy to be able to add yet another new venue to our calendar and delighted to be taking Prototyp...

Photo: Julien Delfosse/DPPI Toyota Racing technical director David Floury says Akkodis ASP Lexus FIA World Endurance Championship driver Hadrien David is on its radar for a future Hypercar seat as it begins to consider options beyond current prime candidate Esteban Masson. The Japanese marque has yet to finalize its 2027 WEC driver plans amid the Haas Formula 1 team’s delay in naming a replacement for Esteban Ocon, as that decision will directly impact the futures of both Ryo Hirakawa and Masson. If Hirakawa gets the nod for F1, Masson is highly likely to succeed him, while Kevin Estre is poised to replace the soon-to-retire Mike Conway next season regardless. However, with current Akkodis ASP racer and European Le Mans Series champion Masson likely to step up no later than 2028 regardless, attention has already started to turn towards which driver could be groomed to follow in his footsteps. Ben Barnicoat and Sacha Fenestraz both tested the previous-generation GR010 Hybrid...

Source: Sports Car 365

Photo: SRO Defending champion BMW has pulled out a sizable advantage at the top of the GT4 Manufacturer Ranking table and is close to seeing off the challenge of Toyota as the season enters its final phase. The Japanese marque appeared set to push the defending champion all the way, but its title assault has faltered during recent weeks. While not yet beyond reach, BMW is very much on course to retain the title that it won in 2024 and 2025, albeit without the remarkable dominance it enjoyed last term. Toyota might yet come under threat for second in the standings as Porsche continues to bank good points across the globe, while McLaren is also on an upwards trajectory after a run of excellent results – including an unprecedented quartet of victories during a single weekend. The level of change over the past few months is underlined by the fact that Toyota still led the standings when the recent run of races began with a triple-header on July 25-26. In Monochrome GT4 Australia, McL...