Battle on the Bricks - 3 Up, 3 Down for GTP and GTD

Mother Nature tried her best to ruin the 2024 Battle on the Bricks, but once the wet stuff was truly gone and passed we were treated to four long hours of pure adrenaline and top notch motor racing drama.

Said rain made things extraordinarily complicated for the first two hours of the event, as heavy downpours flooded parts of the track and resulted in lengthy yellow flag intervals. There were honestly too many spin outs, beached cars and close calls to even try to cover them all but we'll touch on some of them below. 

In the aftermath, I have mixed feelings about the race, I think? 56 cars on track between all four classes was just straight up insanity, to the point where it's hard to understand how more of these cars didn't completely wipe out through the constant action, especially in the wet stuff early. Watching a dozen-plus prototype and GT machines all screw down the main straight or seeing them barrel through turns eight, nine and ten was truly remarkable to witness. The fact that all of those machines could dance in and out of each other's pockets and avoid catastrophic accidents along the way was nothing short of incredible. This is a conversation for another time, and no one is saying they don't belong, but maybe give the LMP2s the race off next season, just to create a little bit more space on the track? Just a thought, don't kill me.

Anyway, let's get to the 3 Up/3 Down recap for the GTP and GT classes.

*This is written before we have any update after IMSA impounded seven GTP rides following the race. If any cars are stripped of their results we'll cover it in a separate post*

GTP - 3 Up

BMW Team RLL - What an amazing result for the M Hybrid V8 and the RLL boys. The rollout of the BMW LMDh has been rocky to say the absolute least, especially for the No. 24. The 25 has fared much better, with the P2 finish serving as their sixth podium since their debut last season. However, the No. 24 had yet to see any sort of top-three success, and the only victory to the car's name at all came after the No. 6 PPM was DQ'd following Watkins Glen last year. Overall, the M Hybrid V8 has struggled to both compete with speed and remain on track, whether they've been plagued by hybrid issues or dealing with a lack of top race pace. At Indy, once the Beemers finally fought their way to the front of the pack with about 80 minutes to go they remained there as the pressure built lap after lap as their fuel/energy gauge dipped to essentially zero percent. Even MORE pressure was added when Nick Yellolly and Connor De Phillipi chose to R A C E each other with time winding down, no doubt producing plenty of 'WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING???'s from the team in the pit box. But that's racing son, and both of those guys wanted to WIN that race, plus they still had to fight off a hard charging Mathieu Jaminet who was closing down on the top spot quickly  looking to spoil the party. In the end the energy reserves had just enough and we saw the 1/2 finish come through, congrats again to RLL!

No. 6 PPM - As was mentioned, the No. 6 PPM tandem of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy quite impressively did more than enough to keep their title chances healthy going into Petit Le Mans, with only their sister car the No. 7 now standing before them. As Jaminet closed the gap on the BMWs late in the race, if he had even just five more minutes on track he might've just picked them off. Alas, they'll settle for the P3 finish, and in securing the result it leaves the 6 just 14 points (14 POINTS!) behind the 7 as we set our sights on the October 12 finale. The battle between those two is going to be spicy.

No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsport - Give it up to the privateers! The P4 finish is JDC-Miller's best result this season, and although they're deep in the standings when it comes to competing for a championship you always have to give it up to a privateer outfit for securing a result that you can feel good about. Even though it's so simple the Banana Boat is one of the best liveries on the track and JDC-Miller have developed their car to the point where they can compete with the big dogs. If you're forecasting the future of the WEC elsewheres, the writing is on the wall for customer programs in the Hypercar class due to factory programs flexing their muscle and essentially taking over the grid. We don't want to see that happen in IMSA, so we NEED our customer teams to be able to compete and fight for podiums (we also need other manufactures to open up their cars to customer teams but we'll talk about that later). Long Live the Banana Boat. 

GTP - 3 Down 

No. 01 Cadillac - The title chances for the gold Caddy are over after Sunday. Understanding the points structure in IMSA is farily complicated, but as Sporstcar365.com highlights, what essentially needs to happen is both the No. 6 and No. 7 PPM spontaneously combust before *starting* Petite Le Mans, AND the 01 would have to win outright. So yeah, not exactly a realistic scenario. In related news, this car and this iteration of Cadillac in LMDh might just be cursed. After running towards the front of the pack essentially all day, an inexplicable popped tire ended their chances of remaining competitive and ultimately ended their day 3 laps down and P8 in class. It sucks because the car has been so strong at times these last two seasons but run into just the most bizarre hiccups or backbreaking turn of events that submarine their chances of bringing home hardware.

No. 7 PPM - Now, I know what a lot of you might be saying, "But Motorsport Media Hub, the No. 7 is still in first place for the driver's title, why would you put them as one of your three downs!!" Well, the simple answer is - this is my blog and not yours, so I can list out the recap however I see fit. However, the more detailed answer would highlight that if not for a crippling power steering failure that tanked Felipe Nasr with just over an hour to go in the race, the No. 7 could've had one hand on the championship. Now, heading into Petit Le Mans next month, the gap between themselves and the sister car No. 6 is so butt cheek thin you could barely slide a piece of paper past it. I would not want to be a member of the Porsche Penske collective as they now face a looming scenario where they might have to make a choice between the 7 or the 6 when it comes to who will take home the GTP championship. 

SC63 Iron Lynx - We were this close!! Oof Marone!! The SC63 was putting together their best race of the season by far, in IMSA or the WEC, when they clipped the Proton Mustang with 1:34 left on the clock and busted their rear suspension, resulting in damage that they couldn't recover from. If we're taking the positives, they showed great pace, they didn't retire the car because of mechanical or hybrid/electrical gremlins and they lasted into the last 80% of the race, which are all great steps towards making this car competitive with the big guns heading into next season. 

GTD Pro - 3 Up

AO Racing - It was quite the weekend for the Big Green Dinosaur. Their pole-winning performance on Saturday was stripped from them following a technical infraction, dumping the No. 77 to the back of the pack for the start of the race. Lauren Heinrich and Michael Christensen (who is something like Heinrich's 7th teammate so far this season) navigated the chaos to eventually pull away late in the game and secure their third win of the campaign and secure their third gold toof on the front of Rexy's grill. If you thought AO's marketing team knocked it out of the park by painting their Porsche 911 into a giant green dinosaur, imagine what a GTD Pro championship would do to the merch and hysteria surrounding everyone's favorite GT3 machine.

No. 64 For Multimatic - It's back-to-back P2 finishes for the Multimatic Pony, and it seems that the Mustang GT3 is starting to round into form late in their maiden season across the globe, not just the Multimatic program. The 'Stangs have performed better in the World Endurance Championship, and in the States we're seeing better pace and overall reliability on track, although the same can't be said for the No. 65 sister car through no fault of their own. The first year of a new race car will always come with it's adjustments and hiccups, and the best a team can do is keep their head down and keep logging solid lap times. The Multimatic crew has done just that lately.

No. 23 Heart of Racing - Although the Heart of Racing lost out on what would've been a third-straight podium, they did just enough to stay on Rexy's bumpy green tail going into Petite Le Mans. A fifth-place finish puts Ross Gunn (and some combination of a teammate) just 99 points behind AO Racing in the Pro standings, setting up a winner-take-all scenario come October 12. A lot can happen on the track and it's impossible to predict the future, but in simplest terms, both teams will begin and end their race prep for the season finale with a simple "finish ahead of that car" message. 

GTD Pro - 3 Down 

No. 65 Ford Multimatic/No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini - It wasn't all great for the Ford MM squad, and the same can be said about the Iron Lynx Lambo. The two cars clipped each other at the jump after a divebomb move from the No. 19, with the contact putting both cars behind the wall for repairs. The 65 was eventually able to get back on track, but the 19 was down for the count and was retired, logging just two laps in the books. It sucks even more for the Iron Lynx team when you remember that they're only participating in the endurance rounds this season, so after about 5 minutes their day was caput, that's a tough go. 

Pfaff Motorsports - It's been a strange and uncomfortable year for the No. 9 Pfaff McLaren. Although they have a pair of P2 finishes on the stat sheet, the multi-time championship winning outfit have to be frustrated with their P9 finish Sunday, and with their overall form in 2024; they now sit eighth in the GTD Pro standings going into PLM. I'm sure they had their reasons, but from the moment it was announced that these Canadians were moving on from Porsche to link up with McLaren, it was a hard pill to swallow for fans, and you wonder if those guys are wishing they stuck with the 911.

GTD - 3 Up

Wright Motorsports - Anyone who can cross the line P1 in a 20+ car field deserves major props. The Wright Motorsport team with Elliott Skeer and Adam Adelson are pulling double duty this season with their Porsche 911 in GT World Challenge America as well as IMSA. They have a pair of previous 3rd place finishes at Sebring and Laguna Seca and they currently sit P1 in the GTWCA Pro standings with one race remaining, funny enough an eight hour endurance back at Indy on the Bricks next month. Major credit to WM for battling through a deep GTD field to come out on top. 

Winward Racing - A solid P5 finish has set up WWR for a scenario where they have some wiggle room for the season finale in Atlanta, with only Turner Motorsports able to challenge them for the GTD championship. Winward have put together one of the more incredible seasons in recent history with four wins and five podiums, and anything less than securing the GTD title would be a massive and shocking disappointment.

Turner Motorsports - Speaking of those guys at Turner,  a P2 finish is nothing to sneeze at, and because of the aforementioned success of Winward Racing this year it's easy to lose track of just how solid Turner have been themselves, with a victory at Road America and four total podiums to their name. They sit 222 points behind WWR, and again, good luck trying to figure out the permutations of what can happen with points and where cars finish, but the overall vision remains that there's at least a shot for the Taco Gang to pull off a miracle and secure the championship if things go haywire for Winward. At the end of the day, that's the least you could ask for as a racing fan going into the season finale of a series with so much on the line for multiple teams.

GTD - 3 Down

Vasser Sullivan No. 12 - The torrid conditions took out the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan RC F just 27 laps into the action when Parker Thompson lost control coming down the front straight and clipped the wall. Any DNF is gonna sting, especially early on in an endurance round. Tough break for the VS guys, who've had an up-and-down season in 2024.

Iron Dames No. 83 - The NBC broadcast did a terrible show of explaining what exactly happened to a few cars, unless I just flat missed it. The Dames were one of those teams that ran into issues with a retirement 4 hours into the action and 162 laps ran out of the 208 for GT leaders. The Dames have only run the enduro rounds for this season and the results haven't gone their way, with their best finish being a P6 at the Rolex. Maybe it's the Lamborghini that's the issue? I mean, worldwide has the Huracan Evo 2 struck a whole lot of fear in the hearts of opponents this season, or ever for that matter? Maybe they gotta ditch the car to find better results, but that would require the Iron Lynx conglomerate moving away from Lamborghini and that wouldn't seem likely.

Just About Every Ferrari 296 - Boy did the Ferrari's run up into a ton of trouble out there. Every five laps we were treated to a replay of the Triarsi sliding of track and causing a FCY or the Dragonspeed No. 56 clipping another Ferrari coming out of the apex of a turn. We had seven total Prancing Ponies running on the track, and six of those raced in GTD - three were retired, and the one who secured the best overall finish of the bunch was the No. 70 Inception - and this was their first ever race with Ferrari after just switching away from McLaren, no big deal! And speaking of Inception, how about that new livery to go along with their 296? Couldn't have drawn up something better myself.

(photo credit - bmwblog.com)