GMG Racing delivered Porsche its first overall victory in the DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour as Ayhancan Güven, Riccardo Pera and Kyle Washington converted an alternative strategy into a dominant win at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Güven brought the Pro-Am #32 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo home 56.209s clear of the #69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo, completing a landmark victory for James Sofronas’ GMG operation. The result also secured Washington the 2026 GT World Challenge America Pro-Am Drivers’ Championship.
Behind the race winners, Turner Motorsport completed its own championship comeback. Robby Foley passed Frederik Schandorff’s #12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo for the Pro lead with one hour remaining, securing the class victory alongside Justin Rothberg and Connor De Phillippi. Foley and Rothberg consequently earned their third consecutive GTWC America title after winning the Pro-Am crown in each of the previous two seasons.
The result also settled both Intercontinental GT Challenge championships. Porsche secured its fourth Manufacturers’ crown and second in three years, while Maxime Martin emerged as Drivers’ champion despite the #34 Mercedes-AMG Team JMF Motorsports entry finishing fifth overall.
Sedgwick takes early lead as Stephens charges forward
Turner Motorsport started from pole following Foley’s Superpole performance, leaving Rothberg to lead the 27-car field into Turn 1 in the #29 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
However, Alex Sedgwick immediately attacked from the front row aboard the Pro-Am #6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO. He swept into the overall lead on the opening lap and controlled the early stages, while Rothberg retained the Pro class advantage.
Michai Stephens quickly became one of the main protagonists in the #34 Mercedes-AMG. He carved through the opening traffic and moved into the Pro lead within the first 15 minutes, establishing JMF at the front of the domestic championship battle.
The opening hour also produced one of the race’s most significant incidents. Lin Hodenius crashed the #80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, causing extensive damage and forcing the car into retirement. The incident prevented five-time IndyCar champion Álex Palou from making an appearance in the race and also ended Luca Stolz’s opportunity to challenge for the IGTC Drivers’ Championship.
Wright Motorsports suffered problems with its #120 Porsche as well. Damage from an early incident forced repairs, dropping Kevin Estre and his teammates a lap behind the leaders before they began a lengthy recovery.
Dollahite and JMF Pro-Am challenges end early
Dollahite Racing’s promising start unravelled during the second hour. After Sedgwick handed the Mustang to Scott Dollahite, a steering rack issue sent the #6 Ford across the grass and ultimately behind the wall.
The retirement removed one of the strongest Pro-Am cars after Sedgwick had led outright during the opening hour.
The #27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG soon joined it on the retirement list. Jason Daskalos stopped on circuit with a gearbox failure, triggering the fourth Full Course Caution of the race and effectively ending his Pro-Am championship challenge.
Remarkably, that proved to be the final neutralisation. The remaining five hours and 39 minutes ran without another caution period, turning the second half into a contest defined by tyre management, fuel strategy and sustained pace.
AF Corse takes control approaching halfway
The Pro contest gradually developed into a fight between JMF, AF Corse and Turner Motorsport.
Nicklas Nielsen closed to within a second of Stephens before the three-hour mark, while De Phillippi steadily recovered ground for Turner. The next round of stops saw Foley replace De Phillippi, Martin take over from Stephens and Schandorff step into the #12 Ferrari.
Schandorff immediately made the most of the transition. Martin struggled to bring his cold tyres into their operating window while navigating traffic, allowing several Pro-Am cars through and giving the Ferrari an opportunity to escape.
AF Corse consequently led as the race reached halfway, with JMF second in Pro and Turner still within striking distance.
Behind them, Wright Motorsports had emerged at the head of the Pro-Am field. Laurin Heinrich moved the #31 Porsche clear of Washington’s championship-leading GMG entry, putting Dave Musial Jr. and Ryan Yardley into the provisional championship lead at that stage.
GMG commits to alternative strategy
GMG’s race changed shortly before halfway.
Rather than following the same sequence as the leading cars, the #32 Porsche switched to an alternative strategy that allowed the team to back-time its remaining stops to the chequered flag.
Washington had already completed a measured opening double stint, keeping the Porsche clean and on the lead lap before handing over. That work gave the team the flexibility to place the remainder of the race in the hands of reigning DTM champion Güven and Silver-rated Pera.
Pera had joined the line-up in place of Washington’s regular GTWC America teammate Tom Sargent, and the combination increasingly came into contention as the different strategies converged.
With no further cautions to interrupt the race, GMG’s plan became increasingly powerful. The Porsche worked its way into the outright lead and began establishing an advantage over cars running more conventional strategies.
Foley produces decisive move for Pro championship
While GMG increasingly controlled the overall race, the Pro title remained undecided.
AF Corse continued to lead the class with Schandorff, while Foley applied pressure in the Turner BMW. The championship equation left the #29 crew needing to finish ahead of its Ferrari and Mercedes-AMG rivals, making track position decisive.
With one hour remaining, Foley made his move on Schandorff. The BMW driver forced his way past the #12 Ferrari to take the Pro class lead, a pass that ultimately decided the GTWC America championship.
The move put Turner in position to complete an extraordinary three-year run. Foley and Rothberg had won consecutive Pro-Am championships before stepping into Pro for 2026, yet immediately established themselves as title contenders against the fully professional field.
Their victory at Indianapolis secured a third consecutive GTWC America crown, this time in the Pro category, while De Phillippi joined them for the eight-hour finale only days after securing the IMSA GTD Pro title.
Fleming charges Archangel to second overall
Archangel Motorsports produced one of the strongest closing performances of the race to finish second overall.
Aaron Telitz moved the #69 McLaren past Schandorff for third shortly before the final round of pit stops. McLaren Junior Tom Fleming then took over and emerged ahead of Foley for the final stint.
Fleming could not close the substantial advantage held by GMG, but his pace ensured Archangel remained comfortably in second overall and second in Pro-Am through the closing stages.
Todd Coleman, Telitz and Fleming therefore finished behind only the winning GMG Porsche, completing a Pro-Am 1-2 at the head of the overall classification.
The result reinforced the unusual nature of the Indianapolis finale. For the first time in the seven editions of the race, a Pro-Am crew took the overall victory, while two Pro-Am entries occupied the first two positions.
Wright completes Pro-Am podium
Wright Motorsports finished third in Pro-Am and sixth overall with Musial, Yardley and Heinrich.
The #31 Porsche had led the category around halfway and remained in contention for both the GTWC America Pro-Am title and the IGTC Drivers’ Championship. Heinrich entered the finale needing an outright victory to maintain his IGTC hopes, meaning nothing short of climbing to the front would be sufficient.
His final charge included a pass on Hongli Ye’s #86 High Class Racing Porsche with 23 minutes remaining. The move led to Ye hitting the SAFER barrier at the final corner and making a late stop.
That promoted Jan Heylen and the #28 RS1 Porsche to seventh overall, while Robert Renauer brought the #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche home eighth.
Wright’s result was not enough to deny Washington the Pro-Am title. GMG’s overall victory delivered maximum class points and settled the championship in favour of the #32 crew.
Martin secures first IGTC Drivers’ Championship
Mercedes-AMG missed out on the Indianapolis victory and Manufacturers’ Championship, but Martin still left the finale with the IGTC Drivers’ crown.
The #34 JMF Mercedes-AMG of Stephens, Mikaël Grenier and Martin finished fifth overall and third in Pro. Stephens and Grenier had entered the weekend leading the GTWC America Pro standings, but Turner’s class victory dropped them behind Foley and Rothberg in the final championship order.
For Martin, however, fifth proved enough.
Championship leader Maro Engel was absent from Indianapolis, while Stolz’s challenge ended when the Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG retired during the opening hour. Heinrich also needed the overall victory but could manage only sixth.
Martin therefore overturned Engel’s advantage to secure his first IGTC Drivers’ Championship.
Porsche simultaneously claimed the Manufacturers’ crown. The Indianapolis win gave the German manufacturer its fourth IGTC title and second in three seasons.
Simonsen, Negri and Schreibman inherit Am victory
The Am battle was also decided after the chequered flag.
Peter Dempsey initially brought the #11 MAD Joker Racing Mercedes-AMG across the line as the class winner. However, officials later issued the car a penalty equivalent to a drive-through for incident responsibility involving Estre’s #120 Wright Porsche during the final hour.
That promoted Benny Simonsen, Oswaldo Negri and Jay Schreibman to the Am victory aboard the #163 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo.
The trio finished 17th overall in the provisional Indianapolis 8 Hour classification, while the result also confirmed Schreibman as the 2026 GTWC America Am Drivers’ Champion.
Jamie Morrow and the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari completed the class contenders that had remained in the fight through the second half.
Three retirements from 27-car field
Despite the incidents throughout the opening phase, only three entries retired from the race.
Lone Star Racing became the first after Hodenius’ opening-hour accident, removing Stolz and Palou from contention before the latter had driven the car.
Dollahite Racing followed after the steering problem that brought an end to its impressive early challenge, while the #27 JMF Mercedes-AMG became the final retirement when Daskalos stopped with gearbox failure.
From that point onwards, the caution-free final five hours and 39 minutes placed the emphasis almost entirely on execution. GMG ultimately made the best use of that uninterrupted running, with its decision to back-time the final stops proving decisive.
2026 Indianapolis 8 Hour top 10
- #32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Kyle Washington / Riccardo Pera / Ayhancan Güven — Pro-Am
- #69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo — Todd Coleman / Aaron Telitz / Tom Fleming — Pro-Am — +56.209s
- #29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO — Justin Rothberg / Connor De Phillippi / Robby Foley — Pro winner
- #12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo — Matías Pérez Companc / Nicklas Nielsen / Frederik Schandorff — Pro
- #34 Mercedes-AMG Team JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO — Michai Stephens / Mikaël Grenier / Maxime Martin — Pro
- #31 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Dave Musial Jr. / Ryan Yardley / Laurin Heinrich — Pro-Am
- #28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Danny Dyszelski / Daan Arrow / Jan Heylen — Pro-Am
- #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Robert Renauer and crew
- #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Kevin Estre and crew
- #86 High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Kerong Li / Hongli Ye and crew
GMG completes strategic Indianapolis triumph
GMG Racing entered Indianapolis fighting primarily for the GTWC America Pro-Am championship. Eight hours later, the team left with considerably more.
Washington’s controlled opening double stint gave the professional drivers a clean platform, while Pera and Güven executed the alternative strategy without the intervention of another caution. Güven then completed the final stint with enough margin to secure a 56.209-second victory.
The result delivered Washington the Pro-Am title, gave GMG its biggest GT3 victory and secured Porsche its first overall triumph in the Indianapolis 8 Hour.
Turner Motorsport also completed a championship story of its own, with Foley’s decisive pass on Schandorff converting a season-long Pro challenge into a third consecutive title for himself and Rothberg.
Martin and Porsche leave Indianapolis as the final IGTC champions of 2026, while Schreibman completed the domestic title picture in Am. After eight hours of racing and a season’s worth of championship battles, Indianapolis ultimately rewarded the teams that combined outright pace with the strongest execution.
