2026 Indianapolis 8 Hour | Test 1 | Güven puts GMG Racing Porsche on top

Ayhancan Güven set the pace as the 2026 DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour weekend got underway on Wednesday, putting the #32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo fastest in the opening 90-minute test session.

The Porsche factory driver produced a 1:24.333 around the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, placing the Pro-Am entry 0.250s clear of Hampus Ericsson in the #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO. Alex Fontana completed a Pro-Am sweep of the top three aboard the #79 Tsunami RT Porsche.

GMG enters Indianapolis at the centre of the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am championship fight, although regular driver Tom Sargent is absent because of his European Le Mans Series commitments. Kyle Washington instead shares the #32 with Riccardo Pera and Güven for the eight-hour finale.

Güven establishes early Indianapolis benchmark

Güven set his quickest lap on the 18th tour completed by the #32 Porsche, which still carries the distinctive Buc-ee’s livery introduced for the previous round at Barber Motorsports Park. His 1:24.333 remained unbeaten for the rest of the session and also established the quickest Pro-Am time.

The result gives GMG Racing a positive start to a weekend in which Washington remains firmly involved in the domestic Pro-Am championship. Washington and Sargent regained the points lead at Barber Motorsports Park after recovering to third in class, but Sargent’s absence means Washington will contest the finale with a revised driver combination.

Ericsson came closest to Güven for Random Vandals Racing. The #99 BMW stopped the clock at 1:24.583, while Fontana followed only 0.078s further back with a 1:24.661 in the Tsunami RT Porsche.

Just 0.328s therefore covered the leading three cars at the end of the first official running of the weekend.

Archangel McLaren starts strongly with Telitz

Aaron Telitz placed Archangel Motorsports fourth overall in the #69 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo with a 1:24.693, only 0.360s away from Güven’s benchmark.

The McLaren arrives at Indianapolis with another revised combination, as McLaren GT3 Junior Driver Thomas Fleming joins Telitz and Todd Coleman for the finale. Fleming makes his first appearance at Indianapolis after joining a crew that enters the weekend with momentum from its Pro-Am victory at Barber.

Robby Foley completed the overall top five and led the Pro category in Turner Motorsport’s #29 BMW. His 1:24.761 left him just 0.428s from the outright benchmark as Turner begins a weekend in which Foley and Justin Rothberg remain firmly involved in the GTWC America Pro title fight.

Nielsen puts AF Corse second in Pro

Ferrari Hypercar driver Nicklas Nielsen improved late in the session to put the #12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo sixth overall and second among the Pro entries.

Nielsen’s 1:24.771 left the Ferrari only 0.010s behind Foley, with Matías Pérez Companc and Frederik Schandorff completing a line-up that also enters Indianapolis with domestic championship ambitions. AF Corse arrives after Pérez Companc and Schandorff took the overall victory at Barber, helping the pair close on the leading JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG in the standings before the double-points finale.

The #64 Chicago Performance and Tuning Co. Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 followed in seventh with a 1:24.775. Daniel Morad then put the #9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG eighth, ahead of Riley Dickinson in the #13 Kellymoss Porsche.

Alessio Picariello rounded out the top 10 with the #8 McCann Racing Porsche and set the third-fastest time among the Pro entries.

2026 Indianapolis 8 Hour Test 1 top 10

TThe official Test 1 classification featured all 28 entries, although the #31 Wright Motorsports Porsche completed only one lap and did not set a representative time. Güven’s 1:24.333 remained the benchmark, with just 1.407s covering the 27 cars that recorded times. Sro America

1. #32 GMG Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:24.333 — Kyle Washington / Riccardo Pera / Ayhancan Güven
2. #99 Random Vandals Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:24.583 — +0.250 — Derek DeBoer / Hampus Ericsson / Marcus Ericsson
3. #79 Tsunami RT Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:24.661 — +0.328 — Johannes Zelger / Fabio Babini / Alex Fontana
4. #69 Archangel Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:24.693 — +0.360 — Todd Coleman / Thomas Fleming / Aaron Telitz
5. #29 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO — Pro — 1:24.761 — +0.428 — Justin Rothberg / Robby Foley / Connor De Phillippi
6. #12 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO — Pro — 1:24.771 — +0.438 — Matías Pérez Companc / Frederik Schandorff / Nicklas Nielsen
7. #64 Chicago Performance and Tuning Co. Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 — Pro-Am — 1:24.775 — +0.442 — Nicolai Elghanayan / Mads Siljehaug / Loris Spinelli
8. #9 TR3 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:24.797 — +0.464 — Bill Williams / Indy Dontje / Daniel Morad
9. #13 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:24.878 — +0.545 — Todd Parriott / Riley Dickinson / Kay van Berlo
10. #8 McCann Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro — 1:24.949 — +0.616 — Michael McCann Jr. / Zachary Vanier / Alessio Picariello
11. #27 JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:24.998 — +0.665 — Jason Daskalos / Will Brichacek / Philip Ellis
12. #28 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:25.039 — +0.706 — Danny Dyszelski / Morris Schuring / Jan Heylen
13. #14 Riley Technologies BMW M4 GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:25.056 — +0.723 — Scott Stewart / Anthony Lee / Jesse Krohn
14. #017 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:25.060 — +0.727 — Matt Clark / Lars Kern / Colin Braun
15. #34 Mercedes-AMG Team JMF Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO — Pro — 1:25.072 — +0.739 — Michai Stephens / Mikaël Grenier / Maxime Martin
16. #6 Dollahite Racing Ford Mustang GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:25.096 — +0.763 — Scott Dollahite / Alex Sedgwick / Christopher Mies
17. #80 Mercedes-AMG Team Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO — Pro — 1:25.107 — +0.774 — Lin Hodenius / Luca Stolz / Álex Palou
18. #50 Chouest Povoledo Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R — SRO3 — 1:25.263 — +0.930 — Ross Chouest / Aaron Povoledo
19. #71 Rebel Rock Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:25.293 — +0.960 — Frank DePew / Robin Liddell / Andrew Davis
20. #120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro — 1:25.360 — +1.027 — Thomas Merrill / Kévin Estre / Morris Schuring
21. #163 AF Corse USA Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO — Am — 1:25.382 — +1.049 — John Schreibman / Oswaldo Negri / Benny Simonsen
22. #999 GetSpeed Team PCX Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO — Pro-Am — 1:25.393 — +1.060 — Philippe Charlaix / Jean Boisson / Marius Klein
23. #86 High Class Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:25.433 — +1.100 — Kerong Li / Anders Fjordbach / Hongli Ye
24. #11 MAD Joker Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO — Am — 1:25.452 — +1.119 — Matt Austin / Ben Keating / Peter Dempsey
25. #91 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:25.538 — +1.205 — Ralf Bohn / Alfred Renauer / Robert Renauer
26. #88 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — 1:25.582 — +1.249 — Jaden Gilliland / Aaron Jeansonne / Loek Hartog
27. #67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO — Am — 1:25.740 — +1.407 — Mark Green / Conrad Grunewald / J. Morrow
28. #31 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo — Pro-Am — No time — Dave Musial Jr. / Ryan Yardley / Laurin Heinrich

Wright Motorsports stopped by drivetrain problem

The opening stages brought an early interruption when both the #31 Wright Motorsports Porsche and #67 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari stopped on track before the session had reached the 10-minute mark.

The stoppages triggered a red flag, but the Scuderia Corsa Ferrari later returned to action and eventually completed 27 laps. Wright endured a more difficult afternoon, with the #31 brought back to the garage after suffering drivetrain trouble and failing to return to the circuit.

Dave Musial Jr. had been driving when the problem emerged. He shares the car with Ryan Yardley and Porsche factory driver Laurin Heinrich this weekend, with Musial and Yardley entering Indianapolis only six points behind the Pro-Am championship lead after keeping their title hopes alive at Barber.

The issue therefore curtailed valuable early running for a crew with significant stakes across both championships. Musial and Yardley are pursuing the GTWC America Pro-Am crown, while Heinrich enters the weekend with an outside chance of overturning Maro Engel’s advantage in the Intercontinental GT Challenge Drivers’ standings.

Pro-Am entries dominate early running

Although the headline Pro entries will remain among the principal contenders when the competitive sessions begin, Wednesday’s running belonged largely to the Pro-Am field.

GMG, Random Vandals, Tsunami RT and Archangel occupied the first four positions, while six Pro-Am cars appeared among the first nine. Foley’s Turner BMW provided the first Pro entry in fifth before Nielsen and Picariello placed AF Corse and McCann Racing inside the top 10.

That order remains only an early indication of performance during a weekend in which teams must balance qualifying pace against the demands of an eight-hour race. Nevertheless, the tightly packed times offer an early suggestion of the depth within the record Indianapolis field.

Güven also begins the weekend with recent Intercontinental GT Challenge experience after competing at Suzuka, where he had similarly topped the opening test session before Porsche went on to play a major role in the Japanese event.

Indianapolis running continues on Thursday

Teams will return to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course for another 90-minute test session on Thursday morning at 10:20 a.m. ET.

The second test will provide teams with another opportunity to assess their cars before the weekend moves into its formal practice programme. Free Practice follows on Thursday evening from 6:50 p.m. ET, before Pre-Qualifying and the three-driver Qualifying sessions take place on Friday.

Saturday’s DESDER Indianapolis 8 Hour begins at 12:30 p.m. ET, with both the 2026 GTWC America and Intercontinental GT Challenge championships reaching their conclusions over eight hours of racing.

For now, GMG Racing holds the first benchmark of the weekend. Güven’s 1:24.333 gave the championship-leading Pro-Am squad the quickest time in the opening test, but with less than two-thirds of a second covering the leading 10 cars, the order remains wide open as Indianapolis moves towards its competitive sessions.