McElrea masters Indianapolis for first IMSA win

Alongside Denmark’s Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas of the United States, the trio won the LMP2 division by 26 seconds over Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports.

McElrea’s stint was pivotal in winning the contest, putting the #11 in the lead. They stayed out of trouble while some of their rivals faltered.

Era Motorsport’s Connor Zilisch recovered to third after a drive-through penalty for making contact with Paul Di Resta that left the United Autosports entry wounded.

Having led the race inside the final hour, Di Resta went on to finish seventh and one lap down.

Matt Brabham was the highest-placed Australian in the Battle on the Bricks, finishing fourth in the LMP2 class with AO Racing and co-drivers Paul-Loup Chatin and PJ Hyett.

Josh Burdon was fifth in LMP2 with Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson for Riley Motorsports.

The Battle on the Bricks was won outright by GTP duo Phillip Eng and Jesse Krohn who led a Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing one-two with Nick Yelloly and Connor De Phillippi second in the sister BMW.

Louis Deletraz was on course to finish third for Wayne Taylor Racing with co-driver Jordan Taylor until the Acura swiped two-time Bathurst 1000 winner Chaz Mostert at the chicane.

The SunEnergy1 Mercedes-AMG GT3 went sliding through the grass in the GTD Pro class, ending any hopes of a comeback for the all-Australian line-up that included Jordan Love and Kenny Habul. The trio finished seventh after six hours.

Porsche’s Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy inherited third overall in their 963 once the Deletraz/Taylor Acura ARX-06 took it’s drive-through penalty, which dropped them to fifth.

In GTD, Scott Andrews was 15th in class for Lone Star Racing in the Mercedes-AMG shared with Rui Andrade and Salih Yoluc.

New Zealand’s Brendon Leitch was 12th in GTD for MDK Motorsports alongside Kerong Li and Ander Fjordbach after a turbulent day saw them penalised twice for on-track incidents.

The IMSA SportsCar Championship has just one round remaining at Road Atlanta for Petit Le Mans on October 13 (AEDT).

Results: IMSA SportsCar Championship Battle on the Bricks, Indianapolis Motor Speedway