Sheldon van der Linde Claims Victory Over Earl Bamber in Dramatic IMSA Indianapolis Finish

Sheldon van der Linde executed a daring late overtake on Earl Bamber to clinch victory in the Battle on the Bricks.

Driving the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, van der Linde made the decisive move on Bamber’s No. 31 Whelen Cadillac V‑Series.R into Turn 12 while both drivers navigated traffic with five minutes thirty seconds remaining in the final sprint round—the penultimate race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The South African, who shares the cockpit with Dries Vanthoor, crossed the finish line 2.926 seconds ahead of Bamber on Indianapolis Motor Speedway’s 2.439‑mile, 14‑turn road course. This triumph marked BMW M Team WRT’s first IMSA win since joining BMW’s factory programme.

“Honestly, I was frustrated after the restart because whenever I got close to him in Turns 5 and 6, he would always find a way to get past me using the GT traffic,” van der Linde said. “But as soon as I took the lead, I felt goosebumps for the final three laps—that’s exactly what you want. Of course, you try to stay composed, but we had waited so long for this moment. I even bruised my ribs celebrating as I climbed out of the car.”

“I’m incredibly proud of Dries. He did an outstanding job. We’ve chased this win for a long time, coming close many times. It’s amazing.”

Bamber, who co‑drives with championship leader Jack Aitken, finished second. The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963, driven by Kevin Estre and Laurin Heinrich—who stepped in for the injured Laurens Vanthoor—took third place.

Aitken departed Indianapolis with a 147‑point advantage over Heinrich in the championship battle.

In LMP2, IndyCar star Christian Rasmussen delivered a massive fuel‑saving effort to secure victory for himself, co‑driver Nick Boulle, and Era Motorsport. In GTD Pro, the Ford Racing pairing of Ben Barker and Dennis Olsen prevailed despite a late‑race challenge from Corvette Racing’s Pratt Miller Motorsports entry of Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner. In GTD, Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher claimed the class win for Turner Motorsports.

The Indianapolis IMSA race, as it happened

Prior to the start, Winward Racing’s No. 57 Mercedes‑AMG GT3, which had earned pole position in the GTD class, was relegated to the back of the GTD grid after running its engine during the pre‑race ceremonies—a breach of Article 42.1.

When Acura Meyer Shank Racing’s Tom Blomqvist took the green‑flag lead, chaos erupted in Turn 1 as several cars made contact, notably the No. 7 Porsche 963 (Porsche Penske Motorsport) driven by Julien Andlauer and AO Racing’s No. 99 LMP2 entry piloted by PJ Hyett. Investigation revealed the incident began when the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT car of Dries Vanthoor slipped underneath the No. 6 Porsche 963 (Porsche Penske Motorsport) of Kevin Estre, who then struck Andlauer and triggered the collision. Andlauer sustained significant damage requiring major repairs, while Hyett’s LMP2 car was towed back to the garage for extensive work.

Blomqvist, driving the No. 60 Acura ARX‑06, led the field to the restart with two hours and twenty‑five minutes remaining. The No. 31 Cadillac V‑Series.R of Jack Aitken (Whelen Cadillac) made a bid for the lead into Turn 7 with two hours and twelve minutes left, but the attempt failed, causing Aitken to run wide and kick up dust from the right‑side tires.

The two drivers stayed locked in battle until Aitken seized the opportunity in Turn 7 with two hours left, as Blomqvist was briefly impeded by slower traffic.

Leaders in the other classes with two hours remaining were Chris Cumming (Pratt Miller Motorsports) led the LMP2 field, Neil Verhagen (Paul Miller Motorsports) was ahead in GTD Pro, and Tom Gamble (Heart of Racing) held the GTD lead.

With one hour and fifty‑four minutes remaining, the No. 9 Lamborghini Temerario GT3 (Pfaff Motorsports) driven by Andrea Caldarelli became the first GTD Pro entry to pit, prompting a driver change in which Sandy Mitchell assumed control.

Aitken’s advantage grew to more than five seconds with one hour and forty minutes left, while Blomqvist remained in second and Dries Vanthoor sat in third.

After a sequence of pit stops, the No. 31 Cadillac returned to the lead, but with Earl Bamber now behind the wheel in place of Aitken. Meanwhile, the No. 6 Porsche 963 welcomed Laurin Heinrich as its new driver, taking over from Estre and moving up to second with one hour and twenty‑three minutes left. Sheldon van der Linde relieved Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 BMW, which stayed third, while Colin Braun replaced Blomqvist in the No. 22 ORECA, falling to fourth.

Bamber led Heinrich by 1.9 seconds with one hour and seven minutes to go, while van der Linde trailed by 4.7 seconds in third. In LMP2, Paul Di Resta’s No. 22 ORECA 07 for United Autosports USA held the lead, extending his margin over Harry Tincknell (Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1 Mathiasen) to more than ten seconds. GTD Pro was paced by Frédéric Vervisch (Ford Racing) in the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3, and, after taking over from Gamble, Dude Barrichello kept Heart of Racing ahead in the GTD category.

A caution was deployed with fifty‑eight minutes remaining after Connor De Phillippi’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 Evo (Paul Miller Racing) sustained rear‑bumper damage from contact with the No. 4 Corvette Racing entry of Nicky Catsburg (Pratt Miller Motorsports).

The caution prompted a round of pit stops, during which Bamber emerged ahead of van der Linde, while Heinrich dropped to third.

Bamber led the pack back to green flag with just under fifty minutes left. Shortly thereafter, entering Turn 7, the No. 23 Aston Martin Valkyrie (Aston Martin Thor Team) driven by Roman De Angelis and the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (BMW M Team WRT) piloted by Marco Wittmann both ran off the track.

Although the incident occurred, the race stayed under green‑flag conditions. Di Resta retained the LMP2 lead, but the GTD classes saw shifts: Nikita Johnson, the freshly crowned Indy NXT champion, drove the No. 59 McLaren 720S GT3 Evo for RLL Team McLaren to the front of GTD Pro, while Robby Foley placed Turner Motorsports’ No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 Evo at the head of the GTD field.

With thirty minutes left, the fiercest battle unfolded in GTD Pro, where De Phillippi and Catsburg contested third place while Dennis Olsen, driving the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 (Ford Racing), advanced to second. Johnson, who had taken on less fuel during his pit stop, remained first but appeared unlikely to reach the finish without another caution.

At that moment, Bamber held a 1.6‑second lead over van der Linde, with Heinrich lagging far behind at 9.3 seconds.

However, the gap narrowed quickly when Bamber encountered traffic, enabling van der Linde to close to his rear bumper with twenty‑four minutes left. The advantage was brief, as Bamber restored a 1.667‑second lead over van der Linde with seventeen minutes remaining.

Moments later in GTD Pro, De Phillippi—running second—was spun off course in Turn 10 after contact from the No. 65 Ford Mustang GT3, which earned a drive‑through penalty.

With eight minutes remaining, Bamber’s lead had shrunk to 0.6 seconds over van der Linde as both cars encountered heavy traffic. Approaching Turn 7, van der Linde tried an outside pass, running door‑to‑door with Bamber, but could not complete the maneuver.

With five minutes and thirty seconds left, van der Linde executed a decisive inside pass on Bamber in Turn 12 to seize the lead. Bamber fell back to second, trailing by 2.3 seconds with less than two minutes remaining.

In LMP2, Rasmussen employed a clutch‑and‑coast strategy, easing the pace of the No. 18 Era Motorsport car in hopes of securing an upset class win. He held a twenty‑second lead over Tincknell as they approached the white flag. Meanwhile, the GTD Pro showdown was headed to a final‑lap duel between Olsen and Catsburg.

Ultimately, van der Linde claimed the overall victory, Rasmussen cruised to the LMP2 class win, Olsen outlasted Catsburg in GTD Pro, and Foley secured the top position in GTD.

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