It was a day for first-time winners in GTD PRO and GTD. Conquest Racing, in only its second GTD PRO outing, took victory with Daniel Serra and Giacomo Altoe. In GTD, it was Turner Motorsport with the No. 96 BMW M4 GT3 finishing on top. While Turner and driver Robby Foley are no strangers to victory lane – although it had been since Mid-Ohio in 2022 – it was the first victory for Patrick Gallagher, who joined the team at the beginning of 2023.
Conquest Racing came back into IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition this season with a GTD Ferrari 296 GT3 for Albert Costa Balboa and Manny Franco. The team added Daniel Serra for a run with Costa in GTD PRO at Detroit, but this was the first time the team had run two cars, the No. 35 Ferrari 296 in addition to the No. 34 GTD entry.
The team had had pace all weekend, but it was strategy that delivered the win. The Ferrari made it to the end on a single stop thanks to the team taking a risk not to pit early when everyone else did, and the frequent yellows in the second half kept the car with sufficient fuel to make it to the end. It was the first victory for Conquest since 2012 in the LMPC category.
“I think, honestly, we were not expecting to fight for the win,” said Serra. “When you enter a like this, GTD Pro — and we came just for these race — all the mechanics, everyone working for the first time…. We were not expecting to fight for it, but in the end, the team did a super job. We gambled a bit with the strategy, we stayed out on the first yellow. We knew we had the speed, but we don’t have really the straight-line speed to fight the other cars, so we stayed out, got track position and were lucky with the yellows. In the end it was a good call, and we finished with the fuel light on the last lap, so it was on the limit. We are super happy.”
Serra last won in IMSA competition in the 2024 Rolex 24 at Daytona with Risi Competizione, but it was Altoe’s first win in his third start.
“It feels absolutely amazing, I have to say, because IMSA is one of my favorite championships because it delivers some really good shows, and the level is crazy high,” Altoe said. “To deliver and to bring home the result is never easy, for sure, especially for us. As Danny said, the whole package was new for us – the first time sharing the car with Danny, first time with the team for me. Everything was new, but I think we get along very well in just a few days, and to bring home the victory today, it’s a great achievement. I’m really thankful to the team. They did an amazing strategy and work, all weekend long.”
Serra had to fend off a late charge by Bryan Sellers in Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 as he and Madison Snow are seeking their first win since moving to GTD PRO, but in the end had a 1.873s margin over the BMW. Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas finished third for Heart of Racing in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.
Laurin Heinrich, now partnered with Julian Andlauer in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, keeps the GTD PRO points lead at 2256 points on the strength of a fourth-place finish for the pair, although Gunn closed the gap to 76 points. Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth are third in the standings at 2083 points. On a day that Corvette Racing celebrated its 300th event start and started both its cars at the front, fifth place for Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia was the best they could salvage, but it keeps them fourth in the points ahead of Sellers and Snow. That fifth-place finish is somewhat remarkable giving that Sims was beached in the Turn 5 gravel on the first lap after Mike Rockenfeller in the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang GT3 made a late dive inside.
In GTD, Vasser Sullivan Racing pushed the No. 12 Lexus RC F GT3 as far as it could go on fuel, but when Parker Thompson had to get a splash to make it the final few minutes, Robby Foley inherited the lead and drove the No. 96 BMW to 1.13s victory the No. 70 Inception Racing McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff.
Fortuitous yellows highlighted Road America for every class, not least for the Turner Motorsports crew edging toward running on fumes near the end. Richard Dole/Lumen
“At one point we were on strategy, thinking we were looking good. A couple of those yellows put us off strategy, then the next yellow gave us that advantage back,” explained Foley of the back-and-forth of the race. “So, to be honest, until the last yellow, I wasn’t good on fuel. We were able to save quite well, so I was kind of hoping that that would play out, and maybe that was going to be our way to victory today. The last yellow for us set us good on fuel. I think also the McLaren and everybody behind the Lexus was still quite close.”
It was the first win for Gallagher, and the first win for Turner in two years. Gallagher and Foley have been friends for a long time before becoming teammates, so the win was special.
“It’s just awesome to be here with Robby,” Gallagher said. “I’ve said this before, but him and I, whatever, seven or eight years ago, living in a basement in Monticello, New York, working at a racing school … and to get my first WeatherTech win with him and Turner, and going through all that stuff with him, is just unbelievable. And, yes, there is going to be a celebration.”
Turner is well known for celebrating a victory with tacos – the team’s pit sign is a light-up taco sign – but Foley indicated in a post-race interview that a popular Wisconsin beer might be involved in the revery as well.
“It’s a bad day to be a Spotted Cow,” he told IMSA Radio’s Shea Adam.
Korthoff Preston Motorsports looked to be on verge of a good day and perhaps its first GTD victory for the No. 32 Mercedes AMG, but getting caught out by a caution on a pit stop put them out of the lead. Still, Kenton Koch, in his first appearance in the car in a sprint race, was running third in the final minutes after taking over from polesitter Mikael Grenier, who had led most of the early laps. However, contact with Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes AMG sent Koch off track, and the team ended up seventh.
In contrast, it was a great day for Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer, who moved up steadily throughout the race and then went from seventh to third in the chaotic closing laps to claim a first podium for the No. 66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX Evo22 ahead of championship leaders Russell Ward and Winward Racing. Matt Bell and Orey Fidani were fifth in the No. 13 AWA Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.
Ellis and Ward still lead the standings by 268 points over Gallagher and Foley. Thompson sits third, with a 258-point gap to the Turner pair.
The GTD PRO and GTD teams have the next race to themselves as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship features its GT-only weekend at VIRginia International Raceway in three weeks.
RESULTS
