WRT BMW leads Indy 8 Hour at halfway; race red-flagged for lightning

With the skies over Indianapolis Motor Speedway darkening and rain threatening, the Indianapolis 8 Hour was under its first full-course caution as the countdown clock hit four hours. The caution came not for an incident on track, but rather for lightning in the area as the promised thunderstorms rolled in. That yellow would shortly turn into a full stop under red. 

The two WRT BMW M4 GT3 EVOs were at the front when the caution flew, the No. 177 with Raffaele Marciello at the wheel leading Kelvin van der Linde in the No. 46. Should the race finish like that, Marciello would wrest the Intercontinental GT Challenge drivers title from van der Linde.

Luca Stolz ran third in the No. 888 Mercedes-AMG Team GMR Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO, followed by the No. 91 Random Vandals BMW. Running fourth – the first GT World Challenge America car – puts the Vandals' Kenton Koch and Connor De Phillippi in a solid position for taking the GTWC Pro championship. 

The No. 18 RS1 Porsche 911 GT3 R ran fifth overall, as Pro-class cars occupied the first nine positions. The first Pro-Am car was the No. 21 Herberth Motorsport Porsche 911 GT3 R in 10th overall, followed by the No. 29 Turner Motorsports BMW. Turner was the first GTWCA Pro-Am car, putting Justin Rothberg and Robby Foley in a solid position to claim their second consecutive title.

Dollahite Racing's No. 6 Ford Mustang GT3 led the Am category. 

Mercedes AMG Team Lone Star Racing, which inherited the pole after the No. 51 Random Vandals BMW M4 GT3 EVO was found underweight, led most of the first hour with Lin Hodenius at the wheel of the No. 80 Mercedes-AMG. The team saw its chance for victory severely wounded after Hodenius made contact with the Earl Bamber Racing Porsche while lapping it. The nudge turned the Porsche around and Hodenius was handed a drive-through penalty.

Several contenders struck trouble just after the three-hour mark. The Pro-class No. 51 Random Vandals BMW had to visit the garage for a throttle body issue. The No. 11 DXDT Chevrolet wouldn't start after a pit stop and had to be pushed back to the garage. Wright Motorsports' No. 120 Porsche had to change a toe link after contact with the No. 4 CrowdStrike by Riley Mercedes AMG, for which Wright had to serve a drive-through penalty after a lengthy pit stop.

The No. 11 Corvette of Blake McDonald, Matt Bell and Alec Udell was in contention for the GT World Challenge America Pro-Am championship, but McDonald and Bell needed everything to go right in order to beat Rothberg and Foley. The car would return, but 24 laps down on the leaders.