Connor De Phillippi in the #25 BMW Team RLL M8 GTE led most of the final hour of the IMSA WeatherTech Series race at Road America, but he ran out of fuel on the lap before the white flag was waved and had to park the car.
The car that he shared with Alexander Sims was classified sixth at the end of the two-hour-forty-minute race, two laps behind the winning #67 Ford GT driven by Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe. The #25 car’s last pit stop was quick, but the team discovered after the car had returned to the track that the fuel tank had not been completely filled. The #24 M8 GTE driven by John Edwards and Jesse Krohn retired late in the race with a mechanical problem; it was classified eighth.
Team principal Bobby Rahal said, “The No. 25 car must be a little askew in the fuel tank. It looked like there was enough during the last pit stop, but there just wasn’t. It’s tough to be that close to winning the race, but we leave knowing we’re competitive.”
In the GTD class, the #96 Turner Motorsport M6 GT3 shared by Markus Palltala and Robby Foley appeared to be headed for a podium position, but Alessandro Pier Guidi in the #63 Ferrari bumped the BMW several times on the last lap, forcing the car to run wide. The hits dropped the car to fourth. Pier Guidi had moved into fourth by bumping and passing another car, the Mercedes AMG of Jeroen Bleekemolen. Patrick Long and Christina Nielsen won the class in the #58 Porsche. Palltala was substituting for Bill Auberlen, who had a minor accident at home. Auberlen will be back when IMSA competition resumes at VIR in two weeks.—Brian Morgan
