INDIANAPOLIS — Sheldon van der Linde turned frustration into elation Sunday afternoon at Indianapolis Motor Speedway with a dramatic late pass to lead BMW M Team WRT to an overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class victory in the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks. Unofficial results f rom TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks Van der Linde drove the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, which he shared with Dries Vanthoor, under Earl Bamber’s No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R entering Turn 12 of the 2.439-mile road course. He pulled away to win the two-hour, 40-minute IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race by 2.926 seconds. The win marks the first WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory for the Belgian WRT team in its debut season managing BMW’s factory GTP program, Indianapolis Motor Speedway said in a news release. “I was actually really frustrated after the restart because every time I was close to him (Bamber), we were in Turn 5 and 6 and he always got a run on me on the GTs,” van der Linde said in the release. “As soon as I got into the lead, I got goosebumps with three laps to go, which is not ideal. You’re obviously trying to stay composed. We’ve waited so freaking long for this, man. I even hurt my ribs trying to celebrate on the way out of the car. I’m so proud of Dries. He did an incredible job. We’ve been fighting for this one for so long.” The WRT crew helped van der Linde move into second place behind Bamber during the final pit stop with 57 minutes remaining Sunday during a full-course caution. After the restart with 48 minutes left, van der Linde stalked Bamber as both navigated slower traffic from three other classes. With 27 minutes remaining, Bamber led by 1.282 seconds. Traffic slowed him over the next lap, allowing van der Linde to close within 0.287 of a second. Bamber later extended his lead to 1.516 seconds with 21 minutes left after van der Linde became stuck in traffic. The duel intensified with seven minutes, 10 seconds remaining when van der Linde caught Bamber. The two prototypes ran side-by-side in Turns 7 and 8 before Bamber momentarily reclaimed the top spot. With five minutes, 30 seconds left, both drivers approached Dennis Olsen’s Ford Mustang, which was running second in the GTD PRO class. Bamber moved left to clear Olsen, while van der Linde darted right, dove to the inside, and took a lead he held to the finish. “He did a great move,” Vanthoor said of his teammate in the release. “He sent it up the inside and made it stick.” Jack Aitken took the lead in the No. 31 Cadillac about 40 minutes into the race when he passed Tom Blomqvist in the pole-winning No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian Acura ARX-06. Aitken and Bamber then led, except for pit cycles, until van der Linde’s winning pass. LMP2 Class In the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class, Nick Boulle and Christian Rasmussen drove the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 to victory Sunday at the speedway. They finished 15.004 seconds ahead of the No. 52 Bryan Herta Autosport entry shared by Misha Goikhberg and Harry Tincknell. Rasmussen, who drives full time for ECR in the IndyCar Series, took the lead after Paul Di Resta — the first cousin of IndyCar legend Dario Franchitti — served a drive-through penalty for passing under yellow. Rasmussen managed his throttle in the final laps to save fuel, coasting across the Yard of Bricks for the win. “Nick did a great job in his first stint,” Rasmussen said in the release. “Kept it clean, drove around people and put us in a good spot. We knew it was going to be tight, but we committed to the fuel save super early. We got it done.” GTD PRO and GTD Classes The GTD PRO class featured the race’s most dramatic finish. Olsen, in the No. 64 Ford Mustang GT3 shared with Ben Barker, battled Nicky Catsburg’s No. 4 Corvette on the final lap. The cars made contact, forcing Catsburg into the grass and allowing Olsen to win by 0.993 of a second. The duel began after leader Nikita Johnson was forced to pit for fuel with one minute remaining. “I have a lot of respect for Nicky, and honestly I felt sorry for shoving him wide,” Olsen said in the release. “But at the same time, I had this prototype inside and didn’t know what to do. I tried to stay in the middle as good as I could.” In the GTD class, Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley won in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 EVO, beating Russell Ward and Philip Ellis by 0.501 of a second. The team dedicated the win to longtime driver Matt Dalton, an Indiana native who died in August. “This day is for our boy Matt Dalton,” Foley said in the release. “We miss him a lot. We knew he was with us today. This is his home track, basically, being from Indiana. This one is for him.” Support Series Earlier Sunday afternoon, three single-make support series completed doubleheaders at the track: Porsche Carrera Cup North America: Aaron Jeansonne drove the No. 24 Kellymoss Porsche 911 Cup car to victory, beating Janne Stiak by 1.651 seconds. Lamborghini Super Trofeo: Giano Taurino won in the No. 88 Taurino Racing Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo Evo2, finishing 2.939 seconds ahead of the car shared by Kiko Porto and Tyler Gonzalez. Whelen Mazda MX-5 Cup: Nathan Nicholson earned a narrow win, beating Jeremy Fletcher by 0.251 of a second. ...read more read less