0
0
BHA’s Gottsacker and Filippi Awarded TCR Victory after Teammates Fail Postrace Inspection
March 14, 2025
By John Oreovicz and Holly Cain
IMSA Wire Service
Race Results
SEBRING, Fla. – In a milestone race for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge, on a milestone weekend for BMW M Motorsport, Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister delivered.
McAlister and Westphal combined to drive the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing BMW M4 GT4 EVO to a commanding 15.951-second victory over Jan Heylen and Luca Mars (No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS) in the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 at Sebring International Raceway. The two-hour contest was the 250th race of the Grand Sport (GS) class.
Francis Selldorff and Dillon Machavern capped a memorable day for BMW by claiming third place in the No. 95 BMW M4 GT4 EVO fielded by Turner Motorsport. This week, BMW is celebrating the 50th anniversary of its victory in the 1975 Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. It also marked the first worldwide victory for the new-for-2025 EVO version of the BMW M4 GT4.
Three of Westphal’s five Michelin Pilot Challenge race wins have come at Sebring.
McAlister qualified the winning BMW on the outside of the front row and slotted into third place at the start as an entertaining four-car fight for the lead unfolded. After the first round of pit stops which included a driver change, Westphal engaged in a furious scrap with Heylen for what was effectively the race lead as they pulled away from the rest of the field.
With 47 minutes remaining, the two protagonists pitted for the final time, and the BMW emerged with a narrow lead. Once in front, Westphal was able to build a gap over Heylen, who found his mirrors filled by the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 driven by Daniel Morad. But the charging Mercedes suffered a punctured right front tire in the final 10 minutes and dropped from contention.
Westphal continued to pull away until the checkered flag in one of the most dominant Michelin Pilot Challenge wins in recent memory. The last Michelin Pilot Challenge race to run caution-free was at Lime Rock Park in 2023.
“We got lucky with the traffic the entire day,” said Westphal. “I was able to put a couple lapped cars between us and the No. 28, and while they were fighting, I was able to stretch the gap.
“It feels fantastic, not just for BMW but for CarBahn and all the hard-working crew. We’ve really created a good group and have a good young driver in Sean.”
The win was the second in Michelin Pilot Challenge competition for McAlister, who added: “That was a very hectic race and going into Turn 1 was crazy. I just kind of ran it from there and could hand the car off to Jeff in a good position. Then the guys just killed it on the pit stop and solidified the win.”
The No. 28 Porsche never led a lap but ran in second place for most of the race. Following the misfortune of the No. 57 Mercedes, it was the last car in the hunt for the win.
“They were just too strong for us today,” said Heylen. “We knew coming in this was going to be a tough race for us, and I think our second place was probably better than we could have done on paper. We have to be super happy with it.”
Gottsacker, Filippi Elevated to TCR Win in No. 98 Hyundai
Bryan Herta Autosport has done it again – matching its season-opening win at Daytona International Speedway with a victory Friday afternoon in the Touring Car (TCR) class of the Alan Jay Automotive Network 120 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Sebring International Raceway.
The No. 98 Hyundai Elantra N TCR co-driven by the duo of Harry Gottsacker and Mason Filippi were ruled race winners following post-race technical insepction when apparent winners – their teammates Mark Wilkins and Bryson Morris – were sent to the rear of the finishing order in the No. 33 BHA Hyundai for having a refueling time less than the permitted minimum of 52 seconds.
The BHA team dominated qualifying and ran front of the field in Saturday’s two-hour race with the Wilkins-Morris No. 33 outpacing the 15-car TCR field. However, the Gottsacker-Filippi car consistently ran among the top three for the last hour of competition holding off LP Montour and Karl Wittmer in the No. 93 MMG Honda Civic FL5 TCR that was ultimately scored runner-up – 6.226 seconds behind the Gottsacker-Filippi car.
HART’s Chad Gilsinger and Tyler Chambers rounded out the podium in the No. 89 Honda Civic FL5 TCR.
It marks the first time in BHA’s decorated 16-year history that it has won the opening two races of a season, coming at two of the sport’s most iconic venues – Daytona International Speedway in January (Preston Brown and Denis Dupont) then at the historic Sebring track this weekend.
“We’ve never started a season this well ever, so that’s really exciting,’’ said Herta, a former star driver in his own right in both sports cars and Indy cars. “It was a really good race, really competitive, especially early on with the Honda, Audi, Hyundai all right there and that’s what you want to see.”
The victory was the seventh for Gottsacker, 25, and third at Sebring after the Texan swept both series wins at the historic Central Florida track during the 2020 season.
Friday marked the first win for Filippi, 26, at Sebring – his ninth career class victory and first since claiming the trophy in the Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta season finale last year.
The next round of the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge is the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca 120 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, set for May 10.
