Mario Farnbacher completed a resilient drive at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway to bank further valuable points towards his 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign.
Two-time GTD-class IMSA WeatherTech champion Farnbacher collected the chequered flag at the six-hour Battle of the Bricks in a hard-fought 13th aboard Forte Racing’s #78 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2. Though pre-race mechanical gremlins and damage sustained during the opening stages of the race meant he could not demonstrate the full potential of the Lamborghini, points earned at Indianapolis, plus frontrunning performances at Mosport, Road America and the Virginia International Raceway, have left Farnbacher hopeful that he can sign off the season strongly at Road Atlanta.
“Sometimes, in motorsport, you have a weekend that just doesn’t go your way. It’s a shame, because we definitely didn’t see the true pace of the car at Indianapolis”, so Mario Farnbacher. “But I want to thank Forte Racing for all their hard work this weekend. I know we are capable of winning, and hopefully we can prove that at Petit Le Mans.”
Although unforeseen mechanical gremlins cost Forte Racing valuable setup time during free practice and qualifying, a vigorous start by Farnbacher’s season-long teammate Misha Goikhberg meant the #78 Lamborghini quickly gained positions during the opening lap of the race. Regrettably, an unsighted incident on-track left the #78 Huracan with steering issues that impeded progress thereafter. Eric Filgueiras (drafted in for the event) and Farnbacher nevertheless worked tireless to nurse the car across their respective stints.
“This was a difficult weekend straight out of the box. We had some problems that carried over from first to second practice, which cost us a lot of time finding a setup for the car. That put us on the backfoot for the entire weekend. We also had some contact damage shortly after the start, which we had to deal with for most of the race. When I took over the car, the steering wheel was completely offset.”
Running strongly enough to keep the GTD top 10 well within range, Farnbacher was eventually called into the pits for extensive repairs to the suspension – a consequence of the earlier damage – with only one hour left to run. Deft work by the Forte Racing mechanics meant Farnbacher was able to rejoin and complete the six-hour event well within the points.
Mario Farnbacher is set to close out this year’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. Impressively, the 2019 and 2020 IMSA class champion contested his first race in North America at Petit Le Mans in 2012, securing his first IMSA win in the process. The Ansbach native also took victory at the event in 2022.
