Tanner wins 5th ISDC Indianapolis 500; JW finishes in 5th place
In another white-knuckle ISDC Indianapolis 500, the Watkins Motorsports Group finally cashed in on their opportunities. Racing at Indianapolis for the 5th time in league history, the duo of John and Tanner Watkins were able to both finish in the top-five during an exciting 500 kilometers of action.
Tanner eventually edged out four-time series champion Stephen Laarkamp at the line by 0.038 seconds to score the victory, and John captured his highest finish in the race by taking home 5th.
Over the course of 127 laps (3 of which were run under yellow flag conditions to set the three-wide start), Tanner led 88 laps in the race from the pole. It was his third ISDC Indianapolis 500 pole position. John, who was unable to make an official qualifying run the previous week due to scheduling conflicts, started in 25th place.
The race lasted just under two hours, with an official time of 1 hour and 52 minutes. Through 6 caution flags (for 18 laps), there were some interesting restarts that played a role in the race's conclusion.
With five laps remaining in the race, an accident involving Chris Gutierrez brought out a yellow flag that would set the stage for a frantic two-lap shootout for the victory.
Tanner and Laarkamp lined up ahead of John, who had worked his way into third place for the final restart. After a quick start, Tanner was able to hold off Laarkamp who challenged on the outside through both turns 1 and 2 as well as turns 3 and 4 on the final lap.
Laarkamp was able to get one final run on TW as they raced to the checkered flag, but ran out of frontstretch as the duo crossed the line with just feet separating them after 500 kilometers.
The win wraps up a highly successful week for TW's IndyCar program. On January 29, TW captured the pole for the WTS Indianapolis 500 and went on to win that race, before qualifying for the 5th ISDC Indianapolis 500 later that night. He would win the pole award with an average speed of 230.042 MPH.
To wrap the week up, a victory in the 5th ISDC Indianapolis 500 was redemption for two runner-up finishes in the first four installations of this event.
In an excellent run, John brought his Avery Huffman Defeat DIPG machine up through the field after starting 25th to secure his first top-five finish in a recognized Indianapolis 500 on iRacing. After making his final pit stop on lap 94, JW rolled the dice with TW and decided to stay out and stretch their fuel tanks to the finish of the race.
The track position left John running 3rd on the final restart, and he would wind up finishing 5th after the two-lap shootout.
The Watkins Motorsports Group now begins to shift focus towards the hectic Month of May, which will include the team's most busy month at Indianapolis to date. In May 2018, the team will compete at the 6th Running of the ISDC Indianapolis 500, four iRacing officially-sanctioned Indianapolis 500 Mile Races (including the prestigious top-split race on either May 18 or 19), and the Pacific Majors Indianapolis 500.
More events and dates may be added, so stick with our social media channels for the latest updates on all things WMG. We will also feature an updated WMG Month of May guide with team statistics and information ahead of the big races, and increased campaign efforts with our wonderful partner, the Avery Huffman Defeat DIPG Foundation.
Image courtesy of the International Sim Drivers Club.
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