The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is an endurance race. But at only a quarter of the time of the Rolex 24 At Daytona and half that of the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, and with most teams keeping the roster to two drivers, to many of the participants it feels like a sprint race. It’s either the shortest endurance race (and the third round of the Michelin Endurance Cup), or the longest sprint race on the schedule, depending on one’s point of view.
“The race length being six hours, that’s kind of unique,” declares Jack Hawksworth, coming into The Glen as leader of the GTD PRO points with Ben Barnicoat in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. “It’s somewhere between the sprint and endurance races. Yeah, there’s a lot of unique points to it. We usually get a good turnout there and this year, I think it should be should be even better with with the size of the field and with the new GTP cars.”
Watkins Glen International is a favorite among many of the drivers, and most are fans of the six-hour format — especially Bryan Sellers, currently leading the GTD points with Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3.
“I think Watkins Glen is always one of every driver’s favorite events to go to,” Sellers says. “Six hours is kind of like the perfect race distance. I wish they were all that distance; it gives you a race long enough to let strategy unfold. It brings everything into place — speed, strategy, your crew, your co-drivers. I just think it’s such a great event and, obviously, one of the pinnacle tracks in the U.S. It’s personally my favorite track, one of the ones you always look forward to. When you pull through the tunnel the first morning, I think you’re always excited to drive.
“It’s one of those tracks that I think everybody’s car is a little bit better there. It’s high grip, it’s smooth, it has a little bit of everything. It’s just a place that is generally pretty enjoyable to drive.”
With larger fields in the top class — GTP having swollen to nine cars with the addition of the JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 at the last event at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca — added to the presence of all five classes for the first time since Sebring and the influx of IMEC-only entrants, there are 57 cars slated for the Six Hours, only four fewer than at Daytona. That many cars on a 3.4-mile, 11-turn track makes for a lot of traffic, and the track itself can produce big speed differentials at certain points..
“It’s going to be very busy throughout and, as we’ve seen in the past, multiple safety car periods,” notes Ross Gunn, driver of the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage in GTD PRO with Alex Riberas. “As usual, it’s about making sure that you’re as safe as possible, but also being effective with time loss as well. There are a couple of pinch points; one that comes to mind is usually the bus stop, which can sometimes get a bit hairy. But all in all every race is unique, and you just have to be on your toes every time to make sure that you you make the right decisions at the right time.”
For the GTP drivers, that often means a split-second decision as to whether to make the pass or bide their time, as well as which direction to go. And they better hope that the other driver knows they’re coming.
“I think the GT drivers, they will need to be more aware of those mirrors,” says Filipe Albuquerque, who won last year’s race with Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura and is looking for the duo’s first victory of 2023. “I had a contact last year with a GT car because I was passing him in Turn 3, and he didn’t see me. These [GTP] cars are bigger, they need to make more room for it. Because when we come, the momentum is bigger. And it’s a fast, fast track. It’s going to be very interesting and eventful again, for sure, because when I see 57 cars on a track that is so small, I’d say it’s only like five cars less than at Le Mans, and that’s like three times bigger than Watkins Glen. So it’s gonna be crazy, but it’s always a great racing there.”
Albuquerque is one of many drivers still dealing with a 24 of Le Mans hangover, with the world’s biggest endurance race having taken place two weeks earlier. That list also includes Ben Keating, who won GTE-Am there with Corvette Racing but will be strapping back into the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports LMP2 ORECA with Alex Quinn and Paul-Loup Chatin. George Kurtz and Colin Braun also return to the States as Le Mans winners, having taken LMP2 Pro-Am honors. Kurtz sticks with LMP2 in the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR, while Braun rejoins Tom Blomqvist and the Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian squad in the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 GTP car. They’ll be re-united next week, though, as they head to another 24-hour race, this time the 24 Hours of Spa in a Mercedes-AMG GT3. Yes, for dozens of drivers, the Glen round is a six-hour race in between two twice-round-the-clock affairs.
The GTP teams will be looking to end the No. 6 Porsche Penske 963 squad’s streak of three straight podiums that has Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy on top of the point standings. Sebring winners Alexander Sims and Pipo Derani sit second for Cadillac Racing in the No. 31 Action Express Racing V-Series.R, while Albuquerque and Taylor are third in the standings. The No. 10 will be the only GTP entry to have a third driver, Louis Deletraz joining in as he has for the other endurance races.
TDS Racing’s Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas come into The Glen leading the LMP2 standings by 63 points over Keating and Chatin. Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga and Josh Burdon lead the LMP3 points by virtue of securing victory for the No. 74 Riley Motorsports team in the only points-paying race so far, Sebring.
The WeatherTech Championship is joined by Michelin Pilot Challenge, running a two-hour race on Saturday afternoon, plus a trio of IMSA one-make championships — Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America, Lamborghini Super Trofeo, and Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup, each running two races during the weekend. All of those one-make races will be streamed on IMSA.tv, as will WeatherTech Championship qualifying beginning at 1:15pm ET on Saturday.
Peacock will stream the Michelin Pilot Challenge Race on Saturday at 3:45pm ET, and the first half of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen beginning at 10:30am. USA Network takes over live coverage of the WeatherTech Championship race at 2 p.m. ET.