Sahlens 6 Hours – Syndication Server

Heart of Racing and Winward net fortune reversal wins at the Glen

The GTD PRO and GTD class victories in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen really came down in large part to luck. Wherever a team might have ben in the race for the first two thirds didn’t matter when the skies opened up with 1h46m to go in the …

When that happened, cars went sliding off track, several getting beached in the gravel traps, and others such as the No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 having serious contact with the wall. All that brought out a full-course caution that eventually turned into a red flag due to standing water on the track.

Cars that didn’t get into the pits for wets before the full-course caution and closed pit that preceded the red flag seemed screwed at first, but were saved by the long red flag. With dry tires already on the car when the race restarted, they didn’t need to visit the pits again and gained track position. For most, fuel wasn’t a concern.

Those that stayed on slicks included the top three in GTD PRO as the race headed for a restart with 16m left, led by Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R, followed by Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and Marvin Kirchhofer in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S Evo.

Gunn hounded Milner and attacked several times, but couldn’t get the move done. Milner’s defense of the lead came to nought because the Corvette had had its final pit stop earlier than the others and was low on fuel. Milner pulling into the pits for a splash as the final lap began handed the victory to Gunn and Alex Riberas. It was Heart of Racing’s first victory of the season in the WeatherTech Championship, as well as the first for the Evo version of the Vantage GT3.

“The end was very exciting,” declared Gunn. “We were fortunate that we were in a position to fight for the lead. I was aware that the Corvette was really, really tight with fuel and I just had to push Milner as hard as I could and not allow him to save any fuel. That worked out pretty well. Coming on to the home straight with him peeling off on the last lap was definitely something I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life. It was an amazing team effort from everybody.”

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The victory was momentous for a winning team that has had some struggles this season.

“I would say it’s without a doubt one of my proudest wins because it was such a big team effort,” said Riberas. “We were down for a bit. We made some mistakes, and I would say that really is a test for the team. I would say it’s never the first mistake that is the costly one, it’s always the second and the third mistake and today we didn’t let the first mistake dictate our faith for the rest of the race. We stayed together. We didn’t point fingers or panic. We stayed focused on controlling what we could control and making the most out of it. Ultimately that ended up leading to making a decision that had a big impact in the outcome of the race.”

Kirchhofer and Oliver Jarvis finished second in the Pfaff McLaren, followed by Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims saving a bit of face for Corvette by putting the No. 3 in third.

The victory moved Gunn – Riberas has missed some races this year due to conflicts – into third in the GTD PRO Championship with 1572 points to Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth’s 1583 in second. Seb Priaulx and Laurin Heinrich continue to lead the championship for AO Racing at 1632.

Winward Racing found itself in a similar situation as the GTD PRO leaders, having been on slicks through the red flag and ready to go as the race resumed on a dry track. In fact, despite the weather, the team never went to rain tires. Winward took the GTD victory for Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG. It was the team’s fourth GTD victory in five races this season, and Winward has swept the Michelin Endurance Cup races so far.

“You saw a lot of mixed weather conditions,” explained Ellis. “Very heavy rain coming down at times and then sometimes just a bit of drizzle, which made some some others fall for it and then take rain tires. For most of the race, I’d say we were always on the right tires at the the right time. To be honest, we were bit lucky with red flag coming out — just had to roll the dice that we were fueled enough to make to the end. After that it was just keeping the cars behind. The team, Russell and Indy have done an amazing job with very difficult conditions today.”

Ellis had to first fend off the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 with polesitter Parker Thompson at the wheel. Attacking on the outside going into the Inner Loop, Thompson ended up missing it and fell down the order. The No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with Jan Heylen at the wheel was then closing on Ellis, but Heylen, Elliot Skeer and Adam Adelson didn’t end up with second due to a drive time violation. The No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Manny Franco, Albert Costa Balboa and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli was second, followed by John Potter, Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

Ward and Ellis now have almost a full race win lead over the competition, their 1745 points being 315 more than Patrick Gallagher and Robby Foley. It’s been a remarkable run for the team in 2024.

“The drivers kind of just did their jobs today,” said Ward. “We didn’t bin the car, didn’t run it off up off track. It’s just a testament to the group of people we put together.”

RESULTS

Restarts and luck key to Porsche, AF Corse wins at Watkins Glen

As the clock started on the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the sixth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, polesitter Louis Deletraz quickly found his No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 GTP car swamped by competitors and as he slid backwards in the field. Five-and-three-quarter hours later, as he led the field to the green on the final restart, it happened again as Felipe Nasr pushed his No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 past in Turn 1.

Nasr then held off Renger van der Zande and the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R to take the second win of the season for he and Dane Cameron after the Rolex 24 at Daytona, and the third win of the season for Porsche Penske Motorsport. Nasr and Cameron became the first repeat GTP winners in 2024 and padded their championship lead.

“I knew I was going to have one chance, and that one chance came right at the restart,” explained Nasr. “All I did was work my tires and brakes as hard as I could just to get temperature in everything and as soon as we got the get-go in the last corner I could see the car ahead of me struggle and I said, ‘Man, I’m going for it,’ and made the move stick. Then it was all about managing the traffic ahead.”

We’re back to GREEN FLAG racing!
Only 15 Minutes to go.#IMSA | @WGI pic.twitter.com/C4JHK9F8NM

— IMSA (@IMSA) June 23, 2024

In between that first start and the final restart were four hours of survival and a red flag for a track with an inch of water on it. The race had an almost full reset with 16 minutes of all-out sprint racing to end it.

Weather was expected to play a part, and it did, often throwing a wrench into strategy and reversing the course of several team’s fortunes. The first shower came at almost exactly halfway. At that point, Nick Tandy was demonstrating the speed of the PPM 963s by pushing the No. 6 to a 15s lead.

The No. 7 was slightly off sequence and stayed out while the rest of the field pitted during a full-course caution that came out with 3h51m remaining. When the rain started, most cars pitted for rain tires, but Cameron hadn’t brought the No. 7 in when a full-course caution came out for a crash that ended up blocking pit-in. Running low on energy, it looked like Cameron was out of luck, but as the field circulated under yellow, the rain stopped and the track began to dry. When Cameron was finally able to pit the No. 7 for fuel, the team kept the slicks on the car.

“In the moment, honestly, it felt like we were a bit unlucky and we thought we had kind of got it wrong,” said Cameron. “It seemed okay — little bits of rain — and then suddenly a big downpour came on the front. I thought we were a bit in the s***, and I thought we missed it. Then it went yellow and suddenly it’s like, ‘Well, it’s going to be dry. We’re going to be fine here.’”

At the restart, Cameron had the car in the lead after a lap, and then all the others pitted for slicks as well. The PPM Porsche luck seemed to run out later when the second rainstorm began with 1h46m left. All the GTP leaders came in for wets. Both Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s got trapped in their pit boxes in the crowded pit lane, and while the No. 6 and No. 7 had been first and third, respectively, they ended up fifth and sixth while the two Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06s led the field, the No. 40 leading the No. 10.

The downpour sent several cars sliding off track, which triggered a full-course caution. That became a red flag as water overwhelmed the track and cars could barely stay on the pavement even behind the safety car. By the time the race went green with 16 minutes left, it had undergone a complete reset.

When the red changed back to a full-course caution and the field was back under the safety car, all the cars that had pitted for wets came back in for slicks, as the track was nearly dry again. Deletraz led in the No. 40 Acura, but Nasr had come out of the stop in second, followed by van der Zande in the No. 01 Cadillac, Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 PPM 963 and Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8.

The restart was delayed by the No. 10 Acura losing a wheel, leaving only 16 minutes of intense racing to go. When it came, it was almost a replay of the start 5h45m hours prior, when Deletraz was swamped by the cars behind as he struggled to get temperature in the tires. Nasr and van der Zande were by quickly, Nasr making his move in Turn 1 at the green. Jaminet followed a short time later, pushing Deletraz back to fourth.

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“It’s that [intense] feeling of no time to waste and that’s how we went into that final with the traffic,” said van der Zande of the chase. “[The GT cars] are also obviously also fighting for their position, so at one point going into the chicane with a Corvette and I think an Aston Martin, they were fighting each other and then I come around as well. It’s quite tricky, and it’s really a dance between those cars and us to not touch each other, but we made it happen. This championship is the only championship in the world [that] has that kind of racing, which is very particular and very cool.”

The No. 6 PPM 963 of Jaminet and Nick Tandy was third, and Deletraz and Jordan Taylor fourth as the top four finished in championship order.

The No. 25 BMW of De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly was an improbable fifth. De Phillippi had crashed the car in the closing minutes of the second practice session on Saturday morning, damaging the monocoque. The test car had to be shipped in from Indianapolis, and BMW M Team RLL crew had to get to work in the early hours of the morning to move most of the back half of the crashed car onto the substitute chassis.

The crew got it done in time for the race, but missed the installation lap. That meant the car had to start from pit lane and serve a subsequent drive-through penalty.

The No. 25 crew was aided by problems for the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, which needed a new nose after Pipo Derani had contact with traffic, and the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 serving a long penalty for contact with the Michelin RFID readers at pit exit.

Cameron and Nasr now lead the GTP points by 93, with 2044 to van der Zande and Bourdais with 1951. Jaminet and Tandy are third with 1912, followed by Jordan Taylor and Deletraz with 1845.

With newly minted 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 88 ORECA for its final stint, AF Corse took the LMP2 victory, with Nielsen, Luis Perez Companc and Lilou Wadoux Ducellier.

“It’s been a good couple of weeks I would say,” Nielsen said. “I’m happy to take my maiden win in IMSA as well — super competitive championship. I think we’ve been fast and competitive the whole IMSA season, but we’ve just been a bit unlucky. Obviously with the contact and then the fire in Sebring, that didn’t really help us, but I’m very happy to bounce back here.”

The No. 88 was nearly taken out a couple of times, once on the first lap as Dwight Merriman poked the nose of the No. 18 Era Motorsports ORECA inside and spun Companc, and at the end of the race when Felipe Fraga tried a similar move, but only spun his own No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA. It was one of several moments of luck that led to victory.

“We were actually a bit lucky with the first big shower we had when we had the safety car then replaced by the red flag, because we actually started the refueling and then it started to rain heavily in the pit lane and then we decided to go on the wets. Once the restart happened it was more or less already dry again, so I would say we were lucky and then we were a bit unlucky again. More or less everyone had to box for either tires a fuel,” explained Nielsen.

“In the end there was just a hard fight with Colin Braun and Felipe [Fraga]. Racing here is always tough.”

Fraga recovered to finish third on the track, but the second-place No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR team of Colin Braun, George Kurtz and Toby Sowery fell afoul of drive time rules, so Fraga, Gar Robinson and Josh Burdon claimed second. The No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA of Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillman and Nick Boulle finished third.

Merriman, Ryan Dalziel and Connor Zilisch maintain their LMP2 points lead, but they’re now only four points better than the Riley Motorsports squad, 942 to 938.

RESULTS

No. 7 PPM 963 claims second IMSA enduro of the year at Watkins Glen

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen was a matter of 4h40m of survival, some massive strokes of luck that looked awful and turned positive, and 16 minutes of sprint racing. A sudden downpour that began with 1h46m left in the race sent several cars …

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen was a matter of 4h40m of survival, some massive strokes of luck that looked awful and turned positive, and 16 minutes of sprint racing.

A sudden downpour that began with 1h46m left in the race sent several cars sliding off track which triggered a full-course caution. That became a red flag as water overwhelmed the track and cars could barely stay on the pavement even behind the safety car. By the time the race went green with 16 minutes left, it had undergone a complete reset.

Before the yellow flew, all the GTP leaders came in for wets. Both Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s got trapped in their pit boxes in the crowded pit lane, and while the No. 6 and No. 7 had been first and third, respectively, they ended up fifth and sixth while the two Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06s led the field, the No. 40 leading the No. 10.

When the red changed back to a full-course caution and the field was back under the safety car, all the cars that had pitted for wets came back in for slicks, as the track was nearly dry again. Louis Deletraz in the No. 40 Acura led, but Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche had come out of the stop in second, followed by Renger van der Zande in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 PPM 963 and Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8.

The restart was delayed by the No. 10 Acura losing a wheel, leaving only 16 minutes of intense racing to go. When it came, it was almost a replay of the start 5h45m prior, when polesitter Deletraz was swamped by the cars behind as he struggled to get temperature in the tires. Nasr and van der Zande were by quickly, Nasr making his move in Turn 1 at the green. Jaminet followed a short time later, pushing Deletraz back to fourth.

With the No. 01 Cadillac now on the tail of the No. 7 Porsche, van der Zande started pressuring Nasr, but Nasr’s decisive moves in traffic kept van der Zande at bay. Nasr crossed the finish 0.749s ahead of the Cadillac, giving him and Dane Cameron their second win of the season after the Rolex 24 at Daytona and padded their GTP championship lead over van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais. In this sixth race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, Cameron and Nasr became the first team to win more than one race. The sister 963 of Jaminet and Nick Tandy was third, and Deletraz and Jordan Taylor fourth as the top four finished in championship order.

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With newly minted 24 Hours of Le Mans winner Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 88 ORECA for its final stint, AF Corse took the LMP2 victory, with Nielsen, Luis Perez Companc and Lilou Wadoux Ducellier. The No. 88 was nearly taken out a couple of times, once on the first lap as Dwight Merriman poked the nose of the No. 18 Era Motorsports ORECA inside and spun Companc, and at the end of the race when Felipe Fraga tried a similar move, but only spun the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA.

Fraga recovered to finish third on the track, but the second-place No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR team of Colin Braun, George Kurtz and Toby Sowery fell afoul of drive-time rules, so Fraga, Gar Robinson and Josh Burdon claimed second. The No. 52 Inter

Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA of Jakub Smiechowski, Tom Dillman and Nick Boulle finished third.

The GTD PRO and GTD classes really came down in large part to luck. Cars that didn’t get into the pits for wets before the full-course caution and closed pit that preceded the red flag seemed screwed at first, but were saved by the long red flag. With dry tires already on the car when the race restarted, they didn’t need to visit the pits again and gained track position.

GTD PRO’s top three followed suit, led by Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R, followed by Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo and Marvin Kirchhöfer in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S Evo.

Winward Racing found itself in a similar situation, having been on slicks through the red flag and ready to go as the race resumed on a dry track. Winward took the GTD victory for Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG. It was the team’s fourth GTD victory in five races this season, and Winward has swept the Michelin Endurance Cup races so far.

Ellis had to fend off the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R with Jan Heylen at the wheel at the end, but Heylen, Elliot Skeer and Adam Adelson didn’t end up with second due to a drive time violation. The No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Manny Franco, Albert Costa Balboa and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli was second, followed by John Potter, Andy Lally and Spencer Pumpelly in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo.

RESULTS

Red flies at the Glen with WTR’s No. 40 Acura leading

A sudden downpour with 1h46m left in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen sent several cars flying off track, causing a long yellow flag that turned red as water overwhelmed the track and lightning was reported in the area. The clock is still ticking, …

“You could see nothing, and then you could also see nothing,” laughed Ricky Taylor during the red flag. “It was just so much water, even at 80mph you could start aquaplaning.”

The sudden rain sent several cars off track, and beached several, including the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R and the No. 21 GTD-class AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3. The top two LMP2 cars went off, including the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA in the hands of Hunter MNcElrea that slid into the Turn 1 tires.

A more serious accident for Loris Spinelli in the GTD class No. 78 Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 has ended the race for that team.

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The stoppage saw the two WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06s at the front, the No. 40 leading the No. 10, and the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 in third. The Two Porsche Penske Motorsports 963s found themselves stuck in the crowded pit lane when they pitted for rains, and had to be pushed back and forth to get out. Nick Tandy in the No. 6 963 had been leading when the rain started, with the No. 7 963 in third.

The red flag makes it likely that most cars won’t need fuel to finish the race, but those that changed to rain tires before the red flag will likely need to switch to slicks sooner rather than later.

Weather uncertainty adds to Watkins Glen Six Hours challenge

Sunday brings a slight break to the heat that the teams have had to deal with over the last couple of days, but also a greater chance of thunderstorms during the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. The thunderstorms could bring a little rain or, in more severe cases, hail and lightning. The latter will shut down the proceedings, as happened a couple of years ago. At any rate, it will still be quite warm and humid, which will take a toll on drivers and crew.

Drivers haven’t had any experience at WGI in the rain this weekend, as thunderstorms have skirted the track and kept it relatively dry for the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship sessions.

GTP and LMP2 teams have seven sets of Michelin hard-compound tires for qualifying and race, which should be sufficient so that they don’t have to double stint. GTD and GTD PRO teams have had nine sets to use throughout the weekend.

Rain tires don’t count against allocations, so if there is rain, that makes the tire situation even easier to deal with. However, the drivers that experienced the Michelin rain tire at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend note that too much water can overwhelm the sipes in the tread, and they wear out quickly once the track starts to dry.

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Polesitter Louis Delétraz says he expects heat to be factor with the tires if it stays dry, but also expects some yellows with the number of cars on track, so the tire degradation may not be as bad.

Minimum drive time for the pro classes, GTP and GTD PRO, is 30 minutes. The minimum drive time for LMP2 and GTD is 1h30m. The Pro-Am classes must use three drivers, while the pro classes have the option of using only two.

BMW replacement chassis ready to go

The replacement chassis for the No. 25 BMW arrived from Indianapolis and the BMW M Team RLL crew went to work quickly to prepare it for today’s race. The basic operation was taking the back half off the car that crashed in practice yesterday and mating it to the test chassis. The team is confident that the car will be ready for the race, although having it ready for inspection and making it to the installation lap is in question.

Why use three?

Most of the GTP and GTD PRO teams have opted to stick with their two full-season drivers. Whelen Cadillac Racing is one of the exceptions, bringing endurance addition Tom Blomqvist in to assist Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken.

“He’ll be a fresh face, which will be welcome,” said Aitken of Blomqvist. “Tom in Daytona and Sebring was pretty invaluable, not just because he was bloody fast, but he has a wealth of experience with this breed of cars. So he has a lot of input on the setup side as well. So I think we ended up being a pretty strong trio in that regard. It makes me quite confident that we’ll get the car into a good place pretty quickly. And I look forward to having an extra couple of hours’ rest in the race as well.”

How to watch/listen

The first half of the race, scheduled for an 11:10am ET start, will be carried on the USA Network. The race in its entirety will be streamed on Peacock, or on IMSA.tv outside the U.S. IMSA Radio will also cover the race, and fans can find the stream on

IMSA.com as well as RadioLeMans.com. SiriusXM live race coverage begins at 11 a.m. (XM 206, Web/App 996).

Records fall in Glen qualifying as Deletraz takes pole for Acura

Deprived of a proper qualifying session for last year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen due to inclement weather, the GTP runners made up for it with an exciting session where every driver was under the existing track record, set during the race last year. Louis Deletraz came out on a top of a rapid-fire fast lap rotation to take the GTP pole with a 1m32.309s lap, good for a 132.6mph average around the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit.

“It’s great to be on pole,” said Deletraz. “The car was fast today — very fast — and I felt good, so I could really push straight away, get the grip and put it on pole, so that’s nice. But we know what’s important is Sunday and the race; the points are tomorrow, so to be sure winning in Sebring was nice, but it’s quite far away. We had some harder weekends in Laguna and Detroit, so we’re looking forward to bouncing back here.”

Renger van der Zande, making his first qualifying appearance for Cadillac Racing since Daytona in 2022, held the top spot briefly in the No. 01 V-Series.R before Deletraz pipped him by 0.038s. The No. 01 will start on the outside of the first row.

Jack Aitken posted a 1m32.519s lap to start the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R on the inside of the second row. The No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 found itself the best of the four 963s in the field courtesy of Phil Hanson’s 1m32.525s to put the car outside the second row. It will be the two Porsche Penske Motorsport 963s on the third row, Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 besting teammate Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 by 0.069s.

Philipp Eng, in the only BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8 to qualify, will start seventh, and the Lamborghini SC63 will start ninth after Andrea Caldarelli qualified the car with a time identical to Gianmaria Bruni in the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche. Caldarelli posted his time first, so he gets the better grid position. Those identical times were 0.714s off Deletraz’s pole time, and that was the margin for the whole GTP field.

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PJ Hyett put the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA known as “Spike” on top, then kept lowering his best time to take the LMP2 pole — his second of the season — by an impressive 0.682s over Daniel Goldburg in the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA. Hyett’s 1m35.925 was good for a 127.6mph average around Watkins Glen. It’s Hyett’s second consecutive pole in three LMP2 races, the first coming at Sebring.

“I got my first racing license when I was 38 years old…I’m 41 now so haven’t been doing this for very long,” explained Hyett. “It’s one of those…unbelievably magical things about motorsports. I wouldn’t call that a perfect lap. There are still 12 things I think I could have done better about that lap, but when you see the time after you go over the start finish…yeah, it’s a magical feeling.”

Steven Thomas qualified the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA at 1m36.609s. Nick Boulle was fourth in the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports entry, followed by Ben Keating in the No. 2 United Autosports ORECA.

IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup team Risi Competizione will start the Six Hour on the GT pole after Daniel Serra set a new GTD PRO record in qualifying. Serra’s 1m44.203s (117.46mph) in the No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 beat a two-year-old record set by Connor De Phillippi in a BMW M4 GT3, as well as the GTD record set by Loris Spinelli last year in the Forte Racing Lamborghini Huracan.

“The track was quite different from this morning and everything that we changed worked very well,” said Serra as Risi looks to back up its Daytona win and second at Sebring. “I think the starting position doesn’t decide your end position in the race; it’s six hours of racing. We have a lot to do tomorrow, but of course it’s better to start in the front; track position is quite important especially at this track where it’s very difficult to overtake. I’m very happy and I have to say thank you to the team that gave me a really nice car.”

Parker Thompson was the sole GTD interloper in the GTD PRO top 10, scoring his third pole of the season in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. His 1m44.642s time was good for sixth overall in the GT field. He’ll start on the outside of the third row of the GT cars with a nice buffer of GTD PRO cars between him and the closest GTD competitor, putting the No. 12 in good position to defend its victory from last year.

“We know our Lexus RC F agrees with Watkins Glen. It agreed today in qualifying,” Thompson said. “This place is unbelievable for a qualifying lap. It’s fun to drive in the race, but for one lap, squeezing everything you can out of it, it’s probably the best one lap you could ever get as a race car driver — tons of commitment. Glad I got it done today for the No. 12 team, but nobody remembers who wins the pole; they only remember the guys in victory lane, so we’ve got a job to finish tomorrow.”

Despite having a puncture on the left rear of the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R and losing the carcass on the track as the checker fell on the session, Alexander Sims qualified on the outside of the front GT row with a time 0.114s off Serra’s. Ross Gunn put the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo on the inside of the second row with a 1m44.387s. Jack Hawksworth will start alongside Gunn in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F. The second Corvette, the No. 4 Z06 GT3.R qualified by Nicky Catsburg, will be inside Thompson’s Lexus on the third row.

Onofrio Triarsi put in his best qualifying performance to qualify the No. 023 Triarsi Competizone Ferrari 296 second in GTD with a 1m45.242s (identical to the time Franck Perera turned in the No. 19 GTD PRO Iron Lynx Lamborghini). The time was the twelfth-fastest in the GT field as a whole, and the Ferrari will start outside the sixth row. It’s two GTD Mercedes AMGs in the row behind; the seventh row will be the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports entry (Mikael Grenier) and the No. 57 Winward Racing car (Russell Ward).

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen is scheduled for a green flag at 11:10 a.m. ET on Sunday.

RESULTS

Eng puts BMW ahead in second Watkins Glen practice

It was highs and lows for BMW M Team RLL in the second practice session for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, with Philipp Eng posting the best time of the GTP field in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 shortly before Connor De Philllippi put the No. 25 …

The No. 24 spun exiting Turn 1, sliding across the track and hitting the barrier on drivers’ right, ending teams’ opportunities to run a qualifying simulation at the end of the session. That perhaps preserved Eng’s top time of 1m33.725s (130.59mph), set in the final 20 minutes of the session. Mathieu Jaminet posted the closest time to Eng’s, a 1m33.900 in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 to lead Renger van der Zande in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R by a mere 0.058s.

Tom Blomqvist set the best time of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing squad and the fourth-best overall, with Richard Westbrook putting the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 in fifth.

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Felipe Fraga was credited with a somewhat astounding time in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA to lead LMP2 and head even one GTP car. His 1m35.269s (128.48mph) lap was 0.678s better than the rest of the field, led by Colin Braun with a 1m35.847s in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA.

Nicklas Nielsen, still reeling in his 24 Hours of Le Mans victory for Ferrari AF Corse, had the third-best LMP2 time, a 1m36.135s in the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA. Bijoy Garg (No.22 United Autosports ORECA) and Nico Varrone (No. 81 DragonSpeed ORECA), both also Le Mans winners in 2024, completed the top five.

Madison Snow topped GTD PRO and the GTs overall in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, at 1m44.907s (116.67mph), a time 0.023s better than GTD leader Parker Thompson in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.

Daniel Serra had the second-quickest time in GTD PRO in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 at 1m45.010, 0.538s better than Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Alexander Sims (No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R) and Jack Hawksworth (No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F) rounded out the top five.

GTD championship leader Winward Racing had the second-best time in the class, courtesy of Russell Ward’s 1m45.766s in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG GT3. The other Mercedes AMG in the field, the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports entry, was third quick in the hands of Mikael Grenier at 1m45.860s. The No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 with Antonio Fuoco and the No. 44 Magnus Racing with Andy Lally at the wheel were fourth and fifth.

Aside from the session-ending red flag, the test was interrupted by one other for Lance Willsey spinning the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier LMP2 car into the barrier at Turn 9. Several cars received drive-through penalties during the session for multiple track limits violations, and several of those were handed multiple drive-throughs.

Qualifying is next, starting with the GT categories at 3:30pm ET. Qualifying will be carried live on Peacock and on IMSA.tv.

RESULTS

Penske Porsche’s Cameron leads opening Watkins Glen practice

The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 sat at the top of the time chart after the 90-minute first practice session for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, courtesy of Dane’ Cameron’s 1m34.175s (129.97mph) lap, accomplished quite early in the session. The time was about a second off the GTP lap record, which was set in last year’s race after qualifying was rained out.

The first session was expected to be impacted by weather, as is Sunday’s race, but the worst was a few drops on windshields, never enough to cause tricky track conditions. The session was interrupted twice by red flags, both for the same car. John Farano spun the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 car and made contact with the barrier in Turn 1 about 18 minutes into the session, causing a six-minute stoppage. The car was repaired quickly with a new wing and bodywork, and then Charlie Eastwood had a bigger crash with 14m remaining, causing a 10-minute red flag.

Tom Blomqvist set the second-quickest time in the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing V-Series.R, 0.172s off Cameron’s best, with Filipe Albuquerque third at 1m34.452s in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06. Philip Eng made it four manufacturers in the top four in the No. 24 BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8, with Nick Tandy completing the top five in the No. 6 PPM 963.

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Mikkel Jensen edged out Felipe Fraga for the top time in LMP2 by only 0.046s, his 1m35.531s (128.13mph) lap in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA enough to keep the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA off the top. Nico Varrone, fresh off an LMP2 Pro-Am victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans and a late addition to the No. 81 DragonSpeed entry, was third at 1m35.636s. Eastwood put the No. 8 in fourth before his crash, and Connor Zilisch completed the top five in the championship-leading No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA.

AO Racing got off to a good start in its attempt to take three consecutive GTD PRO victories in the No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R, as Laurin Heinrich topped all the GT cars with a 1m45.242s (116mph) lap. He was followed in the GT ranks by the GTD-class No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes AMG, Scott Andrews putting in the best lap at 1m45.402s.

Bryan Sellers put the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M 4 GT3 into second in GTD PRO at 1m45.590s, 0.174s quicker than Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Antonio Garcia (No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R) and Daniel Serra (No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3) rounded out the top five in GTD PRO.

A pair of Ferraris were second and third in GTD behind Andrews, Alessio Rovera turning in a 1m45.862s time in the No. 023 Triarsi Competizione 296 for second and Miguel Molina 0.137s back in the No. 21 AF Corse 296. Andy Lally put the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo into fourth, with Robby Foley fifth in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4.

The second practice session takes place tomorrow morning, the 90-minute session beginning at 9:10am ET.

RESULTS

UPDATE: RLL BMW wins Watkins Glen Six Hour after Porsche penalized post-race

The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 won the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday after the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 was assessed a penalty in post-race technical inspection. Driving the No. 6 Porsche, Mathieu Jaminet …

Driving the No. 6 Porsche, Mathieu Jaminet made a daring pass of Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW for the lead while both cars battled through lapped traffic with just five minutes remaining in the historic six-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Watkins Glen International. That’s the way the cars finished as a full-course caution came out a lap later and the race finished under yellow.

However, in post-race inspection, the No. 6 Porsche was found with a skid block measuring less than the permitted minimum thickness and was moved to the rear of the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) finishing order, elevating the No. 25 BMW to victory.

It is the first win for the German manufacturer in the modern GTP era, meaning all four marques participating in the hybrid-electrified class in this debut season have now won in the first five races. The victory is the sixth of De Phillippi’s WeatherTech Championship career. Co-driver Nick Yelloly picked up his maiden series win.

Finishing second in the revised podium are the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R in second place with drivers Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken. Filling out the revised podium were Tom Blomqvist, Colin Braun and the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06 in third place.

Nine GTP cars were among the record-tying field of 57 entries for the race, the fifth of the 2023 WeatherTech Championship season, but several GTPs encountered issues during the race.

The No. 24 BMW crashed into the Turn 1 barrier on the opening lap and was eliminated. The No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac sustained damage an hour into the race after spinning while trying to avoid a slower GT Daytona (GTD) car. The No. 7 Porsche 963 led 35 laps early before heading to the garage for repairs to its hybrid power system. And the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 fell from contention when it lost a wheel assembly on track and had to slowly make its way to pit lane for a replacement.

The next round of the WeatherTech Championship is the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, July 14-16.

REVISED RESULTS

Lexus doubles up in GTD at Watkins Glen Six Hour

Jimmy Vasser was all smiles behind the podium celebrations for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team having scored its first double victory by capturing both GTD and GTD PRO with its pair of Lexus RC F GT3s. For the No. 12 GTD squad of Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, it was extra sweet as they headed the GT field overall.

“What a day for this team and the organization,” beamed Telitz. “I’ve been with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus racing for four years now and I gotta say this is coolest, best day we’ve had, and the best day I think I’ve had as a driver overall. It feels pretty good.”

The victory was Telitz’s fifth in IMSA WeatherTech Championship competition, Montecalvo’s second and Thompson’s first.

The No. 12 had been out front most of the day. The team did have its challenges, notably from the Iron Dames as Michelle Gatting battled with Montecalvo for the lead in the middle of the race. A short time later, though, the Lamborghini Huracán was given a mechanical black flag for a tire specification violation, which happened to a number of teams, especially among the GT cars. The violation could have been tire pressure outside the specifications, or a malfunctioning TPMS unit.

Lone GTD-class car out front, the No. 12 — with four GTD PRO teams right behind them, led by the No. 14 of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat — came into the race as championship leaders. They padded that lead with their second win of the season and kept their podium streak alive.

Vasser Sullivan’s sister car in GTD PRO had to survive a mid-race battle with the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo22 of Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper. That challenge ended when Caldarelli was passing Rob Ferriol in the No. 42 NTE Sport Lamborghini, and both got hit by Alex Kirby in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier LMP3, ending the race for both Lamborghini teams. After that, the win for Hawksworth and Barnicoat should have been easy, except for a drive-through penalty for violating the pit-lane speed limit.

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“When I got in the car for the final stint, that was not how I was expecting things to play out,” explained Hawksworth. “The boys had done amazing job all the way through the race; we made really good calls at the right time. And you know, Ben had done a fantastic job and it kind of looked like at that point, as long as we didn’t get a caution or something, that it was going to be kind of plain sailing to the end of the race. Obviously, we don’t know exactly what what happened yet, why when I left the box the PLC wasn’t controlling the speed…”

That set up a final battle where Hawksworth first had to get by the No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R and then fend off polesitter Daniel Serra in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3. Hawksworth was stuck behind Antonio Garcia in the Corvette for a long time. He finally saw his opportunity, and dove inside at Turn 7 to take the apex away from Garcia. That slowed Garcia enough that Serra was able to sneak through as well.

“I don’t know if a prototype kind of held him up or something but I got slightly better run off Turn 7 than I had on the previous laps. I was just slightly closer. I think I caught him by surprise a little bit and then got back to the lead,” Hawksworth said.

Hawksworth then had a fight on his hands as Serra was doing everything he could to catch and pass the Lexus. Serra and Davide Rigon finished second for Risi, with Garcia and Jordan Taylor third.

To overcome the speed violation and come back to take a double victory for the team was the cherry on top of a season that has been about as good as can be imagined for the team.

“The amount of work that we’ve been putting in as an organization has been phenomenal and I see myself as incredibly lucky to be here at Vasser Sullivan Lexus racing,” said Barnicoat. “Days like today show that. We’ve had a great run of form this year and the No. 12 guys have been doing just as good of a job. GTD in some ways can be harder to get good results – there’s more cars and they’ve certainly deserved a win for a long time, so it’s great to see them finally get that. I’m super pumped for them and for Parker as well – his first win as Lexus driver, which is great for everyone involved.”

The drive of the race came from the Paul Miller Racing crew. A disconnection between steering wheel and dash left them sitting in the pits, eventually going two laps down. Some lucky breaks with pass-arounds and wave-by enabled them to get their laps back in one go, and Corey Lewis, Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow put their heads down to move through the field to get to second and bolstered the championship lead.

“We got a pretty fortunate yellow there and it had to fall the right way, and it did,” explained Sellers “And then you have to make the right call on the stand, when to stay out, when to pit and they did it. We were super lucky with how it fell, where we were on track; we got our two laps back in that one yellow. And then from there, they just told me to go and said, ‘Go as hard as you can and see how far we can go. ’And the positions just kept coming. The car was super strong. It’s unfortunate that we didn’t have a run at the whole race with the electrical problem early, but I think you’ve got to look at days like today and say, when you come back like that, it’s a really great day.”

Ryan Hardwick, Jan Heylen and Zacharie Robichon finished third in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R.

RESULTS