Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen: Hour 4

There are definite raindrops on the racecourse right now.  Several cars have straightlined the inner loop due to water on the race track.  30 seconds left before bonus points are awarded.  Car #5 is on target for bonus points.  These boys have led the Patron Endurance Cup, all season.  Points will be awarded again at the ten hour Petit Le Mans at the end of the season, in October.  The #007 TRG Aston Martin which was leading GTD has dropped all the way down to eleventh place in class.  Unofficially, here are the Patron Cup leaders.  We'll have the info, soon.

Tricky conditions are starting to come back into play.  When it's going from wet to dry, the track gets better.  If it goes the other way, there's great grip, until you see raindrops.  Jordan Taylor loses control, and shortcuts the chicane.  You have to stop, and continue.  It can be a slick track, or, a distraction.  Did the #4 Corvette,stop?  It rolled through, and let Nick Tandy back around.  Falken Tire will not continue racing next year.  Maybe, Derrick Walker, will continue in the Tudor Championship.  We'll see.

The NAEC points are looking like this:

Prototype: #5 Action Express Racing

Prototype Challenge: #54 Core Autosport & #52 PR1 Matthiasen Racing

GT Le Mans: #911 Porsche North America

GT Daytona: #93 TI Automotive/ViperExchange.com

The #3 Corvette spun off the road, and thankfully, didn't hit anything.  The sister Corvette has now also taken over the GT LM lead.  Michael Valiante has taken over from Richard Westbrook.  Valiante has had a flu bug all weekend.  Renger van der Zande leads Prototype Challenge in the #8 Starworks car, sharing with Alex Popow.  Alex Popow is a part-time driver now.  He may move to a full-time drive, next year.

Lots of teams are eyeing racing in Europe, and especially, at Le Mans.  The #63 Ferrari pits.  They were on the LM GTE Am podium at Le Mans.  Townsend Bell, is at the wheel.  The #54 Core Autosport car, pirouettes and continues.  The rain is staying away for now as we look forward to more green flag pit stops.  Pit stop time for the #5 Action Express Corvette.  Barbosa held up Renger van der Zande.  Correction, Christian Fittipaldi is in the #5.  The #10 car pits and Jordan Taylor takes over the car.

The #60 MSR Ligier Honda is in the pits, with problems.  They tested here at Watkins Glen, and got assistance with the BoP.  They have a left rear suspension problem.  The left upright is broken, after John Pew, hit the wall, about 20 laps ago.  The #911 Porsche pits and so does the #25 BMW.  No driver changes in either car.  Eric Curran brings the #31 Action Express Corvette into the pits, sharing with Max Papis and Dane Cameron.  The #912 Porsche pits from fifth in GT Le Mans.  They were dealing with a bad wheel gun, and the safety peg on the spindle is broken.  They fixed the problem and put the air wrench on to change tires.  A clean pit stop, but not as perfect as they'd wanted.

The #17 Falken Tire Porsche also pits.  The wheel pins, are spring loaded, by the way.  Wolf Henzler takes over the #17 machine. If you have a tablet or a mobile phone, check out the new IMSA app.  The #73 Porsche is sixth in GT Daytona, with a tire going flat.  Patrick Lindsey is at the controls.  Sadly, the tire came apart.  But, thankfully, the tire was replaced.  There are still some puddles of water coming across the track.

The #911 Porsche has had suspension and steering issues all race.  Worn tires, really affect the handling.  Mixed conditions, is the cure.  But, if it's one or the other, then, that's not the best.  Markus Palttala has the wheel of the #97 Turner Motorsports BMW Z4 GT.  They have struggled, but are getting advantages from the BoP.  They could be in good shape.  The #62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 458 Italia, pits.  Pierre Kaffer and Giancarlo Fisichella share it.  The all-time lap record at Le Mans was held by the Porsche 917 (the great, amazing car), on the Mulsanne straight without chicanes.

But, the modern Porsche, cut some amazing lap times, with the chicanes that have existed for 25 years.  Still an amazing win for Porsche.  Raindrops are coming back into the picture.  You can't use rain tires on a dry track, because the rain tires will tear themselves to shreds.  The #38 PC car still goes for it.  They are unfortunately, in damage control.  The #007 Aston Martin is in the pits.  Did they drop a cylinder?  They would be on eleven of the twelve cylinders.    Christina Nielsen is presumably at the controls.

Ooh, some argy bargy between Madison Snow and Marco Seefried.  We've got a changing race track.