The picturesque, Seneca Lake in the Finger Lakes region of upstate New York, is home to one of the premier road courses in all of the United States. This is Watkins Glen International Raceway. This town, Watkins Glen has known road racing and sports car racing, since the late 1940s and early '50s when the streets of the town, were the circuit, until "The Glen" as it is known, was built in 1957. Formula 1 raced here for two decades. NASCAR has raced here. But truly, this place is renown, for sports cars and the fabled 6 Hours of Watkins Glen, a race that is experiencing another renewal today as round three of four in the Michelin Endurance Cup for the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship.
There are combinations through the field, in each class of two or three-driver lineups in each car depending on the class. All five classes are racing today. Daytona Prototype International, LMP2, LMP3, GT Daytona Pro, and GT Daytona. A grand total of 48 cars will be starting today's race. 3.4 miles of twists and turns and plenty of elevation change here at The Glen await the drivers. You want to race? If you insist. At the price I can't resist. What kind of drama will we see today? It's summertime on Seneca Lake and we are set to race. We have a star studded field of drivers. This is the biggest field at Watkins Glen since 2014.
The weather is comfortable now, but we are going to have heat and stickiness and in the last few hours we could see rain before this motor race is done and dusted as we welcome Kevin Lee, Townsend Bell, and James Hinchcliffe in the broadcast booth. It is the shortest of the four endurance races. Traffic will be a big deal and the championship fight is on. When you feel like a superhero, everyone else does, too. It is the case of best frenemies or worst enemies, maybe. This is cutthroat stuff. Three prototype classes against the GT3 cars. All five classes are represented today for the first time since the 12 Hours of Sebring back in March.
Acura are at the top of the shop and we see the Ganassi Cadillac team gaining momentum. Will the two Action Express Cadillac's have a say in this? #31 and #48. Horses for courses dictates the Acura boys might have a performance edge and the same at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park next weekend. In GT Daytona Pro and GT Daytona, the battle is also hot and heavy for the production-based cars. The GT3 cars. The #9 Pfaff Motorsports entry wants a championship. They won in class at Laguna Seca Raceway. The Porsche's may not quite have the speed here at Watkins Glen. Stevan McAleer is the starting driver, on pole in GT Daytona for Korthoff Motorsports and the #32 Mercedes. #9 has Matt Campbell and Matthieu Jaminet racing as a duo.
Team Korthoff has Mike Skeen, Stevan McAleer, and Dirk Mueller. In LMP2, the car to beat is the #81 DragonSpeed entry that won Mid-Ohio. Henrik Hedman, Juan Pablo Montoya, and Sebastian Montoya. Nico Varrone in the FastMD #40 entry is here to win in LMP3 and not going for points. Watch the traffic. Keep it close. Be fully committed. Tom Blomqvist has been the chap to beat in practice and qualifying. Here we go. Split start today between prototypes and GTD cars. Let's go racing! This is going to feel like a sprint. Away we go!
Blomqvist to the lead and here comes Filipe Albuquerque as Tristan Vautier tries Earl Bamber. Acura's side by side into the Inner Loop for the first time, and Filipe Albuquerque leads passing Tom Blomqvist. Sebastien Bourdais hanging tough and here come the GTD Pro and GTD cars and that is a mixed candy dish with several flavors after qualifying. Ben Barnicoat and Richard Heistand in the two Lexus cars. Corvette Racing struggling for pace. Ross Gunn in the Aston Martin wants a bite of the cherry and so does the Winward Racing Mercedes in the hands of Russell Ward. Now then, Wright Motorsports also pressing on early doors.
Protect the bodywork. We have a pit caller. The #36 Andretti Autosport LMP3 entry. Pfaff Motorsports, working their way through GTD as Matty Jaminet passes the Risi Competizione #62 Ferrari 488 GT3. Richard Heistand, focused forward in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. Argy bargy ahoy with Ferrari vs. Porsche. Davide Rigon closing the door in Matty Jaiminet's face. GTD Pro have red highlights while the GTD cars have green accents but other than that, no difference.
Albuquerque in the lead of the moor race. Blomqvist may be saving petrol early doors here. Decision making and strategy are everything. The Acura fight is on, look. How many cars can I pass? What can I do? Be smart. It is a chess match. Push the button. Don't wait. This is a big wad of traffic and the track is hot and grippy right now. The DPi cars can move around the outside and the one lap is the only clean lap you are going to get and you will be in traffic the whole way which really racks your brain as a driver. Your mind will be firing on all neurons, on all cylinders.
Sports car racing, you get the behavior of a certain car, but the driver teams, every driver has a different technique for how they drive and now, the Action Express Cadillac's are beginning to move up with Kamui Kobayashi in the #48 and Olivier Pla in the #31. The Ally Financial and Whelen Cadillac's. #48 had to have an engine change and also a brake issue that had to be fixed. The track is billiard table smooth with boatloads of grip. Recapping the start, Filipe Albuquerque punches a hole in the air and is right on Blomqvist's six. He can't afford to go for it and just lets Albuquerque go.
The two Acura's are fighting for the top spot in the points. Connor De Philippi in the six cylinder BMW vs. Ross Gunn in the V8 Aston Martin. Late night for the BMW RLL bunch replacing a power steering pump on the #25 entry. Traffic, traffic, traffic. That is the name of the game here. The Aston Martin brings more power but in the braking zones and corners, the BMW M4 GT3 has the handling advantage. The Aston is sometimes a bear to drive. Turner Motorsports struggled at the Rolex 24 but since then they have turned it on and so has Paul Miller Racing. They have been with the series this year since Sebring and did not race the Rolex 24 at the beginning of the year.
185 mules an hour top speed for DPi and 160 for GTD. So, a 25 mile an hour speed gap. Yikes. Luis Perez Companc saves it without getting hip checked by the #8 Tower Motorsports LMP2 entry. That is Rui Andrade sharing with John Falb and Louis Deletraz. AF Corse is Ferrari's factory team. They have run in FIA World Endurance and in SRO endurance as well I believe. Luis Perez Companc, Simon Mann, and Toni Vilander as Jordan Taylor in the #3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R is passed. Taylor sharing with Antonio Garcia. The rearview camera for the Corvette is something all cars use but at times it works and other times it does not.
Corvette says they are down on power and speed. They need to bring more power compared to the Porsche's the Lexus cars etc. Watkins Glen, you can drive defensively but you have to get to the top of the shop to be able to do that, to be able to run at maximum attack. Whoa! Big spin and a crunch into the barriers with two LMP3 cars. #74, the Riley Motorsports car and heavy damage on the #7 Forty7 Motorsports car. Anthony Mantella at the wheel of it while #74 is Gar Robinson. This is a short yellow so it will not include pit stops. #74 spins, Gar Robinson, and Mantella has nowheree to go. Tom Blomqvist is a lucky luck boy to get through that with no damage!
Holy mackerel! Blomqvist, thankfully is able to continue. Filipe Albuquerque as well, he skated by too. Way too close for comfort early doors in a six-hour race as Mantella is now back on the road and he is going to drive back to the lane, but the front left fender is gone. It looks like an open wheel racer on the front left corner. Through The Carousel, he would not be scored going through The Carousel but could get back soon. A major story this weekend. Yesterday, in Michelin Pilot Challenge, Robert Wickens completed his comeback and won in class in Michelin Pilot Challenge! He has done it!
He has run races since DTM and now finally has a win for the first time since DTM when they raced the Class 1 touring cars back in the day. Sebastian Montoya is confident about his race today racing with Juan Pablo Montoya, his dad, and Henrik Hedman, the Swede, currently in the #81 DragonSpeed car. There is a DPi split for the restart as well as one for the LMP2 and LMP3 cars over the GTD Pro's and GTD's. Meyer Shank started to show winning pace and they might have the edge over #10 in the Acura camp. In the Cadillac camp, we have seen Ganassi Racing going for it and Action Express, they want a bite of the cherry. They really, really do. Could today be the day? They have two bullets with the #31 and the #48.
We have the next sprint race at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park (Mosport Park), next weekend, for another sprint event. It will be summer, so, fans north of the border, do not wear too much flannel. It will be too hot. The Pfaff Motorsports Porsche has received two track limits warnings. Do not start making mistakes and watch out for turns one, eight, and ten. Matthieu Jaminet, keep it on the blacktop, sunbeam. Ben Keating and company topped off on petrol so they can go longer than their competition in LMP2, Keating sharing with Scott Huffaker and Mikkel Jensen.
He is racing the #11 Win Autosport car of Steven Thomas with Josh Pierson and Jonathan Bomarito. In LMP3, watch for the #38 Performance Tech car of Dan Goldburg, Rasmus Lindh, and Cameron Shields. We are green again and the Acura's train length everyone else! Sebastien Bourdais asleep at the switch, maybe. The tires are like a wet snowball picking up more. Olivier Pla moves past Tristan Vautier. Pla won here with Mazda in 2019. He is sharing with Pipo Derani and Mike Conway. In GTD, Ben Barnicoat squeezes by Stevan McAleer! McAleer, the GT Daytona leader. Barnicoat in GTD Pro, he had the spot.
Richard Heistand in the sister car, the GTD car, he is pushing early as well, look. He is right ahead of Matty Jaminet and Davide Rigon. In GTD, Robby Foley leading in the #96 Turner Motorsports BMW M4 GT3 sharing with Robby Foley and Michael Dinan. Bill Auberlen won overall in Michelin Pilot Challenge with Robby Foley in their M4 GT4 yesterday. Driving defensively is Matty Jaminet in the #9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche. As a driver, you race GTD as one big class. The separation means zilch.
As things spread out it is two classes but when it is close quarters it is a whole GT3 event. Jaminet is leading the championship and he can't make hay while the sun shines here at Watkins Glen with the fast, long duration turns, which we will also see next weekend at Mosport north of the border. Ross Gunn has been monstering Connor De Philippi in GTD pro and has uncorked fastest lap. We do not know the time. Gunn and Roman De Angelis won the Sprint Cup in GTD last year. Gunn was runner up in GTD in Detroit on the streets of Belle Isle in the last race there, ever, a few weekends ago. Ben Barnicoat is without Jack Hawksworth as a co-driver after he had a training accident on his motocross bike. Kyle Kirkwood is the sub.
Kirkwood will run the middle of the race and he and Barnicoat are one of the two-driver teams. Kirkwood is recovered from his hand injury he suffered at Belle Isle in Detroit. Matthieu Jaminet was warned for track limits and now, he has been bluing on the radio about Ben Barnicoat also cutting the curbs and is very angry about it. Actually, it is Richard Heistand that "Jam Jam" is upset with. If all four wheels are outside the red and yellow curbs, that is what the stewards are looking at. You see times deleted in qualifying. What will the Race Director decide. Track limits actually are per car. So, your other drivers inherit these penalties.
What one chap does counts for the next chap in the car. Blomqvist is carving through the GTD traffic and those guys just cannot hit a disappear button. Impossible. This is motor racing. Not a spy movie. Kamui Kobayashi is on the charge looking to get by Kamui Kobayashi. Traffic management is critical. Three wide splitting the Ferrari! Kobayashi vs. Bourdais! The DPi's come up so fast on the GTD cars. It's like a rocketship. DPi pit stops coming up. Jimmie Johnson is next up in the #48 and he is running his first race since the Rolex 24 and was in the Cadillac simulator. He has raced in IndyCar a lot this year.
Jimmie Johnson is using eyeglasses for the first time. Johnson put the work in this weekend. These drivers, sometimes, are trusted simulator drivers for Formula 1 teams. Davide Rigon with Ferrari. Ben Barnicoat with Mercedes. Pit stop time now for the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW with their patriotic livery before Independence Day. These tires have full stints on them including qualifying. We may be seeing driver changes in GTD. The #27 Aston Martin for Heart of Racing also in the lane. Back on track now. Pit stop time too for the #31 Whelen Cadillac with Olivier Pla. Mike Conway on the pit box observing things before his stint. He is not going to drive yet. Olivier Pla will do a double stint.
Pla has clean track and will catch GTD traffic and carve his way through. In GT Daytona, meanwhile, Robby Foley did pass Stevan McAleer who si right up on Foley's six. We are watching tire degradation with the qualifying tires. The Mercedes is great on old tires. Trouble again, look, for the LMP3 boys. #36 and #33. Jarett Andreti in the #36 Andretti Autosport car and Dr. Lance Willsey dives in late and turns Andretti, synchronized spinning. No man's land. Willsey spins off.
Loose wheel. Henrik Hedman loses the left front wheel from the #81 DragonSpeed car and now the two Acura's are in the lane. They have beat the caution flag. Tires, fuel, and a driver change. Did Olivier Pla take tires in the #31? We have to check. Blomqvist a double stint. Trouble on the right front for Albuquerque. Blomqvist back in front and the #81 lost the wheel coming to the lane. No left side tires for the #60. GT Daytona and LMP2 and LMP3 cars in the lane now.
Poor old #33 is still stranded. Ferrari #62 in the lane. This is very busy right now. The blokes in GTD are concerned about tire wear. Full Course Yellow. Full Course Yellow. The safety truck comes to rescue the #33. So, Blomqvist passes Albuquerque for the lead. #81 has four ew tires. In replay, in turn eight, he gets all crossed up when the left front tire departs. You've picked a fine time to leave me, loose wheel! That thing is bouncing up and down and thank God that tire did not fly into the air! Jeepers creepers! I would have a Captain Cook at that hub on the left front to make sure the thing isn't broken.
John Farano must pit the #8 Tower Motorsports car. Thomas in #11 and Keating in #52 have hit the lane. Same in GTD with a couple pit takers. The bonus points are awarded for Michelin Endurance Cup at the three hour mark. Restart is imminent. Watkins Glen has hosted tons of different racing. Formula 1, NASCAR, IndyCar, sports cars. You name it. It has been here. #8 gives up the LMP2 lead to pit. They will do a top off. A splash and a dash. Emergency service. They will have to come in and now, pardon the pun, they are behind the eight ball. The safety car is a Cadillac CT4 Black Wing. A gorgeous IMSA track edition version.
They have a Watkins Glen edition, a Sebring edition, and a Road America edition I believe. We saw the tire off the #81 and the team at DragonSpeed suspects only a wheel nut failure. No worries in the hub department. Pits open for the prototypes and we will see a wave by. In replay, the tire says, "no. I will stay here and zoom across the road." That thing just shot over at 100 miles an hour and went 100 feet in the air and landed on a section of track from the short course. #5 and #48 are taking their fuel, topping up. The #58 MLT Motorsports LMP3 is in the lane as well. Josh Sarchet sharing with Tyler Maxson and Dakota Dickerson. Maxson has raced Michelin Pilot Challenge and other touring car championships.
He won 11 TCR races in SRO America a few years ago. Jimmie Johnson now at the wheel of the #48 Ally Cadillac for Action Express and Hendrick Motorsports. He was on the Dallara simulator in Indianapolis, Indiana. The sim racer is a two-story room built as the cockpit of a racing car and the engineers have a pit box on the lower level. Jimmie Johnson has also done only half the course here at Watkins Glen. The Boot is the specific part of the long course here at WGIR. Jimmie Johnson is using glasses in competition. The comfort factor has to be there if drivers wear glasses and it is not comfortable in certain situations inside your helmet.
FastMd Racing are running well. Nico Varrone was on pole and now, Max Hanratty has taken over. James Vance is the third driver.
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