IMSA Watkins Glen 6 Hours Friday report

At a warm and sunny Watkins Glen in Upstate New York, the track has gone green for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen with the first two practice sessions of the weekend. The third round of the Michelin Endurance Cup and sixth championship round overall sees a field of 36 cars go head-to-head on Sunday – one car fewer after a heavy crash involving the #19 Moorespeed Audi R8 LMS GT3 driven by Will Hardeman.

The #6 Acura Team Penske (Dane Cameron/Juan Montoya) finished Friday practice for the Watkins Glen 6 Hours with the fastest time of the day. During the second session the DPi championship chasers noted a 1:30.014, besting the #55 Mazda Team Joest’s (Harry Tincknell/Olivier Pla/Jonathan Bomarito) 1:30.690 set in the morning session.

With a time of 1:34.373 in the first session PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports claimed the fastest time of the day in LMP2. The Oreca LMP2 squad of Matthew McMurry, Gabriel Aubry and Eric Lux are one of only two LMP2s in the field – the second entered by Performance Tech Motorsports.

In GT Le Mans it was the #67 Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT driven by Richard Westbrook and Ryan Briscoe that went quickest, setting a time of 1:42.321 in the afternoon with which they improved on their own fastest GTLM class time set in the opening session. The second-fastest time of the day came at the hands of the #3 Corvette Racing piloted by Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia. The Corvette C7.R duo clocked a 1:42.559 in the second session.

Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3 pilots Spencer Pumpelly, John Potter and Andy Lally claimed top spots in GT Daytona in both sessions, their 1:45.406 from the first session the fastest of the day. The #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 was with a fastest lap of 1:45.652 only a couple of tenths behind.

The GTD class saw the withdrawal of the #19 Moorespeed Audi R8 LMS GT3 following a heavy accident by Will Hardeman in the first practice session. The American crashed at the Bus Stop chicane after which his car caught fire. Hardeman was cut out of the Audi by emergency services and taken to hospital where he was diagnosed with a concussion.

Saturday sees track action in preparation for the Watkins Glen 6 Hours start at 8:00 EDT (14:00 CET) in the morning with the third and final practice session of the weekend, followed by qualification starting at 11:35 (17:35 CET) and finishing at 12:40 (18:40 CET). The race is scheduled to start on Sunday morning at 9:45 (15:45 CET).