IMSA Watkins Glen 6 Hours: Blomqvist blasts to pole with new lap record

#60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05 driver Tom Blomqvist put down a new lap record in qualifying for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen to score his first career Motul Pole Award in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The session was contested in hot summer weather that will last throughout the remainder of the weekend.

WATKINS GLEN 6 HOURS | QUALIFYING REPORT | RACE REPORT | GALLERY

Blomqvist’s 1m29.580sec lap kept him and co-driver Oliver Jarvis just a few tenths of a second ahead of championship rivals Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque who placed their #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 second on the grid with a lap of 1m29.744sec.

A week after claiming GTE-Am honours in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Ben Keating returned to the racetrack aboard the #52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 and it couldn’t have been closer between the Texan and teammate Steven Thomas in the #11 sister car: just 0.001sec separated the compatriots.

In LMP3 it was IMSA debutant Nicolás Varrone who turned heads when he came in without any Watkins Glen experience whatsoever and in his very first outing in the USA grabbed pole position with a 1m40.028sec for the #40 FastMD Racing Duqueine M30 – D08.

BMW Team Rahal has been rapidly improving the performance of its brand-new BMW M4 GT3 with #25 BMW pilot Connor De Phillippi converting hard work into success with pole position in GTD Pro. The Californian’s 1m44.755sec lap time was just 0.048sec quicker than Ross Gunn in the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage AMR GT3. The class pole sitter will start from 24th overall in the 48-car strong field.

In the GTD class for Pro-Am and Am line-ups, the #32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 has scored a place amongst the Pro teams thanks to Stevan McAleer’s excellent qualifying effort. The Scotsman set a 1m45.077sec in the closing stages of the session to take pole away from Richard Heistand in the #12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 whose 1m45.417sec is still good enough for sixth place in the GT starting group.