IMSA Watkins Glen: Prototype Preview

The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship returns after a month-long hiatus at one of America’s storied venues. The cars, drivers and teams are set to embark on the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen. A full field in all four classes are ready for the third round of the Michelin Endurance Cup. What can we expect in the picturesque Finger Lakes region of New York this weekend?

NOTE: This preview is for GTP and LMP2. For the preview of the GT classes, click HERE.

LMP2: Long Time, No See

Yesterday, we touched on the fact that it has been nearly two months since we have seen GTD. But that pales in comparison to the teams of LMP2. Watkins Glen marks their first race in three months…yes that’s not a typo. We last saw LMP2 at the 12 Hours of Sebring where United Autosports scored a valiant rebound win after an underachieving Daytona by that group. Just because LMP2 has quiet in IMSA, these teams have been quite busy since we last saw them.

Over in Europe, United Autosports won the most recent round of the European Le Mans Series. At Le Mans, two other series regulars found victory. Inter Europol scored their second straight LMP2 class win while Crowdstrike by APR scored the Pro-Am. Their driving trio – Laurin Heinrich, Alex Quinn and George Kurtz – now with victories in both of the major 24-Hour races in 2026.

Now these teams look to bring their European momentum back stateside as action resumes.

What Do We Know?

LMP2 is probably one of the toughest races to call since it has the smallest sample size. We have only seen two races for the class and this is the shortest race they will have to this point in their young season. To make this even tougher, six different teams were on the podium over Daytona and Sebring. That speaks to the competitiveness and how little margin for error there is in this class.

We mentioned United Autosports’ No. 2 team that finished tenth at Daytona and then catapulting themselves to victory in Sebring. Contrarily, InterEuropol finished second in Daytona and had a disastrous Sebring where they finished eleventh. That is the nature of LMP2.

The Bronze Effect

Like GTD, IMSA mandates LMP2 to have three-driver lineup for the enduros. Unlike GTD, IMSA requires LMP2 to have a Bronze graded driver on their roster. Make no mistake these Bronze drivers are competitive, but they also play a vital role in their team’s results. Now in races like Daytona and Sebring, their role may not be as visible. Conversely, their stint in these shorter races will play a bigger role as there is less time to recover.

George Kurtz, Daniel Goldburg, PJ Hyett and Jon Field are among the best of the Bronze drivers and they are regularly benchmarking themselves to their Pro (Gold/Platinum grade) teammates. While these guys are out there having fun as a weekend hobby from the day job, they take it seriously and always chasing victory. In LMP2, you are only strong as your Bronze.

With Le Mans victory secured, can InterEuropol continue their winning ways stateside?

To Close to Call

At this moment, it is easy to point to Crowdstrike by APR and United Autosports as favorites since they won the first two races. Beyond them, defending champs AO Racing have shown speed if the results have not shown. TDS Racing usually shines better in the shorter endurance races. And let’s not forget about InterEuropol and Tower who found podiums in Florida. I mentioned Jon Field as Intersport are finding their footing back in IMSA after a prolonged absence. With Oliver Jarvis, this will be a tough team to watch as they continue to find speed. At this point, just put the twelve entries in a hat and pull a number.

GTP: Maintaining Status Quo

In Detroit, the most consistent team so far this season finally broke through. Whelen Action Express Racing has not finished off the podium so far in 2026 and look to keep it that way. From the way they finished 2025, this was a team that was building for a championship run in 2026. Jack Aitken has a sizeable 144-point lead over Laurin Heinrich heading into Watkins Glen. If they keep their performances going, there is every reason to believe Aitken will be lifting the trophy in Atlanta come October.

Whelen Action Express Racing has been the class of GTP so far this season…

This weekend he has both of his partners in crime back as Action Express is one of a few teams that choose to run three pilots for the six-hour races. Frederik Vesti and Earl Bamber won the last two races of 2025 together as a trio. Can they extend their podium streak together to five in a row in the endurance races? The last time they did not finish on the podium in an endurance race was right here at Watkins Glen. The No. 31 looks to avenge last year where they were one lap short on fuel, denying them victory and sending them back to fifth.

Speaking of Streaks…and Cautionary Tales…

Porsche is looking to get back to the top and back in the hunt. A lot of Penske’s struggles could stem from BoP (more on that later) but whatever the reason, Porsche’s factory team has not been the same since leaving Florida in March. Granted, they did get a big customer win at Laguna Seca through JDC-Miller as that car is not held to the same limitations being a year old. Regardless of recent performance, Porsche is looking to mirror 2024 when they won Watkins Glen after winning Daytona and Sebring.

Simultaneously, Porsche Penske knows better than anyone that Watkins Glen can derail a season. Despite winning the first three races of 2025, Felipe Nasr and Nick Tandy lost out on the GTP drivers’ championship. The turning point of their season: a massive crash in this race last year. The duo literally never recovered from that DNF. Their last three finishes of 2025: 11th, 12th and 10th. A win here will go a long into catapulting Porsche Penske back in the championship conversation.

Encore for a Curtain Call?

Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun won a dramatic Six Hours last year with fuel mileage drama. They had to watch the sister No. 93 run out and then the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac pit coming to the white flag. Blomqvist held on to score the win of fumes. Acura and Meyer Shank Racing would love nothing more to defend their win at Watkins Glen, especially with Acura on their way out of GTP for now. Also with the No. 93 of Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande already winning for Acura this season at Long Beach, they will want to balance and score a win as well.

Speaking of the No. 93, they will be another team utilizing a third driver. Honda protege Kakunoshin Ohta will make his second and (for now) final appearance of 2026 for Acura. Ohta has impressed in his previous appearances and has expressed interest in competing further in America. If he is to do so with Honda, however, that will likely come in IndyCar. This is where I will mention for no particular reason that Meyer Shank does have an open seat for 2027 – I’m just saying.

If he does so in IMSA, it would likely be in a P2 seat with Acura gone. But that is not out of the realm of possibility. Ohta made a pair of P2 appearances last season with Era Motorsport and had an early birthday present two weeks ago with his Le Mans debut in a P2 as well.

For Ohta, a win on Sunday with van der Zande and Yelloly would go a long way to his American prospects.

BMW and Team WRT could be next to score victory

Ready to Win?

BMW Team WRT is trending in the right direction. Back-to-back podiums for Philip Eng and Marco Wittman now gives BMW three in the first five races of the campaign. Now the Belgian squad looks to repeat history. BMW’s first GTP win came in the Watkins Glen Six Hours in 2023. Yes, we do recognize this came after a disqualification from the Porsche that was first on the road. I also will point you to the Indy Six Hours in 2024 when they did win on the road.

WRT is also coming in with some momentum. They won their first race in WEC at Spa in July and then followed up their performance coming up eleven seconds short of winning Le Mans again. While the team does have separate crews that run the WEC and IMSA programs, the knowledge sharing cannot be estimated. It was said when they entered the series this would be a team to keep an eye. With their pedigree of success in sportscar series around the world, WRT would be a contender sooner rather than later.

Furthermore, BMW is going into a favorable stretch of tracks for the M Hybrid V8. They have won at each of the next three tracks over the last three years. If I am a BMW fan looking for a GTP win, I am licking my chops at this stage of the season.

Balance of Performance

Ok, let’s unpack the BoP changes from Detroit to Watkins Glen.

Weight

All prototypes will get a weight break for this weekend. Even the Aston Martin Valkyrie will also receive a 10kg weight break. Both Porsche 963s will get a very nice weight break for Watkins Glen. The 2026-spec car will get a 27kg break while the 2025-spec will see a 24kg break. The remaining manufacturers will see single-digit weight breaks.

Power

Porsche will see a power boost this weekend. For the 2026-spec 963, they will see a 2.3% increase in Stage 1 while retaining max power in Stage 2, also in place from Detroit. The 2025-spec 963 will now be given max power in Stage 1, but will see a 1% decrease in Stage 2.

Acura, BMW and Cadillac will all see decreases in Stage 1 with increases in Stage 2. As for Aston Martin, there is no change in their power levels.

Energy

In terms of energy, the 2025-spec 963 will be the only car to have their energy decreased, losing 5MJ for this weekend. The other vehicles will be see small energy increases. Cadillac, with +7MJ, will see the biggest of those increases.

On-Track Schedule (All Times ET US)

Friday

11:25am-12:55pm: Free Practice 1

Saturday

10:05-11:50am: Free Practice 2
Qualifying
- 3:40pm: GTD
- 4:00pm: GTD PRO
- 4:20pm: LMP2
- 4:40pm: GTP

Sunday

12:10pm: Race (6 Hours)

Media Coverage

Radio

IMSA Radio will provide all radio coverage from the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. They will broadcast all WeatherTech Championship on-track sessions from Watkins Glen.

Friday: 11:15am ET/8:15am PT – Free Practice 1
Saturday
- 10:00am ET/7:00am PT – Free Practice 2
- 3:30pm ET/12:30pm PT – Qualifying
Sunday: 11:30am ET/8:30am PT – Race Coverage

NOTE: SiriusXM will simulcast the IMSA Radio broadcast with coverage going live at 12:00pm ET/9:00am PT. Race coverage can be found on Channels 206 (Vehicles) and 996 (SXM App).

Click HERE for IMSA Radio.