| Blomqvist Snares Last-Lap Win; United Autosports USA Claims Redemptive LMP2 Victory June 22, 2025By John OreoviczIMSA Wire Service |
| Unofficial Race Results (prior to postrace technical inspection) WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – If Sunday’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Watkins Glen International was the Sahlen’s 5:58 of The Glen, Cadillac Whelen would have taken an impressive victory. Instead, Earl Bamber pointed the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R into the pits for a splash of energy instead of taking the white flag. That allowed Tom Blomqvist to complete the final tour of the 3.4-mile road course in New York’s Finger Lakes region first to win the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen in the No. 60 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06. Blomqvist, who teamed with Colin Braun, crossed the line 1.880 seconds ahead of the No. 40 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R shared by Jordan Taylor and Louis Deletraz for the overall and Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class triumph. Wayne Taylor Racing also claimed the final podium finish with drivers Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Cadillac. The closing stages of the six-hour contest promised to be intense for drivers and strategists alike as the green flag flew with almost exactly 60 minutes remaining and Bamber in the lead. Bamber proceeded to pull an advantage as large as 10 seconds over Nick Yelloly in the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Acura ARX-06. But clearly, energy levels were going to be an issue if the race ran caution-free to the finish. WTR reacted first, calling Deletraz in the No. 40 Cadillac into the pits with 49 minutes remaining. The No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie was next to blink, stopping for a splash and go with a quarter of an hour on the clock after running in an impressive fifth place. A couple laps later, Albuquerque boxed the No. 10 WTR Cadillac from fourth place along with Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963. Almost simultaneously, the No. 36 DXDT Corvette competing in the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class stopped at the exit of Turn 1 with a mechanical problem. The caution flag flew for a short yellow period, which meant the pits stayed closed. That denied Bamber (who shared the No. 31 Cadillac with Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti) to pit for the energy he needed. The final restart came with a little more than three minutes to go. Bamber rocketed away at the front, but exiting the final corner, he veered right into the pits as Blomqvist steamed past on the track. Seemingly unconcerned with his energy situation, Blomqvist completed the final lap out front to secure the Acura Meyer Shank Racing team’s second consecutive GTP class victory to follow Yelloly and Renger van der Zande’s success in the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. Blomqvist finished the race with 1 percent of available usable energy, according to IMSA telemetry. But he said he wasn’t worried. “That was part of the plan,” Blomqvist confirmed. “We committed to that, and we were going to be able to go to the end, regardless of the yellow. The yellow made things a little less stressful. I was getting a good vibe over the radio, but it was certainly nice to see those other cars go into the pits. “Just a masterful job by our strategists,” he added. “Ultimately, that’s what won us the race today, but also the car really came along last two stints and that allowed me to have such good pace while hitting an aggressive fuel target.” The race started in slick conditions on a damp track. A heavy rain shower arrived about half an hour in, making things especially challenging for Braun, who started the race in the No. 60 Acura but didn’t have a working windshield wiper. “I couldn’t see anything out the windshield, so I was relying on the spotters and looking more out of the side windows,” Braun said. “It’s been a challenging year for us on the No. 60 team and things haven’t really fallen our way. “I feel like in my stints I drove from the back to the front a couple times and I don’t know exactly how it all unfolded,” he added. “It all came together there at the end, so hats off to the guys for great stops and great strategy.” Despite missing out on the win, the result continued a trend of improvement for Cadillac. This was the first double podium for Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing. “I think the call to pit kind of made our race, coming in before the yellow,” remarked Jordan Taylor. “Great to get the first double podium for Wayne Taylor Racing and it feels like we’ve kind of turned the corner on the bad luck we’ve had this year.” The fight for the GTP class championship got a major shake-up at Watkins Glen when Nick Tandy suffered a heavy crash in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 late in the fifth hour exiting Turn 1. Tandy exited the car under his own power and was evaluated and released, but he and Felipe Nasr fell 12 points behind their No. 6 Porsche teammates Jaminet and Matt Campbell, who finished fourth Sunday. Van der Zande and Yelloly rank third, with a 262-point deficit. LMP2: Redemption and Celebration for United Autosports USA |
| A thrilling final hour in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class was not impacted by the late caution that shook up the final order in GTP. Paul Di Resta (No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA LMP2 07) withstood heavy pressure from Dane Cameron in the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07) to take the class win by just 0.627 seconds. Di Resta, who shared the No. 22 car with Daniel Goldburg and Rasmus Lindh, took the lead with 58 minutes remaining but was never able to create separation from Cameron. At the 41-minute mark, Di Resta and most of the LMP2 field made their final pit stop, followed a lap later by Cameron. The two ORECAs continued to circulate within a second and were still scrapping furiously when the final yellow flag flew with 10 minutes to go. Cameron threw all he had at Di Resta over the final two green flag laps but fell just short. The No. 22 team took over the lead of the LMP2 class point standings.It was the second win of the year for the group; the first was awarded to them in the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona International Speedway after post-race inspection. At Watkins Glen, they were able to properly appreciate their achievement. “After we won Daytona but didn’t get to celebrate, this feels like the celebration we were missing,” said Goldburg. “At the end there, Paul was fighting for every last bit.” “I’ve never seen a race quite like this one,” added United Autosports founder and team principal Richard Dean. “It certainly makes up for the disappointment of Le Mans last weekend. I was worried throughout the whole six hours and it felt like the longest-ever last stint with Paul, but what a job he and all three drivers did.” For Di Resta, it was just another day at the office. “I had to work very hard for it, but that’s what you have to do here,” he said. “It’s just very cool to get a win here after a Le Mans that was very difficult.” Cameron shared his car with PJ Hyett and Jonny Edgar; George Kurtz, Malthe Jakobsen and Toby Sowery notched third place in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07. The next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, where the LMP2 class will serve as the headliners. |
