Most of the GTP Field Faces Drama in the Opening Three HoursJune 25, 2023By Mark RobinsonIMSA Wire Service Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Three-Hour ResultsWATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Alexander Sims and the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R led the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at the halfway mark of Sunday’s race that featured an abundance of action through the first three hours. Tune in for the exciting conclusion of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship event at Watkins Glen International on USA Network and Peacock.Porsche was the dominant Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) manufacturer through the first half of the race, with the Nos. 6 and 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963s leading 83 of 98 laps. But Sims, who shares the No. 31 Cadillac this weekend with Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken, took the midpoint lead by virtue of being on a slightly different pit sequence.Matt Campbell and Felipe Nasr led 35 early laps in the No. 7 Porsche and were running second to Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 6 Porsche until Nasr pulled into the pits and toward the garage area with a mechanical issue two and a half hours into the race.“It’s a bit frustrating,” Nasr said. “As I left the pits, I started to have some alarms on the car or something related to the hybrid system. I tried all my best as I was driving in trying to keep position, but it just started getting worse until I lost all the hybrid drive, basically. That’s when we decided to come in. Not a good day for us.”The No. 7 Porsche wasn’t the only GTP to suffer an issue early on. Five other cars in class had their race affected by incidents or infractions, starting with the drop of the green flag. The No. 24 BMW M Team RLL BMW Hybrid V8 was eliminated on the opening lap when driver Augusto Farfus spun entering Turn 1 and made contact with the tire barrier.“I hit the power and just lost the rear. It was totally my fault,” a dejected Farfus said. “We end a six-hour race in Turn 1. I am sorry.”The Farfus crash brought out the first of three full-course cautions through the opening three hours on the historic 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course. The third caution came just past an hour in, when Sebastien Bourdais in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R closed too quickly on a GT Daytona (GTD) car entering Turn 11 and started to spin upon braking. At that point, Bourdais was tapped from behind by Connor De Phillippi in the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW Hybrid V8, sending the No. 01 Cadillac into the wall.Both GTP cars sustained damage necessitating repairs in the pits, with the Cadillac dropping a lap off the pace and later being ordered by IMSA to pit and change tires for failing to adhere to tire pressure requirements.Just after Nasr took the No. 7 Porsche behind the wall, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-6 lost its left-rear tire and wheel while on track. Filipe Albuquerque tiptoed the car back to pit lane to get the tire replaced, but he was assessed a drive-through penalty for speeding while exiting pit lane and the No. 10 was two laps in arrears at the halfway point.The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-6 overcame a pit-lane speed violation of its own and was running third after three hours, trailing the No. 31 Cadillac and No. 6 Porsche.Other class leaders at that point were: the No. 04 Crowdstrike Racing by APR ORECA LMP2 07 in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), the No. 74 Riley Ligier JS P320 in Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3), the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 in GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 in GT Daytona (GTD).The No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, which entered the race leading the LMP2 championship, sustained significant damage and went multiple laps down when driver Steven Thomas slid into the Turn 11 barrier trying to avoid colliding with a pair of LMP2s that had made contact in front of him. The No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA earned a drive-through penalty for incident responsibility on that occasion for contact with the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA.In addition to being the fifth race of the WeatherTech Championship season, the Sahlen’s Six Hours is the third leg of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. Points separate from the season standings are awarded at designated junctures of the four long-distance races to determine the endurance champions in each class.With Michelin Endurance Cup points awarded at the three-hour mark Sunday, the season leaders in each class are: the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac in GTP, a tie between the No. 04 Crowdstrike by APR ORECA and No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen ORECA in LMP2, the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsport Ligier in LMP3, the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in GTD PRO and the No. 27 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in GTD. |
