| Interviews with GTP/Overall Race Winners and Second-Place Finishers;GTD PRO, GTD and LMP2 Winners |
| Felipe Nasr / Dane Cameron – GTP/Overall Winners No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 Press Conference THE MODERATOR: We’ll welcome up our GTP winners here. We’re joined by our winners here overall in the GTP class at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, the No. 7 Porsche motorsport Porsche 963, Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron. Dane, this is his 17th victory in IMSA championship competition. His second win here at Watkins Glen International. Felipe, this is his 10th IMSA championship race victory. First win in the Watkins Glen Six Hours. Felipe, obviously you brought it home there. Take us through the last restart, the traffic that you had to manage to get this win. FELIPE NASR: Yeah, was pretty wild out there, I have to say, with this mixed conditions. Always makes our life a lot harder to read the track grip. I knew I was going to have one chance. That one chance came right at the restart. All I did was to work my tires and brake as hard as I could just to get temperature and everything. I could see as soon as we got the get-go in the last corner, I could see the car ahead of me struggle. I said, Man, I’m going for it. I made the move. It was all about managing the traffic ahead because the difference of speed is so high between the cars and the classes, it’s just really having the right time and the right place, making the right smart moves.I’m very happy we did it. I’m very happy we made today an incredible day just because at points in the race we were back, then forward again. It was difficult to read what was the potential of the car.What I like was that everybody did an incredible work to keep us calm and wise decisions. Dane did amazing work, as well, when he stayed out on slicks when the track was still drying. Yeah, everything came together. Very pleased to get another victory here at Watkins Glen. THE MODERATOR: Dane, five podiums in six races this year. Obviously second win. Talk about the strength of this team this season, how it feels. DANE CAMERON: Yeah, for sure it’s been a great year so far. Very, very consistent. I think that’s really been the focus for the 7 car. It’s just really executing at every opportunity. We really felt like in Detroit we had one get away from us a little bit because we had quite fast cars, a bit unlucky. We also kind of overachieved at some of the other rounds, Sebring, Long Beach, where we weren’t really that great.That’s really what it takes to win this championship. I think Felipe and I know that now from being here a number of times, getting the championship a few times. I think we really believe in that formula and we’re committed to it.Executing every weekend, every lap, every pass, you have to kind of judge with that a little bit in mind, to be honest. Really striking when it counts. Felipe was great there at the restart at the end. We made good calls through the middle where it was pretty tough, kind of going back and forth on what it was going to do, is it going to rain. That was a tough period.As a team, the group has been really strong. For sure must also acknowledge the 6 car, which was really strong today. It’s obviously difficult with these now capacity grids and the pit lanes and all that stuff, pitting the cars together where we’re tripping over each other a little bit, to be honest. We tried to keep out of each other’s way, and I think that rolled us forward and them backward a little bit. I would be remiss not to acknowledge that. THE MODERATOR: Questions. Q. Felipe, do you think the conditions were right to bring out the red flag at the time? FELIPE NASR: Yeah, I think so, ‘cuz there was so much water. You could barely stay within 60 KPH. You could see the cars ahead planing. I think it was the right call.Since it’s warm, it didn’t take long for the track to dry. At that point it was critical. Q. Is this good redemption for you after the disappointment at Le Mans last week? FELIPE NASR: It’s always good to be back winning, right? I’ll take it. Good medicine, like my friend here says (smiling). Q. Dane, the first rain shower happened, you were on a different strategy than everybody else, you came in, got slicks, then it starts to rain, it seemed like you were really out of luck, but it turned out to be a good thing in the end. Is that how you see it? Was that a key moment in the race? DANE CAMERON: I think surviving these moments are key moments. This decision probably got us forward a little bit because obviously we were a little bit on the back foot at the start of the race, lost a little bit on the first pit cycle there. It definitely rolled us forward, which was good.Really, they’re hard moments because you’re trying to make a good decision, but the easy decisions take rain tires, that’s a safe one, but maybe that’s not the ultimate best one. Here it’s really hard because coming here for years and years, it’s difficult to get heavy, really, really heavy. Obviously with the orientation of the track, the way the weather comes, you typically only get it on one portion.In the moment honestly it felt like we were a bit unlucky. Felt like we kind of got it wrong. Seemed okay, little bits of rain. Then suddenly the downpour came on the fronts. I thought we were a bit in the shits, we missed it. And then it went yellow, and suddenly it’s going to be dry, we’re going tore fine here. We were a little bit off sequence, that took a little bit to unravel.Ultimately, if you can get through those moments without losing too much time without pitting, it’s always a little bit better. The weather here is so unpredictable, I think we saw Thursday, Friday the same sort of thing where I think Thursday was no rain expected, it rained like hell for a few hours, and Friday we thought we were going to get rain and it kind of broke up and went around the place.Really hard calls to make. At least from the radio, it sounded like there were a few people who were sure it was going to rain, took the rain tires, and it didn’t work out for them.But it’s been hot. The track surface has been hot. That buys you time until you get the really heavy rain.They’re tough moments and you just have to keep it on the track because you know it’s only the midway point in the race. This isn’t the winning decision at this point, so to speak. We got through that moment, got to the front and Felipe executed at the end. Q. Another angle at the redemption question. Last year the 6 car won here. Is this a race that Porsche had circled on the calendar saying we know we can be competitive and win here? DANE CAMERON: I wasn’t here in IMSA last year. Obviously that was a difficult moment. I guess you can say Tech is probably still to come. Hopefully that doesn’t happen again (smiling).But I think this stretch of summer races for sure, at least from a distance, looked like it was really strong for the car on this hardest compound tire from Michelin. I remember watching and the boys were really strong all throughout the summer.For sure we’re looking ahead to these three races, Watkins, Indy and Elkhart, as three races that were really important to try to win one or two of ’em because it should suit us, I think, for whatever reason, on this tire. Our car seems to go maybe slightly better.For sure I think the 6 car guys are motivated to right that wrong. For us we knew it was an opportunity to capitalize and get a win over this summer stretch.It was really critical I think to us. Average finish is great over the course of the year, but if you’re finishing third every time, your competitors are ahead of you, it’s not ultimately going to get you the championship. We really needed to get this win.Hopefully we’ll take some more if we can get ’em. This one is a really nice shot to padding the points. Just that gap in what you get from first to second really makes a difference to getting away.Every time we won the championship, when you get to Road Atlanta, it’s nice to have a little bit of breathing room. That’s such a chaotic race. That’s really the focus, if at all possible. Q. Felipe, off the red flag, we had the caution. The extra time for the track and the car changed your decision to go for it like you did off the final restart? FELIPE NASR: If I would change anything, you mean, or just my view on that? Q. I think we had nine more minutes on the track. Were you going to go for it anyway that first time, or did you rethink it once that caution came out? FELIPE NASR: Yeah, I mean, I was really focused. As soon as we got the race about to restart, all cars were behind the safety car, I could see the track was drying pretty quick. With the track temperature being so high, the water simply just go away very quick.I knew was going to be one chance when you have those kind of restarts. All cars, all together. Having the chance to make a move right at the restart was the best opportunity I had in the race. I took it.Looking back, it was the right thing to do. I’m glad we walking away here with the victory. The 40 car was always quick, I would say all race long. Somehow in the restart they weren’t that strong. I took that opportunity, was time to bring it home.Yeah, that’s all from my side really.THE MODERATOR: Thank you.FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
| Renger van der Zande / Sebastien Bourdais – GTP/Overall Second PlaceNo. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.RPress Conference THE MODERATOR: Good afternoon, everybody. We are pleased to be joined by our second-place finishers here in today’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, co-drivers of the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R., Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais. This is their fourth podium of the season.Renger, if you could start us off. Obviously quite an eventful race there. Tell us about kind of how it shook out at the end from your seat.RENGER VAN DER ZANDE: Yeah, I think this is one of those typical IMSA races where everything can happen, and it happened. The red flag is also happening a lot in this race almost every year.We had a good start. We had some speed in the car in the dry. It faded away a little bit from us. Yeah, I think we were doing okay until the rain came. I think in the rain we kind of stayed hanging in there.At the end when the track dried up, we all came for slicks. It was very clear from the get-go that every time I went to power, there was just not enough power to attack. Third gear, fourth gear, fifth gear, the gap was always increasing on every straight.On top of that, I have to say hats off for this championship to get to where it is. It’s super equal, lap time-wise, very equal. Big compliment from that. We would like to race a bit more. We would have a bit more racy car to go into the final. Otherwise you make a small wiggle, as you saw on my restart, into turn one, they just blow by on the straights. We’re fast enough in the corners, but not on the straight.I think Felipe Nasr was a bit of a déjà vu for me. I think it was last year or two years before the DPi stopped. We had the same conditions, wet track with slicks. We both disappeared in the distance with him winning and I’m second.We’ll see what we can do better on the final pit stop. We’ll see what we can do better on our side. For now I think we’re taking a lot of points home, yeah, to go into the final couple races of the championship.I’m not complaining. I’m very happy.THE MODERATOR: Seb, took a lot of points home. Fourth podium of the season. Obviously you want to win. How does it work out as far as being maximum points otherwise?SEBASTIEN BOURDAIS: Yeah, I mean, I think it’s a decent points day. Unfortunately it’s the wrong car that wins for us (smiling). The gap gets bigger. We live to fight another day. I think I’ll just echo what Renger is saying. Pretty much for the third weekend in a row, Detroit, Le Mans and this one, we don’t have any top speed to allow us to race and fight. I’m tired of it. We’re not asking for lap time or performance, but we need something to be done here. It’s just not a fair fight.Yeah, that’s it really. The whole team did a really good job. We keep fighting hard, but it’s frustrating at times.THE MODERATOR: Questions.Q. Renger, before the restart, were you at least optimistic that you’d have a shot at going after the Porsche?RENGER VAN DER ZANDE: We knew this was the problem. I knew if I wanted to win this race, it had to happen in the first corner.When they had a little moment into turn one, I was lucky to get by Louis Deletraz because I think he also has quite a bit more top speed. Later on, it would be almost impossible.When I was behind Felipe, I was waiting for him to make a mistake, which he didn’t.For sure I’m here to win. Maybe with a faster pit stop we could have been in front of them already. Who knows. Hats off to the Penske team doing such a good job, and Porsche, and Felipe not making mistakes.Yeah, for sure I thought I could win, yeah.Q. Renger, it’s not the result you want, but the last 15 minutes were fun to watch. What was the view of getting through traffic from your point of view?RENGER VAN DER ZANDE: I mean, it’s that balls-out feeling of no time to waste. That’s how we went into that final with the traffic. They are obviously also fighting for the position. At one point going into the chicane with a Corvette and an Aston Martin, they were fighting each other, I come around as well. It’s quite tricky. It’s really a dance between those cars and us to not too much each other.We made it happen. This championship, it’s the only championship in the world what has that kind of racing, which is very particular and very cool. It’s very nice to do that.THE MODERATOR: Thank you.FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
| Alex Riberas / Ross Gunn – GTD PRO WinnersNo. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3Press Conference THE MODERATOR: We’ll bring up our GTD Pro winners. C’mon up, guys. Now we have our winners in the GTD Pro class in the No. 23 harder racing team, Aston Martin Vantage GT3. Alex Riberas, Ross Gunn.Alex, why don’t you start us off. Just take us through. I imagine it’s never a bad thing to win at Watkins Glen.ALEX RIBERAS: Yeah, absolutely. I mean, this race never fails to deliver a good show. This edition was not going to be an exception.We saw from the beginning that it was going to be a chaotic race where surviving was going to be probably the most fundamental ingredient in the race, especially through the mid-part where there were so many opportunities for things to go wrong.Today I would say, without a doubt, it’s one of my proudest wins because it was such a big team effort. We were down for a bit. We did some mistakes. I would say that really is a test for the team.I would say it’s never the first mistake that is the costly one, it’s always the second and the third mistake. Today we didn’t let the first mistake dictate our faith for the rest of the race. We stayed together. We didn’t point fingers or panic. We stayed focused on controlling what we could control and making the most out of it.Ultimately that ended up leading to making a decision that had a big impact in the outcome of the race. With luck on our side, we ended up in Victory Lane, which is really amazing. Especially for Ross, being in the championship hunt, today was I would say instrumental for the rest of the season.THE MODERATOR: Ross, the championship, as he mentioned. You’re fairly close still, but still a long way to go. Tell us about that. Also, the run to the checkered flag there with the 4 car, you know what their situation was, and talk about that.ROSS GUNN: Yeah, so first of all, just incredibly happy about what happened today. I think, as Alex said, we were down but never out. I think that’s the key to these races. You always have to be giving it everything and never giving up, even with a couple of mistakes.As far as the championship is concerned, of course it’s nice to be close, but we’re really taking it race by race, one step at a time. I think that’s the key.As today proved, there’s so many things that happen in IMSA races, you can be high at one moment and low in a very split second.Yeah, of course, the end was very exciting. We were fortunate that we were in a position to fight for the lead. I was aware that the Corvette was really, really tight on fuel. I just had to push Milner as hard as I could and not allow him to save any fuel. Yeah, that worked out pretty well.Coming onto the home straight, with him peeling off on the last lap, yeah, was definitely something I’ll probably remember for the rest of my life.An amazing team effort from everybody. Alex, again, like in Detroit, had a very tough stint in terms of the conditions that were thrown at him. Yeah, I was on the slicks when it was raining. That was incredibly scary, to say the least.Yeah, we survived the race. Really looking forward to getting out.THE MODERATOR: Questions.Q. Ross, were you close on fuel at all or was that not a concern at all?ROSS GUNN: No, it was never a concern at all. We pitted probably 10 laps before the red. Obviously the length of it and also the yellow after the red, it helped us a bit. It was never a concern at all.Q. Would you say the pivotal key to the race was staying out on slicks during the downpour, not being able to pit?ROSS GUNN: Yeah, that helped massively. Also we were in a position where we could kind of take a risk. I mean, I think we were P9 before the red flag. We didn’t really have a lot to lose. We pitted much earlier than we were anticipating, a couple of laps before the heavens opened.Yeah, in the end it worked out beautifully for us.Q. Ross, you had to use some patience there while you were pursuing. You were both aggressive and patient at the same time. Is that the way you approached it?ROSS GUNN: Yeah, so I don’t really know Tommy that well, but he’s clearly had an incredible career. You usually do that by being a really clean racer. I knew I was going to be close to him. I also knew that our championship rivals were further back. It was really important not to take any unnecessary risks. For me it was always a case of if there was a chance, of course take it.I could see whenever he had a tiny gap, he was lifting, coasting a lot into turn eight and turn one. I just made sure I pressed him as hard as I could. In the end, it wasn’t enough for him.THE MODERATOR: Guys, thank you.FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
| Philip Ellis / Russell Ward / Indy Dontje – GTD WinnersNo. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3Press Conference THE MODERATOR: We’ll bring up our GTD winners. We’re joined by our GTD winners here in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3.Philip Ellis, Russell Ward and Indy Dontje.Philip, why don’t you start us off. I’m sure winning never gets old. Tell us about how it went out there for you guys today, what it took to make this happen.PHILIP ELLIS: I think it was a very chaotic race, as you definitely saw A lot of mixed weather conditions. Very heavy rain coming down at times. Sometimes just a bit of drizzle, which made some guys take rain tires.For the most part of the race I’d say we were always on the right tires at the right time. To be honest, we were a bit lucky with the red flag coming out. Just a roll of the dice that we were fueled up to get to the end, which gave us the restarting position in the front with a concussion of Pro cars behind me as well.After that it was keeping the cars behind. Yeah, can’t thank the other guys as well, the team, Russell and Indy, have done an amazing job with very difficult conditions today.I had I’d say the easiest part of the race.THE MODERATOR: Russell Ward, when you guys put together this team, could you have imagined a run like you guys are having right now?RUSSELL WARD: No, absolutely not. I mean, it’s just a testament to the group of people we put together. The drivers kind of just did their jobs today. We didn’t run the car off track. Maybe Philip one time. I mean, it’s just a testament to the group of people we’ve put together.THE MODERATOR: Indy, you’re perfect for 24 at least in the WeatherTech Championship. How does that feel?INDY DONTJE: Yes, undefeated this year (smiling).Yeah, it’s great. I have to say, as Philip said, we changed the rain tires, but we stayed the whole race on slick, which is pretty funny if you look to the weather we got this race.Yeah, the guys did a good strategy call. We were a bit lucky at the end. Really happy winning again in IMSA at the Glen. I think it’s lovely. Hopefully we can continue this streak. Already looking forward to the next race.THE MODERATOR: Questions.Q. Philip, can you talk a little bit about the dice with the No. 12 Lexus there right at the end. And just, from your perspective, obviously he tried to make a pass going into the inner loop, and you weren’t about to let that happen. And neither one of you blinked, and you came out ahead.PHILIP ELLIS: I think that basically sums it up already. I think he wanted to make the first opportunity he had, being next to me, count, and tried to pass me around the outside. We had some passes this race that worked.But I think the situation was a bit different. Sometimes it was early in the race. It wasn’t for the lead. I think three, four laps in the end for the lead in class. Just a different situation there already.Neither of us would give room, just enough to survive, both of us. Unfortunately for him, it didn’t pay out. It was just a good, hard fight I’d say.Unfortunately for him that he had so many positions lost after that as well. To me it’s just good racing.Q. From there on, your next competition was the Porsche. Were you marginal on fuel, or were you pretty much okay?PHILIP ELLIS: So on fuel, we were actually fine after the red flag. I think we were a bit lucky because the caution or the restart itself did take a lot longer with the prototype being stuck in the Ss. We didn’t have to save any more. Shouldn’t have been our race. I don’t think he should have been on the podium today, if we’re honest. It just played out perfectly into our hands.Q. Russell, very similar race two years ago, long red flag. How does it feel to get this win now?RUSSELL WARD: It feels amazing. It’s redemption for us. I got to say we ran the same strategy. Three double stints. I was pretty nervous at the end. We could see the rain coming. I was just praying we weren’t going to make the same mistakes we did two years ago.But it’s good to get redemption. It’s an amazing job by the team.THE MODERATOR: Guys, congratulations.FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
| Lilou Wadoux / Nicklas Nielsen – LMP2 WinnersNo. 88 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA LMP2 07Press Conference THE MODERATOR: We’ll welcome up our LMP2 winners. We have the lineup of No. 88 Richard Mille Af Corse Oreca LMP2 07. We have Lilou Wadoux and Nicklas Nielsen. Luis Perez Companc was their co-driver.Lilou, how important a win is this for you to get here in IMSA?LILOU WADOUX: Yeah, for me it’s the good thing because since the start of the year, it’s little bit difficult. We had an issue in Daytona. In Sebring we had a little contact and after fire in the car. Is good to finish the race and to be in the first place.So today was not an easy race. Tricky conditions. But Louis and Nicklas did an amazing job. The car was amazing. For me, I’m super happy to win here. I’m happy to win.THE MODERATOR: Nicklas, obviously quite a run here, quite a week. Can you put that into some context for us.NICKLAS NIELSEN: Yeah, I’m obviously very, very happy. I mean, it’s been a good week, a good couple of weeks I would say. Yeah, I’m happy to make my maiden win in IMSA, as well. Super competitive championship.Like Lilou said, I think we have been fast and competitive the whole IMSA season, but we’ve just been a bit unlucky. Obviously with the contact and then the fire in the car in Sebring, that didn’t really help us. But I’m really happy to bounce back here.Coming with a fresh victory from Le Mans obviously makes this even better. I think Lilou said that Louis and I did a fantastic job, but she did a mega job as well. She was on track in very difficult conditions, and she managed that very well. I think it’s fully deserved that she finally got her victory, as well, here.THE MODERATOR: Go to questions.Q. Obviously with the rain and everything, it was a hard race to read. Was there any particular moment or strategy call that you think put yourselves in the position to win?NICKLAS NIELSEN: Well, I mean, we were actually a bit lucky with the first, like, big shower we had, when we had the safety car replaced by the red flag. We actually started the refueling, then it started to rain heavily in the pit lane. We decided to go on the wets.On the other hand, I mean, once the restart happened, it was more or less already dry again. I would say we were lucky and then we were a bit unlucky again. Pretty much everyone had to (indiscernible) their tires and fuel. There were a few cars on slicks, but they had to box for fuel.In the end it was like a hard fight. I think it was Colin Braun and Felipe. Racing here is always tough. But yeah, I mean, we were a bit lucky. I think we did a good job, as well. It was the combination of the two that got us the victory today.THE MODERATOR: Congratulations. Appreciate you coming in.FastScripts Transcript by ASAP Sports |
