Louis Deletraz Wins Sahlen’s Six Hours Pole

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Global’s Louis Deletraz posted a lap at 132.742 mph eight minutes into qualifying Saturday (June 22). That lap held up to earn Deletraz the pole for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen.

“It’s great to be on pole,” Deletraz said during the post-qualifying press conference. “I felt good out there. I [had enough grip] that I could push right away. [However], we know what’s important and that’s Sunday. We’ve had some hard weekends at Laguna [Seca] and Detroit, so we’re looking to bounce back here.”

Deletraz won the pole by .038 seconds over Chip Ganassi Racing’s Renger van der Zande. Action Express Racing’s Jack Aitken will start third, then JDC-Miller MotorSports’ Phil Hanson. Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Mathieu Jaminet was fifth.

Early on, Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Felipe Nasr set the pace. Meanwhile, a number of the other teams waited a bit to start their sessions.

Nasr’s second lap at pace was 131,963 mph, the fastest lap of the weekend to that point. His lap didn’t last long on top as van der Zande beat it.

Deletraz usurped van der Zande shortly afterwards to put himself on top. From there, Deletraz’s lap was the one to shoot for.

Van der Zande tried to get to Deletraz and nearly did before coming up short. Ricky Taylor stopped for a second set of tires for one more hot lap, but it amounted to nothing as Deletraz took the pole.

One driver in GTP did not take time. That was BMW M Team RLL’s Connor de Phillippi. De Phillippi crashed his BMW M Hybrid V8 right at the end of Practice No. 2 Saturday morning, significantly damaging the front end of the No. 25. The team was unable to repair the car in time for the session.

LMP2 saw United Autosports’ Dan Goldburg lead early on, but it was AO Racing’s PJ Hyett, fresh from his first trip to Le Mans, that put himself on top at the halfway point with a lap at 126.675 mph.

Hyett attempted to better his time. At one point, he had the best second sector of all, but he couldn’t do so. That allowed Goldburg and Inter Europol Competition with PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Nick Boulle to close in substantially.

TDS Racing’s Steven Thomas put himself in contention late, but Hyett improved to cover it. His final lap was 127.600 mph, good enough for the pole.

Hyett’s lap was .682 seconds faster than Goldburg. Thomas ended up third after stopping on course on his final lap. Boulle was third, then Ben Keating.

In the GT ranks, qualifying is usually a mix between the GTD Pro and GTD classes. Not so on Saturday.

At Watkins Glen, the GTD Pro class came to the forefront. Here, The Heart of Racing’s Ross Gunn came to the front almost immediately in his Aston Martin, setting a qualifying record.

However, Risi Competizione’s Daniel Serra was able to turn in a lap at 117.463 mph to win the GTD Pro pole. His lap was .114 seconds faster than Corvette Racing with Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Alexander Sims.

Sims had every intention on trying to improve on that time in the final few minutes of the session. However, he cut his left rear tire with two minutes to go and had to limp to pit road. Despite the tire casing coming off in turn 11, he made it back ok and will be able to change the tire for the race without penalty.

Gunn ended up third in class in his Aston Martin, then Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth. Nicky Catsburg was fifth in the second Corvette.

In GTD, Vasser Sullivan’s Parker Thompson won the class pole with a lap at 116.970 mph, sixth of all GT drivers. The lap was six-tenths of a second faster than Triarsi Competizione’s Onofrio Triarsi with his best career qualifying effort. Korthoff/Preston Motorsports’ Mikael Grenier will start third, then Winward Racing’s Russell Ward. Turner Motorsport’s Patrick Gallagher was fifth.

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen Qualifying Results

The Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen is scheduled to go green at 11:10 a.m. ET Sunday morning. Coverage will begin at 11 a.m. ET on USA Network and Peacock. The race will be exclusive to Peacock after 2 p.m. ET.