WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. — Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Tom Blomqvist took the lead Sunday (June 22) coming to the white flag when Action Express Racing’s Earl Bamber was forced to pit for an energy replenishment. From there, he held on to win the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen with teammate Colin Braun. It is the No. 60 team’s first win since returning to IMSA.
“The energy came down to basically zero,” Blomqvist told Frontstretch after the race. “[The crew] put us on the right side of that strategy, which gave us the opportunity to capitalize. Gotta thank the team for committing [to the strategy] so early to hit such an aggressive fuel number.”
Blomqvist and Braun’s margin of victory was 1.880 seconds over Wayne Taylor Racing’s Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor, their best finish in over a year. Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor were third, followed by Porsche Penske Motorsport’s Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet. Bamber, Jack Aitken and Frederik Vesti held on for fifth.
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian’s Renger van der Zande led the field to green under somewhat threatening skies. It was dry during the pace laps, but rain started falling halfway through the first lap.
On that first lap, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports’ Rodrigo Sales spun in turn 5. A lap later, Wayne Taylor Racing’s Ricky Taylor spun in the Inner Loop. Van der Zande locked up and went wide at turn 8, allowing Action Express Racing’s Jack Aitken to move within striking distance.
However, the driver on the move was Felipe Nasr. He went from 10th on the grid to the lead in four laps.
The conditions dried out pretty quickly 15 minutes into the race. Then, it returned. Wayne Taylor Racing’s Graham Doyle was caught out exiting turn 1 and spun into the SAFER Barrier to bring out the first full course yellow 32 minutes in.
The deluge came before the pit lane opened with the whole field on slicks. TDS Racing’s Steven Thomas crashed in turn 6. George Kurtz and Brendan Iribe both spun with Kurtz hitting the barriers before taking emergency service.
Following another yellow for debris, heck broke out again. First, Misha Goikhberg spun in the Inner Loop on his own. Shortly afterwards, Sales spun again exiting turn 9, this time after contact from Paul Miller Racing’s Madison Snow. The combination of spray and a blind turn meant that Thomas effectively went unsighted, head-on into Sales. Both drivers were ok.
Thomas’ car was drivable, but had a broken left front suspension. The windshield also popped out and ended up on the track.
Sales and Thomas ended up in the garage, as was Winward Racing’s Russell Ward, who got damaged into the chain reaction as drivers braked to avoid the wreck.
Surprisingly, the TDS Racing No. 11 rejoined the race briefly before retiring. Snow was judged responsible for the crash and was given a stop-and-60-second-hold penalty.
By the time the race went green again, the track was completely dry. Van der Zande was back in the lead and opening a decent margin over Nasr.
Later on, there was more trouble as Lone Star Racing’s Wyatt Brichacek had contact with Proton Competition’s Nico Pino, taking both cars and Wright Motorsports’ Tom Sargent off the track to bring out another yellow. Sargent was able to drive back, but both Brichacek and Pino were out on the spot.
Pit strategy allowed Bamber to get to the front of the pack. Once there, Bamber was able to stretch out his advantage.
While things started so well for the No. 7 Porsche team, the race ended terribly. With a little more than an hour to go, Nick Tandy got loose exiting turn 1 on the curb and spun into the tires to bring out a yellow.
Tandy was ok, but his Porsche 963 was thrashed with broken suspension parts and a lot of missing bodywork. He was out on the spot.
The leaders all pitted under this caution, but no one really expected to have to go to the finish from here. However, that is exactly the scenario that happened.
No one could make it to the finish. However, before most of the GTP teams could pit, DXDT Racing’s Charlie Eastwood suffered a left rear suspension failure and could not get off the track on his own.
As a result, a full course caution came out with 10 minutes to go. The pits were closed since it was in the final 15 minutes of the race.
Bamber was forced to pit coming to the white flag. That gave Blomqvist the lead that he held to the finish.
In LMP2, AO Racing’s PJ Hyett led the field to green. The tricky conditions tested the bronze-rated drivers that started the race. The best driver in the conditions was United Autosports’ Nick Boulle, who was able to work up to the lead and get in front of a couple of GTP cars in the process.
As the track dried out, AF Corse’s Luis Perez Companc was able to run Boulle down and take the lead for himself.
The rainy period of the race took a serious toll on the class. Boulle ended up behind the wall, Thomas and Sales were out as well. Perez Companc continued to lead, but Pratt Miller Motorsports’ No. 73 with debutante Manuel Espirito Santo at the wheel came to the front in the third hour.
In the second half of the race, United Autosports’ No. 22 came to the front. Paul di Resta was able to hold on through the later stages of the race to take the class win with Dan Goldburg and Rasmus Lindh.
United Autosports’ margin of victory was .627 seconds over AO Racing’s Dane Cameron, Jonny Edgar and PJ Hyett. CrowdStrike Racing by APR’s Malthe Jakobsen, George Kurtz and Toby Sowery were third, then Era Motorsports’ Paul-Loup Chatin, David Heinemeier Hansson and Tobias Lutke. Riley Motorsports’ Josh Burdon, Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson were fifth.
Pfaff Motorsports’ Andrea Caldarelli led the field to green in GTD Pro. Unlike the prototype ranks, the top GTD Pro cars were able to hang on at the front. Caldarelli and Paul Miller Racing’s Dan Harper were able to put a couple of LMP2 cars between themselves and the rest of the class early.
The Pfaff squad’s excellent weekend turned back in at the end of the second hour. Sandy Mitchell locked up entering turn 7 and slid into the tire barrier nose-first. That brought out another caution.
Ultimately, the pass for the win happened with two hours to go when Paul Miller Racing’s Max Hesse was able to get past Corvette Racing with Pratt Miller Motorsports’ Antonio Garcia. From there, Hesse was able to hold back the pack and conserve his fuel to win the class with Harper. It is the duo’s first victory in IMSA.
Harper and Hesse’s margin of victory was 1.199 seconds over Garcia and Alexander Sims. Ford Multimatic Motorsports’ Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch were third, then DragonSpeed’s Albert Costa and Davide Rigon. Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner were fifth in the second Corvette.
The Heart of Racing’s Zacharie Robichon started from pole in GTD, but lost his advantage early on to DXDT Racing’s Alec Udell.
Much like GTP, the GTD race came down to fuel mileage. Vasser Sullivan’s Jack Hawksworth dominated much of the latter portion of the race, but was extremely tight on fuel.
The late caution helped a little, but the Lexus coughed and quit on the final lap. That allowed The Heart of Racing’s Tom Gamble to take the lead and drive on to victory with teammates Zacharie Robichon and Casper Stevenson. Hawksworth, along with teammates Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, were classified 11th in class.
The margin of victory was 2.541 seconds over Iribe, Ollie Millroy and Frederik Schandorff. Team Korthoff Competition’s Kenton Koch, Daniel Morad and Mikey Taylor were third in their Mercedes, followed by Triarsi Competizione’s James Calado, Andrew Waite and Onofrio Triarsi. AF Corse’s Simon Mann, Alessandro Pier Guidi and Lilou Wadoux were fifth.
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen Unofficial Results
IMSA teams will be back in action in three weeks at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the Chevrolet Grand Prix. That race will feature the LMP2 class as the headliners with GTD Pro and GTD. Coverage will air live on USA Network at 2 p.m. ET July 13.
GTP teams will race next at Road America for the IMSA Sportscar Weekend. That race will air live on Peacock Aug. 3 at 2 p.m. ET. Frontstretch will be there to bring you the action.
Phil Allaway has three primary roles at Frontstretch. He's the manager of the site's FREE e-mail newsletter that publishes Monday-Friday and occasionally on weekends. He keeps TV broadcasters honest with weekly editions of Couch Potato Tuesday and serves as the site's Sports Car racing editor.
Outside of Frontstretch, Phil is the press officer for Lebanon Valley Speedway in West Lebanon, N.Y. He covers all the action on the high-banked dirt track from regular DIRTcar Modified racing to occasional visits from touring series such as the Super DIRTcar Series.