Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, N.Y.
June 24-27, 2021
Entry List (Click Here)
Fast Facts
Race Day/Time: Sunday, June 27 – 10:40 a.m. ET
NBCSN Coverage: 7 p.m. ET
TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 10:35 a.m. (available on IMSA.com/TVLive outside the U.S.)
IMSA.com/TVLive Live Qualifying Stream: Saturday, June 26 – 11:45 a.m.
IMSA Radio: All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; Live race coverage begins Sunday, June 27 at 10 a.m. (Sirius TBD, XM 202, Internet 992)
Circuit Type: 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course
Race Length: 6 hours
Track Social Media: Twitter: @WGI; Instagram: @wgi1948; Facebook: @WatkinsGlenInternational
Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #Sahlens6HRS
WeatherTech Championship Track Records
Qualifying:
DPi: Oliver Jarvis, Mazda DPi, 1:29.639 / 136.547 mph, June 2019
LMP2: Gabriel Aubry, ORECA LMP2 07, 1:31.735 / 133.427 mph, June 2019
LMP3: New class in 2021
GTLM: Antonio Garcia, Chevrolet Corvette C7.R, 1:40.799 / 121.429 mph, June 2019
GTD: Jack Hawksworth, Lexus RC F GT3, 1:44.499 / 117.130 mph, July 2018
2019 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winners (No Race in 2020):
DPi: Jonathan Bomarito/Harry Tincknell/Olivier Pla, No. 55 Mazda Team Joest Mazda DPi
LMP2: Matt McMurry/Gabriel Autry/Eric Lux, No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07
LMP3: New class in 2021
GTLM: Patrick Pilet/Nick Tandy, No. 911 Porsche GT Team Porsche 911 RSR
GTD: Mario Farnbacher/Trent Hindman/Justin Marks, No. 86 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian GT3
Storylines
- Let’s Play Two: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be spending consecutive weekends at Watkins Glen International. First up is the traditional endurance race, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen on Sunday, June 27. Following that will be the WeatherTech 240, the two-hour, 40-minute race on Friday, July 2 that was added to the schedule when the event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 4 was removed earlier this year due to the pandemic. It sets up for a pair of exciting and different races at the historic circuit in upstate New York.
- Going the Distance Again: The Sahlen’s Six Hours marks the third of four events that make up the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, where drivers and teams rack up points at designated junctures of each endurance race separate from the season championship. The Endurance Cup leaders in each class heading into the race are: No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 full-season drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor in Daytona Prototype international (DPi); Gabriel Aubry, John Farano and Tim Buret of the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07 in Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2); Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga of the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 in Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3); a tie among Nos. 3 and 4 Corvette Racing regulars Antonio Garcia, Jordan Taylor, Nick Tandy and Tommy Milner in GT Le Mans (GTLM); and the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R trio of Lars Kern, Laurens Vanthoor and Zacharie Robichon in GT Daytona (GTD).
- The Gang’s All Here: A total of 40 cars are on the Six Hours pre-event entry list, covering all five WeatherTech Championship classes. It will be the first time that DPi, LMP2, LMP3, GTLM and GTD will race together since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts in March.
- New Points Format for 2021: The WeatherTech Championship points structure has changed this season, with each race finishing position earning 10 times the points it received a year ago. Where a class winner took home 35 points in 2020, the reward is now 350 points. Second place in a race now earns 320 points, third place nets 300 and downward from there. In addition, points are now distributed in qualifying, with 35 going to the pole winners in DPi, LMP2, LMP3 and GTLM, as well as to the fastest car in the second GTD qualifying session (see below). Points descend from second downward through the qualifying results.
- Revised GTD Qualifying Format: Starting this season, the GT Daytona class conducts two qualifying sessions. The first is for the Motul Pole Award and starting grid position, with a Silver- or Bronze-rated driver in each car. Following a mandatory driver change, another 15-minute session will take place to decide qualifying points for the class. All other classes in action will have a single 15-minute qualifying session that determines both grid position and points.
Who’s Hot?
- Wayne Taylor Racing: The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 has won two of the four races in 2021, including last month’s event at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. No. 10 co-drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor hold a 71-point lead in the DPi standings following their third-place finish June 12 at Detroit’s Belle Isle Park.
- Riley Motorsports LMP3: The No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier has won two of the three races in the new-for-2021 Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class, at Daytona and Mid-Ohio, and finished third at Sebring. Gar Robinson has been aboard for all three races and will team again with Mid-Ohio co-winner Felipe Fraga at The Glen.
- Heart of Racing Team: In the ultra-competitive GTD class that’s seen seven different manufacturers win in the past nine races dating to last season, the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 is coming off a win at Detroit. Co-drivers Ross Gunn and Roman De Angelis are one of just two sets of GTD drivers (along with No. 1 Paul Miller Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 duo Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow) to reach the podium twice this season.
Who’s Good Here?
- Chip Ganassi Racing: The standout team in multiple motorsports disciplines has collected six wins at The Glen, most recently in GTLM in 2016 and ’18. CGR re-entered the top-level prototype class this year for the first time since 2015 but hasn’t managed a prototype victory at Watkins Glen since 2010. The No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac DPi V.R was the class and overall winner on June 12 in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Detroit.
- Andy Lally: A four-time Watkins Glen winner, the versatile veteran is back in an Acura NSX GT3 this year with Magnus with Archangel. Lally’s last Glen triumph came with Acura in 2017.
- Markus Palttala: A late add to the entry list as part of the No. 42 NTe Sport Audi R8 LMS GT3 lineup, the Finnish driver has a pair of Sahlen’s Six Hours GTD wins in the past seven years.
Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winners in 2021 Field (22)
Andy Lally (4): SGS – 2004; GT – 2007, 2010; GTD – 2017
Bill Auberlen (3): GT – 2002, 2004; GTLM – 2017
John Edwards (2): GT – 2012, 2013
Markus Palttala (2): GTD – 2014, 2018
Spencer Pumpelly (2): GT – 2007, 2010
Renger van der Zande (2): PC – 2015, 2016
Filipe Albuquerque (1): P – 2017
Gabriel Aubry (1): LMP2 – 2019
Jonathan Bennett (1): PC – 2014
Jonathan Bomarito (1): DPi – 2019
Colin Braun (1): PC – 2014
Dane Cameron (1): GTD – 2014
Mario Farnbacher (1): GTD – 2019
Antonio Garcia (1): GTLM – 2014
Misha Goikhberg (1): P – 2018
Katherine Legge (1): GTD – 2017
Tristan Nunez (1): GX – 2013
Olivier Pla (1): DPi – 2019
Bryan Sellers (1): GTLM – 2015
Nick Tandy (1): GTLM – 2019
Ricky Taylor (1): DP – 2011
Harry Tincknell (1): DPi – 2019
Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Pole Winners in 2021 Field (13)
Bill Auberlen (3): GTS-3 – 1997; GT3 – 1998; GT – 2004
Colin Braun (2): PC – 2014; P – 2018
Andy Lally (2): GT – 2005; GTD – 2017
Jordan Taylor (2): GT – 2011, 2012
Gabriel Aubry (1): LMP2 – 2019
Pipo Derani (1): P – 2017
Mario Farnbacher (1): GTD – 2016
Antonio Garcia (1): GTLM – 2019
Jack Hawksworth (1): GTD – 2018
Trent Hindman (1): GTD – 2019
Oliver Jarvis (1): DPi – 2019
Ricky Taylor (1): DP – 2011,
Renger van der Zande (1): PC – 2016
Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winning Teams in 2021 Field (13)
Chip Ganassi Racing (6): DP – 2004, 2008, 2009, 2010; GTLM – 2016, 2018
Action Express Racing (4): DP – 2012, 2013; P – 2016, 2017
Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian (2): GTD – 2017, 2019
Turner Motorsport (2): GTD – 2014, 2018
BMW Team RLL (1): GTLM – 2017
Corvette Racing (1): GTLM – 2014
CORE autosport (1): PC – 2014
JDC-Miller MotorSports (1): P – 2018
Mazda Motorsports (1): DPi – 2019
Performance Tech Motorsports (1): PC – 2017
PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports (1): LMP2 – 2019
Riley Motorsports (1): GTD – 2015
Wayne Taylor Racing (1): DP – 2011
Previous Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winning Manufacturers in 2021 Field (7)
Porsche – 53
Chevrolet – 17
BMW – 8
Lexus – 3
Mazda – 3
Acura – 2
Cadillac – 1