#55: Mazda Motorsports Mazda DPi, DPi: Harry Tincknell, Oliver Jarvis, Jonathan Bomarito, winner

Entry List Notebook – IMSA WeatherTech 240 at The Glen  

Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, N.Y.

July 1-2, 2021

Entry List (Click Here)

 

Fast Facts

Race Day/Time:  Friday, July 2 – 6:10 p.m. ET

NBCSN Coverage: LIVE – 6 p.m. ET

TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold Coverage: LIVE – Flag-to-flag beginning at 6:10 p.m. (available on IMSA.com/TVLive outside the U.S.)

IMSA.com/TVLive Live Qualifying Stream: Friday, July 1 – 5:35 p.m.

IMSA Radio:  All sessions live on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com; SiriusXM live race coverage begins Friday, July 2 at 6 p.m. (XM 202, Internet 992)

Circuit Type:  3.4-mile, 11-turn road course

Race Length:  2 hours, 40 minutes

Track Social Media:  Twitter: @WGI; Instagram: @wgi1948; Facebook: @WatkinsGlenInternational

Event Hashtags:  #IMSA, #WeatherTech240

 

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:   Austin McCusker, Ligier JS P320 1:40.404 / 121.907 mph, June 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

 

Storylines

  • More Fun at The Glen: For the second straight week, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is racing at one of the hallowed grounds of U.S. motorsports, Watkins Glen International. On the heels of the traditional Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen that finished on Sunday comes the IMSA WeatherTech 240, the two-hour, 40-minute race on Friday added to the 2021 schedule when the event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park was removed due to border crossing issues related to the pandemic. Imagine all the intrigue, drama and excitement witnessed in Sunday’s six-hour event and cram it into a race less than half as long – and you have the IMSA WeatherTech 240.
  • Shorter Races Have Their Place in Glen History: While the six-hour event is traditionally linked with Watkins Glen and goes back as far as 1968, the historic circuit has played host to many shorter sports car races – ranging in distances from 50 to 500 miles or in time lengths of three hours or less. Famous winners of the shorter Glen races include Jim Hall (1964 and ’65, 200 miles), Mark Donohue (driving for Roger Penske in 1967 and ’68, 200 miles), Al Holbert and Derek Bell (1985 in a Porsche 962, three hours) and Juan Manuel Fangio II (1992 in a Dan Gurney All American Racer, two hours and 45 minutes). From 2001-2012, IMSA ran a second race at The Glen as part of the NASCAR weekend on the 2.45-mile “short course.” In 2011, Ricky Taylor teamed with Max Angelelli to win the two-hour race driving for Wayne Taylor Racing. Back with WTR this year, Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque lead the WeatherTech Championship standings in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class.
  • All Five Classes Competing: A total of 31 cars are on the pre-event entry list, with all five WeatherTech Championship classes on track together for the second straight weekend. The DPi, Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) and GT Le Mans (GTLM) classes will be competing for points toward the season championship. The GT Daytona (GTD) class will be racing only for points going toward the IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup.
  • Tight Prototype Races: The points standings in the three prototype classes are all close heading into this week’s race. In DPi, No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 co-drivers Taylor and Albuquerque are 32 points up on No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda co-drivers Harry Tincknell and Oliver Jarvis. In LMP2, the gap is a mere two points between No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 drivers Ben Keating and Mikkel Jensen and No. 11 WIN Autosport pilots Steven Thomas and Tristan Nunez. In LMP3, Gar Robinson of the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 is 50 points up on No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier co-drivers Colin Braun and Jon Bennett.
  • Sprint Cup Battle Resumes: The GTD class flips the switch to IMSA WeatherTech Sprint Cup competition for the third of eight races in that championship within a championship. No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 drivers Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn have a 45-point lead over Frankie Montecalvo (No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3) and a 55-point edge on Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley (No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3).
  • New Points Format for 2021: The WeatherTech Championship and Sprint Cup 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 will have a single 15-minute qualifying session that determines both grid position and points.

 

Who’s Hot?

  • Mazda DPi: The No. 55 Mazda Motorsports Mazda DPi RT24-P won Sunday’s six-hour race at The Glen. It marked a repeat from when the car won at Watkins Glen in 2019, the first DPi victory for the manufacturer. Jarvis and Tincknell will be out to make it three in a row on Friday. Also noteworthy is the fact that last year’s IMSA WeatherTech 240 held on July 4 at Daytona was won by the No. 55 Mazda then shared by Tincknell and Jonathan Bomarito.
  • Riley Motorsports in LMP3: The No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier has won three of the four LMP3 races this season, including the last two. Robinson and co-driver Felipe Fraga will look to make it three in a row this week. The team’s sister car, the No. 91, has been a podium finisher in three straight races.
  • Turner Motorsport in GTD: The No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW is torrid of late. The car has won two of the last three GTD races – including Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours – and was running a strong second in the other race when a mechanical failure stopped it with 10 minutes to go at Detroit. Co-drivers Auberlen and Foley lead the season standings but hope to make up ground in Sprint Cup points this week.

 

Who’s Good Here?

  • Acura DPi: While they didn’t win on Sunday, the two Acura DPi entries led 145 of the 200 laps and appeared in control until the No. 55 Mazda’s quicker final pit stop gave it the track position necessary to win. The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura led 125 laps Sunday before finishing second. The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura led 20 laps and wound up third.
  • Bill Auberlen: With his victory on Sunday, the all-time leader in IMSA wins (64) has collected four of them at Watkins Glen. No one else among the drivers entered for the IMSA WeatherTech 240 has more than two.