Largest WeatherTech Championship Field Since Sebring Set to Tackle Watkins Glen International
By Tony DiZinno
Entry List (Click Here)
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The largest grid of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March is back in action for next week’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, the third round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. With all four classes back in action, 56 cars are entered, matching the Sebring car count. A strong portion of the field will be racing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans this weekend, then coming back Stateside to Watkins Glen.
The Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) field matches its season-high of 13 entries as it did at Sebring with both the No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche 963 and No. 63 Automobili Lamborghini Squadra Corse Lamborghini SC63 back in action. Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) is back for the first time since Sebring with the same 12 cars present across the first two races of the year.
The two GT classes – Grand Touring Daytona Pro (GTD PRO) and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) – also have strong car counts with 10 GTD PRO entries and 21 GTD entries, with several Michelin Endurance Cup-only GTD cars resuming for the first time since Sebring.
Watch the action live on network NBC on Sunday, June 22, starting at noon ET for the six-hour summer endurance race classic that often tosses surprises based on pace, caution flags and weather. As the season hits the halfway point of the sixth of 11 race weekends across all classes, battles for the full-season WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Endurance Cup will begin to intensify.
Fast Facts
Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, New York
June 19-22, 2025
Race Day/Time: Sunday, June 22 – 12:10 p.m. ET
NBC Network Coverage: LIVE: Noon – 3 p.m. ET (streaming flag-to-flag on Peacock in the U.S., IMSA.com/TVLive, YouTube.com/@IMSAOfficial outside the U.S.)
Qualifying Stream: Saturday, June 21 at 2:15 p.m. (Peacock in the U.S., globally via IMSA’s Official YouTube channel and IMSA.TV)
Circuit Type: 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course
Classes Competing: Grand Touring Prototype (GTP), Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), GT Daytona Pro (GTD PRO), GT Daytona (GTD)
Race Length: 6 hours
Track Social Media:
Event Hashtags: #IMSA, #Sahlens6HRS
WeatherTech Championship Track Records
GTP: Louis Deletraz, Acura ARX-06, 1:32.209 / 132.741 mph, June 2024 qualifying (DPi track record: Tom Blomqvist, Acura DPi, 1:29.580 / 136.637 mph, June 2022)
LMP2: Gabriel Aubry, ORECA LMP2 07, 1:31.735 / 133.427 mph, June 2019 qualifying
GTD PRO: Daniel Serra, Ferrari 296 GT3, 1:44.203 / 117.463 mph, June 2024 qualifying
GTD: Loris Spinelli, Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2, 1:44.430 / 117.207 mph, June 2023 qualifying
2024 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Winners
GTP: Felipe Nasr/Dane Cameron, No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963
LMP2: Luis Perez Companc/Nicklas Nielsen/Lilou Wadoux, No. 88 Richard Mille AF Corse ORECA LMP2 07
GTD PRO: Ross Gunn/Alex Riberas, No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3
GTD: Russell Ward/Philip Ellis/Indy Dontje, No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3
2024 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen Motul Pole Award Winners
GTP: Louis Deletraz, No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06
LMP2: PJ Hyett, No. 99 AO Racing ORECA LMP2 07
GTD PRO: Daniel Serra, No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3
GTD: Parker Thompson, No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3
Storylines
- Rolex Championship Pursuit: Watkins Glen marks the halfway point of the 2025 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, as it is the sixth of 11 race weekends. In pursuit of not only the race wins, the leaders of this championship have set their eyes on a special Rolex timepiece that is awarded by Rolex, the Official Timepiece of IMSA, at year’s end to each WeatherTech Championship title-winning driver. The championship battles are fairly close with just 2 points separating the LMP2 leaders, 11 in GTD PRO, 70 in GTP and 124 in GTD heading into the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
- Streak Snappers: Acura put a stop to both BMW (Motul Pole Award) and Porsche (race victories) four-race streaks in Detroit with the No. 93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-06. Ford did the same in GTD PRO, ending AO Racing’s three-race GT and two-race GTD PRO win streak with its No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3. Can either Acura or Ford extend their own win streaks to two, or will someone else prevail?
- Watkins Glen Prototype Winner Parity: Picking a winner in the top-level prototype class at Watkins Glen is a challenge with five different manufacturers having won the last four years. Porsche won in 2024, BMW in ’23, Acura in ’22, with Cadillac (2 hours, 40 minutes) and Mazda (6 hours) splitting the back-to-back races in ’21. Does one of the last four winners get another, or might Aston Martin or Lamborghini keep the prototype parity party alive?
- Welcome back LMP2: Back for the first time since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, the LMP2 class resumes for Round 3 of the season. So far, “2” is the class’ magic number: 2 races, 2 winners, and 2 points separating the No. 74 Riley ORECA LMP2 07, which has a second-place finish to its record, ahead of the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA which won Round 2 at Sebring.
- Michelin Endurance Cup Back in Action: Also back for the first time since Sebring is the Michelin Endurance Cup for Round 3. Points at Watkins Glen across all classes are awarded at the three- and six-hour marks, with five points for first, four for second, three for third and two for all others at the designated marks. Heading into this race, class leads are between one and eight points.
- CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award: Multiple teams will be recognized in pre-race ceremonies for winning the CrowdStrike Endurance, Teamwork and Speed Award at previous events. Among WeatherTech Championship entries, the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA LMP2 07 won at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. That was the LMP2 class’ most recent race, so it’s being recognized in Watkins Glen. They’ll be joined by the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3, which won this award at the most recent WeatherTech Championship race, the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic. Among IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge teams, WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca winners No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS CS were recognized at the last round at O’Reilly Auto Parts 4 Hours of Mid-Ohio. Click here for a list of the 2025 winners and award criteria.
Who’s Hot?
- No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963: While their teammates in the No. 7 Porsche 963 have grabbed most headlines, after Detroit, the sister No. 6 pairing of Mathieu Jaminet and Matt Campbell is the only GTP entry to go five-for-five in podiums. Just 70 points behind their teammates, Jaminet and Campbell will look to close even more at “The Glen.”
- No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Corvette Z06 GT3.R: Still awaiting its first win of 2025, Corvette’s No. 3 pairing of Alexander Sims and Antonio Garcia have been GTD PRO’s model of consistency with three podiums from four starts, and they’re only 11 points behind the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche in the championship.
- No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing Lexus RC F GT3: You can copy-and-paste the “three podiums from four starts with no wins” line applied to the No. 3 Corvette to the No. 12 Lexus of Parker Thompson and Jack Hawksworth in GTD, also second in points (albeit 124 back). At a track where the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team swept GTD PRO and GTD in 2023, look for this car to content again.
Who’s Good Here?
- Heart of Racing Team, in GT Classes: Heart of Racing Team has three Watkins Glen wins across two GTD classes in the last three years. They swept both GTD PRO and GTD in 2022 and added another GTD PRO win in 2024. There’s a chance for another GTD win with its No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 this year with the revised lineup of Casper Stevenson, Tom Gamble and Zacharie Robichon.
- Riley, In Whatever Class: Bill Riley’s squad claimed three straight Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class wins in Watkins Glen from 2021 to 2023, and nearly secured its first LMP2 win here last year with a runner-up finish for the trio of Felipe Fraga, Gar Robinson and Josh Burdon. It’s also got a GTD win, 10 years ago in 2015 with a Dodge Viper GT3-R.