Lexus doubles up in GTD at Watkins Glen Six Hour

Jimmy Vasser was all smiles behind the podium celebrations for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, the Vasser Sullivan Lexus team having scored its first double victory by capturing both GTD and GTD PRO with its pair of Lexus RC F GT3s. For the No. 12 GTD squad of Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo and Parker Thompson, it was extra sweet as they headed the GT field overall.

“What a day for this team and the organization,” beamed Telitz. “I’ve been with Vasser Sullivan and Lexus racing for four years now and I gotta say this is coolest, best day we’ve had, and the best day I think I’ve had as a driver overall. It feels pretty good.”

The victory was Telitz’s fifth in IMSA WeatherTech Championship competition, Montecalvo’s second and Thompson’s first.

The No. 12 had been out front most of the day. The team did have its challenges, notably from the Iron Dames as Michelle Gatting battled with Montecalvo for the lead in the middle of the race. A short time later, though, the Lamborghini Huracán was given a mechanical black flag for a tire specification violation, which happened to a number of teams, especially among the GT cars. The violation could have been tire pressure outside the specifications, or a malfunctioning TPMS unit.

Lone GTD-class car out front, the No. 12 — with four GTD PRO teams right behind them, led by the No. 14 of Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat —  came into the race as championship leaders. They padded that lead with their second win of the season and kept their podium streak alive.

Vasser Sullivan’s sister car in GTD PRO had to survive a mid-race battle with the No. 63 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo22 of Andrea Caldarelli and Jordan Pepper. That challenge ended when Caldarelli was passing Rob Ferriol in the No. 42 NTE Sport Lamborghini, and both got hit by Alex Kirby in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier LMP3, ending the race for both Lamborghini teams. After that, the win for Hawksworth and Barnicoat should have been easy, except for a drive-through penalty for violating the pit-lane speed limit.

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“When I got in the car for the final stint, that was not how I was expecting things to play out,” explained Hawksworth. “The boys had done amazing job all the way through the race; we made really good calls at the right time. And you know, Ben had done a fantastic job and it kind of looked like at that point, as long as we didn’t get a caution or something, that it was going to be kind of plain sailing to the end of the race. Obviously, we don’t know exactly what what happened yet, why when I left the box the PLC wasn’t controlling the speed…”