Yahoo Autos Eng puts BMW ahead in second Watkins Glen practice
It was highs and lows for BMW M Team RLL in the second practice session for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, with Philipp Eng posting the best time of the GTP field in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 shortly before Connor De Philllippi put the No. 25 M Hybrid V8 in the barrier to end the session with a red flag a minute-and-a-half early.
The No. 24 spun exiting Turn 1, sliding across the track and hitting the barrier on drivers’ right, ending teams’ opportunities to run a qualifying simulation at the end of the session. That perhaps preserved Eng’s top time of 1m33.725s (130.59mph), set in the final 20 minutes of the session. Mathieu Jaminet posted the closest time to Eng’s, a 1m33.900 in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 to lead Renger van der Zande in the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R by a mere 0.058s.
Tom Blomqvist set the best time of the No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing squad and the fourth-best overall, with Richard Westbrook putting the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 in fifth.
Felipe Fraga was credited with a somewhat astounding time in the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA to lead LMP2 and head even one GTP car. His 1m35.269s (128.48mph) lap was 0.678s better than the rest of the field, led by Colin Braun with a 1m35.847s in the No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR ORECA.
Nicklas Nielsen, still reeling in his 24 Hours of Le Mans victory for Ferrari AF Corse, had the third-best LMP2 time, a 1m36.135s in the No. 88 AF Corse ORECA. Bijoy Garg (No.22 United Autosports ORECA) and Nico Varrone (No. 81 DragonSpeed ORECA), both also Le Mans winners in 2024, completed the top five.
Madison Snow topped GTD PRO and the GTs overall in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, at 1m44.907s (116.67mph), a time 0.023s better than GTD leader Parker Thompson in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.
Daniel Serra had the second-quickest time in GTD PRO in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 at 1m45.010, 0.538s better than Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo. Alexander Sims (No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R) and Jack Hawksworth (No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F) rounded out the top five.
GTD championship leader Winward Racing had the second-best time in the class, courtesy of Russell Ward’s 1m45.766s in the No. 57 Mercedes AMG GT3. The other Mercedes AMG in the field, the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports entry, was third quick in the hands of Mikael Grenier at 1m45.860s. The No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 with Antonio Fuoco and the No. 44 Magnus Racing with Andy Lally at the wheel were fourth and fifth.
Aside from the session-ending red flag, the test was interrupted by one other for Lance Willsey spinning the No. 33 Sean Creech Motorsports Ligier LMP2 car into the barrier at Turn 9. Several cars received drive-through penalties during the session for multiple track limits violations, and several of those were handed multiple drive-throughs.
Qualifying is next, starting with the GT categories at 3:30pm ET. Qualifying will be carried live on Peacock and on IMSA.tv.
