Yahoo Autos Porsche takes Watkins Glen pole on points as rain truncates qualifying
Heavy rain that begin just as the LMP2 and LMP3 cars went out to set the grid scuttled qualifying for all the prototype classes, which will all be set based on points. The No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsports 963 of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy will start on pole for tomorrow’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, with the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Pipo Derani, Alexander Sims and Jack Aitken alongside.
“It’s a culmination of the last five, six months of work actually,” said Tandy, who was slated to qualify the No. 7. “Of course, everybody wants to run in qualifying. In a six hour race, especially, it’s not the most important part of the weekend and we all know this, but it’s a chance for … it’s a different type of competition, and it carries points for the championship, so everybody wants to compete. But honestly, when I saw the cars going off in the in the LMP session before, and saw the forecast that was likely coming and has come, I wasn’t excited to go out there because the the level of risk for something going wrong is is massive. With prototype machinery, if the plank hydroplanes on water, this can happen even before the tires do, so it’s a very treacherous set of conditions.”
The second row will have the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 with Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque inside and the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande and Sebastien Bourdais outside.
The cancellation of qualifying was likely met with big disappointment by several teams, notably the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura team, for whom Colin Braun had set the fast time in both sessions and had also been quick in wet conditions during yesterday’s first free practice. The BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8s had starred as well in the morning practice session, turning the second and third-quickest fast laps.
Rain had actually hit just before GTD and GTD PRO went out for qualifying, but only in one section of the track from the top of the Esses headed to the Inner Loop, affecting the brake zone for the chicane. It dried as the session progressed, and Loris Spinelli turned several consecutive quick laps, eventually setting a new lap record and claiming the overall GT pole as well as the Motul Pole Award for GTD in the No. 78 Forte Racing Powered by USRT Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo22 he’ll share with Misha Goikhberg and Patrick Liddy. Spinelli’s 1m44.430s lap was 0.069s better than the outright GTD track record, set by Jack Hawksworth for Lexus in 2018.
“Just in the last three laps the brake point in the Bus Stop was (becoming) dry,” said Spinelli. “When the team said to me that I was missing the pole position, I was trying to push really hard at that point, because I knew that I was going really easy there, so just brake a bit later. In free practice we drove just for a couple laps due to (a red flag and rain), but we are not in the best shape so far with the setup. But I really appreciate the effort of the team this weekend, and I think for the race we could have a good result.”
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Meanwhile, Daniel Serra claimed the first IMSA pole for the Ferrari 296 GT3 by setting fast time for GTD PRO and will start alongside Spinelli in the No. 62 Risi Competizione machine after turning a lap at 1m44.829s.
“Qualifying was quite tricky. The track was completely dry, just arriving on Bus Stop was completely wet,” Serra explained. “So it was more about how much risk you take on the braking in the Bus Stop than the rest of the track. The car was really great to drive. It’s always nice to qualify and I love it and especially on this track that is really high speed.”
It will be another Lamborghini on the inside of the second row, with Jordan Pepper driving the GTD PRO No. 63 Iron Lynx Huracán to second in the class. Aaron Telitz, quickest in this morning’s session, qualified the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 second in GTD and fourth overall to start outside the second row. His 1m45.203s lap was 0.773s off Spinelli’s blistering time.
Jack Hawksworth took third in GTD PRO and fifth overall with a 1m45.297s lap in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus. GTD cars took the next two sports, Doriane Pin marking the Iron Dames’ best qualifying effort to date with a 1m45.325 in the No. 83 Lamborghini. She was followed by Madison Snow in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, 0.109s back. Jules Gounon (No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Mercedes AMG) and Jordan Taylor (No. 3 Corvette Racing C8.R) make up the all-GTD PRO fifth row.
The three manufacturers that made up the first six places in GT qualifying all received Balance of Performance breaks prior to the weekend. The Ferrari (30kg) and Lamborghini (20kg) both lost weight, while the Lexus received a larger restrictor.
Most of the LMP2 and LMP3 cars never made a lap as rain started just as the green flag waved for the session, with the majority of cars on slicks. Some tried to make it around to set a time, while many headed straight back into the pits with hopes that officials would allow a tire change. But on their first full lap, several cars crashed in Turn 7 where the water was deepest, bringing out the red flag. First Ari Balogh in the No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier LMP3 slid off, then Ben Keating in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 slid into him. Keating’s car was then hit by the No. 17 AWA Duqueine LMP3 driven by Anthony Mantella. All three drivers were checked and released by medical personnel.
With the grid set on points, Steven Thomas becomes the polesitter for LMP2 in the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA, with Keating alongside. Gar Robinson, by virtue of Riley Motorsports winning the only points-paying race so far, the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, starts on the LMP3 pole in the No. 74 Ligier, with the No. 13 AWA Duqueine of Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell and Lars Kern alongside.
Up Next: A 20-minute warm-up session at 8 a.m. ahead of the 10:40 a.m. race start.
