2018 6 Hours Of The Glen

The 2018 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen was an endurance race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York, on July 1, 2018. The race was the sixth round of the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship, as well as the third round of the 2018 Patron North American Endurance Cup.

Background

International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2018 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2017. It was the fifth consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2018 Sahlen's 6 Hours of the Glen was the sixth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2018 by IMSA, and was the third round of the Patron North American Endurance Cup. The race was held at the eleven-turn Watkins Glen International on July 1, 2018.

After the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic 4 weeks earlier, Filipe Albuquerque and João Barbosa led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 144 points, ahead of Eric Curran and Felipe Nasr who were tied with them on 144 points, and Hélio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor with 130 points. With 121 points, the GTLM Drivers' Championship was led by Ryan Briscoe and Richard Westbrook with a seven-point advantage over Earl Bamber and Laurens Vanthoor. In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 125 points ahead of Katherine Legge with 122 points.

IMSA released two separate technical bulletins regarding the Balance of Performance for the six-hour race. The first one was released on May 25, 2018, for the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class. This was done to allow IMSA teams who were preparing for the 24 Hours of Le Mans in three weeks time, notably Corvette Racing and Chip Ganassi Racing, to have the beforehand knowledge of the Balance of Performance for the race so they could prepare better. In this Bulletin, the BMW M8 GTE received a reduction of turbo boost, as well as a 4-liter fuel capacity reduction. The second technical bulletin was released on June 21, 2018, which regarded the Balance of Performance in the Prototype (P) and GT Daytona (GTD) classes for the event. In P, The Acura ARX-05 and Cadillac DPi-V.R received fuel capacity reductions of 2 liters. In GTD, Acura NSX GT3 received a 10 kilogram weight increase while the BMW M6 GT3 received a fuel capacity of reduction 2 liters.

Entries

A total of 42 cars took part in the event split across 3 classes. 16 cars were entered in P, 8 in GTLM, and 18 in GTD. In P, United Autosports made their first appearance since Sebring. Performance Tech Motorsports returned after skipping the Belle Isle round.Gabby Chaves subbed for João Barbosa, who was injured, in the Mustang Sampling Racing #5. Will Owen joined Sebastián Saavedra and Gustavo Yacamán in the AFS/PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports entry. In GTLM, Tom Blomqvist joined John Edwards and Jesse Krohn in the BMW Team RLL #24 entry. Bill Auberlen returned to the BMW Team RLL #25 entry after contesting the 2 previous rounds in GTD with Turner Motorsport. In GTD, HART, Montaplast by Land-Motorsport, CJ Wilson Racing, P1 Motorsports, and Squadra Corse Garage Italia made their first appearances since Sebring. Scuderia Corsa added a second entry while Wright Motorsports scaled down to one entry. Daniel Morad substituted for in the Adam Christodoulou P1 Motorsports entry due to visa issues. Oswaldo Negri Jr. joined Francesco Piovanetti and Daniel Serra in the Squadra Corse Garage Italia entry. Markus Palttala, Don Yount, and Dillon Machavern returned to the Turner Motorsport entry for the first time since Sebring. Mario Farnbacher joined David Heinemeier Hansson and Jack Hawksworth in the #15 3GT Racing entry.

Practice

There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Saturday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 10:25 am ET on Friday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:33.562.

Practice 2

The second practice session took place at 2:50 pm ET on Friday and ended with Romain Dumas topping the charts for CORE Autosport, with a lap time of 1:33.481.

Practice 3

The third and final practice session took place at 8:00 am ET on Saturday and ended with Dane Cameron topping the charts for Acura Team Penske, with a lap time of 1:32.975.

Qualifying

Saturday afternoon's 65-minute qualifying session was divided into three groups. All three categories had 15-minute individual sessions, and regulations stipulated teams to nominate a single driver to qualify their cars. The competitors' fastest lap times determined the starting order with the grid arranged to put the Prototype and GTLM cars ahead of all GTD entries.

Qualifying results

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by .

* The No. 54 CORE Autosport entry was moved to the back of the P field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified.
* The No. 22 Tequila Patrón ESM entry initially qualified sixth for the P class. However, the team changed engines after qualifying. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the P field on the starting grid.
* The No. 71 P1 Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the GTD field for starting the race with a different driver than who qualified.
* The No. 73 Park Place Motorsports moved to the back of the GTD field for failing to submit a starting driver for the race.
* The No. 77 Mazda Team Joest entry moved to the back of the P field for failing to submit a starting driver for the race.

Race

Post-race

The result kept Albuquerque atop the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 169 points, 1 point ahead of seventh-place finishers Curran and Nasr. Cameron and Montoya advanced from fifth to third while Goikhberg and Simpson moved from eighth to fifth. As a result of winning the race, Hand and Müller took the lead of the GTLM Drivers' Championship. García and Magnussen advanced from fifth to third while Pilet and Tandy moved from seventh to fifth. Bamber and Vanthoor dropped from second to fourth. The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship with 155 points, 1 point ahead of Legge. Cadillac and Lamborghini continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while Ford to the lead of the GTLM Manufactures' Championship. Mustang Sampling Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in the Teams' Championships while the #66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing entry took the lead of the GTLM Teams' Championship with six rounds remaining.

Results

Class winners are denoted in bold and .

Standings after the race

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

References

{{6 Hours of Watkins Glen

Chevrolet Sports Car Classic
6 Hours of The Glen
6 Hours of The Glen
6 Hours of Watkins Glen