Eng Leads After One Hour Completed at Watkins Glen

Photo: IMSA

The No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Philipp Eng led the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at the one-hour mark, following a lengthy full-course caution for barrier repair.

Eng’s GTP class entry got out ahead of the pack following the first round of pit stops while under yellow for the third round of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup.

While Louis Deletraz started on pole in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06, Phil Hanson took the No. 85 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 to the lead for the majority of the hour after passing Renger van der Zande on the first restart.

The first yellow was called on Lap 3 when Dwight Merriman’s No. 18 Era Motorsports Oreca 07 Gibson was stuck on track after contact with the No. 81 DragonSpeed entry of Eric Lux in Turn 6.

A heavy accident by the No. 47 Cetilar Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Roberto Lacorte, triggered by George Kurtz’s No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca entering Turn 8, resulted in the race’s second yellow, which continued past the one-hour mark.

No further action was called by IMSA race control.

The No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Jack Aitken ran second, ahead van der Zande in third and pole-sitter Deletraz in fourth.

Tijmen van der Helm, who climbed into the JDC-Miller Porsche during the pit stop, dropped from third to sixth on the restart, having also been passed by the No. 6 Penske Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet.

Nick Boulle led the LMP2 ranks in the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca, while the pair of Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 paced the GTD Pro and GTD ranks after one hour.

There was drama for the No. 65 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 of Dirk Mueller, which was taken behind the wall due to an issue with the left-rear brake disc, which caught fire.

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John