Nasr, Cameron Win Rain, Red Flag-Impacted 6H Watkins Glen

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Felipe Nasr and Dane Cameron became the first repeat GTP winners of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season following victory for Porsche Penske Motorsport in Sunday’s rain-impacted and red-flagged Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

Nasr made a bold move on Louis Deletraz on the inside into Turn 1 on the final restart with 16 minutes to go to take the lead and eventual win, with the No. 7 Penske Porsche 963 finishing 0.749 seconds ahead of the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Renger van der Zande in second.

It came after a 42-minute red flag period for track conditions following heavy rain that caused chaos throughout the field.

The No. 6 Penske Porsche of Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy completed the podium in third, with Deletraz dropping back to a fourth place finish after struggling to warm up his Michelin tires on the restart.

Jaminet lost multiple positions during the downpour after getting boxed in his pit by the sister No. 7 Porsche while changing from slicks to wet-weather Michelin tires. The No. 6 Porsche had been leading at the time in the hands of Nick Tandy.

The No. 25 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly, which started from the pit lane after making an overnight chassis change, was sixth, behind the sister No. 24 car that completed the top-five.

The No. 5 Proton Competition Porsche was seventh, ahead of the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac, which faced numerous issues including multiple spins and a trip into the gravel with Jack Aitken at the wheel during the heavy rain shower.

A five-minute stop-and-hold penalty for Richard Westbrook hitting the Michelin RFID board at pit-out cost JDC-Miller Motorsports a likely top-five finish, after co-driver Phil Hanson led the race in the opening hour.

The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura, meanwhile, retired with less than 30 minutes to go when Ricky Taylor came to a halt on track while under yellow after losing the car’s right-rear wheel, delaying the race’s restart procedure.

Iron Lynx’s Lamborghini SC63 was also a retirement after a cooling-related issue with just over two hours to go.

LMP2 class honors went to the No. 88 AF Corse Oreca 07 Gibson of Lilou Wadoux, Luis Perez-Companc and Nicklas Nielsen, the latter driver who claimed top overall honors at the 24 Hours of Le Mans one week ago.

It came after Felipe Fraga spun his No. 74 Riley Oreca and got collected by the No. 2 United Autosports entry of Ben Hanley and the No. 04 CrowdStrike by APR Oreca of Colin Braun while battling Nielsen for the class lead on the final restart.

Braun, with a damaged nose, initially crossed the line second in class but was demoted to a last place finish due to a drive-time infringement within his No. 04 CrowdStrike entry.

Fraga was therefore promoted to second, with the No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca completing the podium.

Corvette’s Final Lap Heartbreak as Heart of Racing Picks Up GTD Pro Win

Heart of Racing Team claimed GTD Pro class honors after Tommy Milner dashed to the pits for fuel on the final lap in the then class-leading No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo finished 1.340 seconds ahead of the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Marvin Kirchhofer in second, with Antonio Garcia completing the podium in the No. 3 Corvette.

Garcia was the highest-placed of the GT cars to pit when the race resumed behind the safety car with 40 minutes to go, with the class-winning Aston, No. 4 Corvette and No. 9 McLaren having pitted prior to the red.

Gunn shared the GTD Pro win with Alex Riberas.

The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which also didn’t pit upon the resumption of racing, came out on top in GTD, continuing Russell Ward and Philip Ellis’ hot streak in the class.

It was the duo’s fourth class victory in five races, having shared Sunday’s winning Mercedes-AMG with Indy Dontje.

Ellis held off the No. 120 Wright Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 R of Jan Heylen at the checkered flag, although like the No. 04 CrowdStrike Oreca, was penalized post-race for a drive-time infringement.

It promoted the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari 296 GT3 of Albert Costa Balboa, Manny Franco and Cedric Sbirrazzuoli to second, with the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin completing the GTD podium.

The No. 64 Multimatic Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 of Harry Tincknell, which had been leading GTD Pro at the red flag, finished fifth in class after a slow final pit stop.

Paul Miller Racing’s BMW M4 GT3, meanwhile, was handed two drive-through penalties on the final restart for failure to adhere to the minimum refueling time and for passing under yellow, dropping the No. 1 car to an eighth place class finish after running second at the red flag.

RESULTS: Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen

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