Second Watkins Glen Date Replaces Canceled CTMP Event

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship has canceled its planned visit to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in July and replaced it with a second race at Watkins Glen.

IMSA announced on Wednesday that quarantine requirements for travelers coming into Canada from the United States prompted a decision to cancel its CTMP round for the second consecutive year.

The WeatherTech Championship will instead hold a two-hour, 40-minute race at Watkins Glen for all five classes on the evening of Friday, July 2.

LMP2 has been added after initially being left off the CTMP round. Its addition for the new Watkins Glen race appears to make up for its removal from Detroit, as part of that event’s recent switch onto the NTT IndyCar Series Grand Prix weekend in mid-June.

The second Watkins Glen race will be known as the WeatherTech 240 At The Glen, while spectator access will be permitted.

It is scheduled to take place five days after the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen endurance round, creating a mid-season double-header at the classic New York road course venue.

The CTMP cancelation also affects the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and IMSA Prototype Challenge series. Both will be carried over to the new Watkins Glen event with single races on the same day as the main WeatherTech Championship contest.

Pilot Challenge is taking part in both parts of the Watkins Glen double-header, while Prototype Challenge will only be present during the second weekend.

IMSA says that it intends to return to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in 2022.

“We are grateful to Watkins Glen International President Michael Printup and his team for helping us arrive at a solution when it became apparent that we would be unable to make our planned trip to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park this year,” commented IMSA President John Doonan.

“Likewise, we are thankful that our partners at the Sports Car Club of America’s Glen Region are willing to share their previously scheduled event weekend at The Glen with us as well.

“We sorely missed the opportunity to race at Watkins Glen last year, but we’re delighted to bring those loyal fans two IMSA event schedules in little more than a week in 2021.”

Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and Porsche Carrera Cup North America are due to race on the Sahlen’s Six Hours bill but not during the new WeatherTech 240 event.

Carrera Cup announced earlier today that its planned CTMP round in late May will be replaced by a visit to Circuit of The Americas due to the coronavirus-related restrictions impacting travel between the U.S and Canada.

2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Schedule
Jan. 22-24 – Roar Before the Rolex 24
Jan. 30-31 – Rolex 24 at Daytona
March 20 – Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
May 16 – Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio
June 12 – Detroit Grand Prix
June 27 – Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen
July 2 – WeatherTech 240 At The Glen
July 17 – Lime Rock Park
Aug. 8 – Road America
Sept. 12 – WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca
Sept. 25 – Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach
Oct. 10 – Michelin GT Challenge at VIR
Nov. 13 – Motul Petit Le Mans