Watkins Glen Friday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***The entry list for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen is down to 48 cars following the withdrawal of the second Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo, which had initially listed Alec Udell and no other co-drivers. The overall entry still marks the largest field at Watkins Glen since the first year of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2014.

***Dillon Machavern and Danny Formal have been confirmed in the No. 6 Muehlner Motorsports Duqueine D08 Nissan alongside Ugo de Wilde, while Wayne Boyd will line up in the No. 7 Forty7 Motorsports Duqueine with Anthony Mantella and Matt Bell.

***Patrick Gallagher, meanwhile, is the third driver in the No. 59 Crucial Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 after taking part in the first two Endurance Cup races of the season.

***AWA has underwent a driver change with Kyle Marcelli replacing Kuno Wittmer in its No. 13 entry for Watkins Glen as well as next weekend’s Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

***A team spokesperson confirmed to Sportscar365 that Wittmer is no longer with the team and that Matt Bell has been drafted in for the two remaining races of the season at Road America and Motul Petit Le Mans alongside full-season driver Orey Fidani.

***More than 190 cars are in action across five series this weekend. In addition to the WeatherTech Championship, Michelin Pilot Challenge boasts a 44-car field, 34 cars are in Porsche Carrera Cup North America presented by The Cayman Islands, 36 in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America and 29 in the Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires. 

***Winward’s No. 57 Mercedes is a brand-new chassis after having previously used its former Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS upgraded-to-Evo car in the last three races. The chassis plate lists a construction in 2021, although it’s understood to have been based at Multimatic’s shop in Mooresville, N.C. as a spare.

***The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow and Erik Johansson is sporting a special stars-and-stripes livery for Watkins Glen and at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park next weekend, in celebration of the upcoming July 4 holiday. 

***Multiple drivers, as well as one team, are fresh off taking part in the TotalEnergies 24 Hours of Spa test days on Tuesday and Wednesday, including Jordan Pepper, Brendon Iribe, Robby Foley, Mathieu Jaminet, Matt Campbell, Maro Engel, Mikael Grenier, Davide Rigon, Daniel Serra, Maxime Martin, Augusto Farfus, Roman De Angelis, Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas.

***GTD Pro co-drivers Gunn and Riberas form two-thirds of The Heart of Racing’s lineup for the Belgian endurance classic, which will mark the Ian James-led squad’s European debut. The team is receiving operational support from recently crowned Le Mans GTE-Am class winners TF Sport.

***De Angelis, meanwhile, is set for his second 24H Spa start, having been confirmed as part of Beechdean AMR’s lineup in the Gold Cup. The Canadian made his race debut in 2020 in one of Garage 59’s Aston Martin Vantage GT3s.

***Cooper MacNeil said the makeup of his team in the 24 Hours of Le Mans was “quite similar” to WeatherTech Racing’s Proton Competition-run crew in the WeatherTech Championship. MacNeil told Sportscar365 that both operations had the same team manager, engineer, strategist and a handful of the same mechanics, despite the obvious differences in machinery and co-drivers.

***MacNeil, who scored a career-best second place class finish in GTE-Am told Sportscar365: “I think it’s important to have the continuity between and keep the harmony going.”

***Sportscar365 has learned that the first group LMDh test, which was initially scheduled to include Porsche, Cadillac and Acura, is set for July 12 at Sebring International Raceway. While Porsche and Cadillac will be present, it’s unclear if the Acura ARX-06 will be ready in time for the multi-day outing.

***Among the items to be validated during the Sebring test include an updated Bosch MGU after previous complications with the unit during a planned Porsche endurance test at Motorland Aragon last month. It’s understood the reliability concerns have only occurred during on-track testing and not when paired to internal combustion engines on the dyno.

***BMW’s M Hybrid V8 LMDh car, meanwhile, is set for a late July rollout in Italy followed by its first proper test in Europe in mid-August. Additional group tests are understood to be planned prior to the first of two IMSA-sanctioned LMDh tests at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in October. 

***Muehlner Motorsports, which has returned to the WeatherTech Championship LMP3 grid this weekend, is targeting up to a two-car LMP2 operation next year according to team owner Bernhard Muehlner, who told Sportscar365 that the team has a second Oreca 07 Gibson already on order in addition to the car its allocated for the European Le Mans Series this year.

***Muehlner said the team’s full lineup for its LMP3 entry at Motul Petit Le Mans remains to-be-determined although it will feature de Wilde in the driving strength.

***The date for next year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona has been confirmed for Jan. 26-29 by Daytona International Speedway. It will include the return of the Roar Before the Rolex 24 the weekend prior although it’s unclear if the qualifying race will still be part of the event. An IMSA spokesperson told Sportscar365 to look for further announcements at IMSA’s annual ‘State of the Sport’ address.

***IMSA has partnered with Minti Labs to launch ‘IMSA Fastlane,’ a digital fan engagement platform that’s designed to “connect fans” to their favorite teams, cars and drivers through opportunities to own digital assets, showcase collections, unlock VIP experiences and engage in social events. It will also host the only officially licensed marketplace for members to collect and trade video NFT highlights from IMSA’s history.

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