Watkins Glen Saturday Notebook

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

***PJ Hyett scored his second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole, having reeled off three laps that would have been good enough for pole, including his fastest, a 1:35.925 that put the Bronze-rated driver fourth quickest amongst the combined LMP2 times from the practice sessions, which were set by pro drivers.

***The AO Racing team owner/driver said: “It’s one of those unbelievably magical things about motorsports. I wouldn’t call that a perfect lap, there’s still 12 things I could have done better about that lap. When you see the time after you go over the start/finish, yeah, it’s a magical feeling.”

***Louis Deletraz, who teamed with Hyett for a runner-up finish in the LMP2 Pro-Am subclass at last weekend’s 24 Hours of Le Mans, meanwhile, claimed top overall qualifying honors on Saturday at Watkins Glen International, in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06.

***It also marked the Swiss driver’s second career pole, after taking top qualifying honors for Motul Petit Le Mans last year. Deletraz is in one of the numerous GTP cars that have opted for its two full-season drivers only for the six-hour enduro, which calls for mixed conditions tomorrow.

***Deletraz said: “For sure being two is easier in terms of driver rotation because it gives you more margin to play. But it’s very hot, so for sure it’s going to be physical tomorrow. We’re going to lose some kilos. I think with the weather coming in, we’ll have to play it hour by hour, be in a good position the last two hours and start fighting right there. Hopefully running at the front helps.”

***Deletraz edged out Renger van der Zande by just 0.038 seconds in the hard-fought qualifying session. It marked the Dutchman’s first qualifying attempt since Daytona 2022, as Sebastien Bourdais typically handles qualifying duties.

***Daniel Serra broke the GTD Pro class qualifying record by two-tenths over the previous 1:44.430 lap time set by Loris Spinelli last year. It comes with the introduction of Michelin’s new-for-2024 Pilot Sport Pro GT H1 compound that’s used in both production-based categories.

***Team RLL will be working through the early morning hours of Sunday in an attempt to get its No. 25 GTP entry of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly on the grid after needing to truck in its backup chassis, a test car, from the team’s shop in Indianapolis.

***A BMW spokesperson estimated that the car should arrive at Watkins Glen around 1 a.m. EDT on Sunday, where the team will then be put to work swapping major components from the crashed car onto the spare, per IMSA regulations.

***Tower Motorsports worked until midnight repairing its No. 8 Oreca 07 Gibson following Charlie Eastwood’s accident in Friday’s opening practice session. Team principal Ricky Capone told Sportscar365 that the team elected not to go to a spare chassis despite sustaining a small fracture to the tub, which has since been repaired on-site.

***The car battled electrical issues in the morning practice session but eventually returned to action.

***IMSA President John Doonan told Sportscar365 that interest in the WeatherTech Championship remains at an all-time high, as the sanctioning body continues discussions with teams to shape the 2025 grid. Doonan confirmed that entry requests will be opened on Aug. 6, similar to last year’s earlier schedule that saw 2024 full-season entries confirmed at Motul Petit Le Mans.

***Doonan said: “We had meetings with teams throughout the weekend, we’re looking in a similar manner at what we faced this year with capacities, in a good way for the sport, even to the tune of being well over the number of interested parties being at the Rolex 24.”

***When asked if IMSA would consider implementing manufacturer-controlled car counts, similar to the measures imposed by the WEC to control grid sizes in Hypercar and LMGT3, Doonan said he doesn’t foresee any “mandates” in the future but will “continue to investigate it.”

***While the 2025 schedule, announced in March, remains fully locked in, Doonan indicated that “some adjustments” could be made to the class makeup at certain events based on levels of competitor interest. Several LMP2 teams, for instance, are understood to have expressed desire to have a race during the current 13-week gap between the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.

***Doonan said: “We’re super sensitive to budgets and we talk to the teams quite often about that and make sure just adding a race isn’t always the answer, even for them. We’re constantly in touch with [LMP2 competitors] and if we need to make some adjustments on where people race, we’ll do that to make sure their value equation for their customer program makes good sense.”

***IMSA and NBC Sports’ media rights contract extension, which is a multi-year deal, aligns “very nicely” with NASCAR’s agreement with NBC according to Doonan, who cited the 50 percent increase in network NBC coverage that’s aimed to attract new fans to the series.

***He said: “Based on the format of our races, to have NBC once again give their vote of confidence to IMSA. We all know that our sport is maybe hard to understand for a general consumer. To have someone like NBC that does understand it commit to cover it, and through the broadcast trying to educate a new audience we pick up because of more network [coverage], I think that’s the best-case scenario.”

***Doonan indicated that IMSA plans to continue with its YouTube live streaming initiative for international viewers, which has yielded strong results, including 500,000 viewers at the peak of the Sebring race. Domestically, Peacock streaming viewership is up 60 percent year over year.

***NBC Sports’ coverage of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen kicks off on Sunday at 11 a.m. EDT on USA Network, with the full race streamed on Peacock. Dave Burns and Brian Till will be joined in the booth by Calvin Fish, with Ryan Myrehn making his NBC Sports debut on pit lane alongside Chris Wilner and Matt Yocum.

***IMSA Radio will have regular coverage of the third round of the Endurance Cup with the team of John Hindhaugh, Jeremy Shaw and Shea Adam.

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