Watkins Glen Saturday Notebook

Photo: Jordan Lenssen/Porsche

***Qualifying for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen was delayed by nearly two hours, and pushed behind the second and final Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America race of the weekend, due to “extensive track repairs” in the Bus Stop after two pieces of curbing broke loose in the closing stages of the Michelin Pilot Challenge race.

***Track officials, in consultation with IMSA, decided to remove a large part of the curbing on the entrance into the Inner Loop, with IMSA having sent photos of the revised Turn 5 section to all competitors prior to qualifying. The revised entry into the corner resulted in record qualifying times in both the GTP and GTD Pro classes.

***Sportscar365 understands the track will paint the now-curbless sections overnight to provide a visual reference of the racing service. IMSA has yet to declare how track limits will be enforced in this section. Teams were allowed to inspect the configuration change this evening ahead of tomorrow’s race.

***Jack Hawksworth has now become the sole-leader in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship class pole positions, with the Vasser Sullivan Lexus driver now at 17 top qualifying runs, breaking a tie that that he shared with Ben Keating. With Jack Aitken claiming overall pole, it marked the third consecutive GTP pole for Cadillac, following Louis Deletraz and Earl Bamber’s pole runs at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and Detroit, respectively.

***Kaku Ohta confirmed that Watkins Glen will be his final outing with Acura Meyer Shank Racing in the WeatherTech Championship. The HRC factory driver did not rule out potential LMP2 seats later in the year following his 24 Hours of Le Mans debut in the class, but said those details have not yet been confirmed.

***Ohta revealed he’s been in talks with Honda about a move to the NTT IndyCar Series in the future. “I’ve been talking with Honda about my future for a long time, from the first time I joined Meyer Shank Racing,” he told Sportscar365. “From even that point, I was talking to Honda that my main goal would be IndyCar. With the talks and with a good relationship with HRC, then we work together to make it possible. But yes, we’re progressing.”

***The Japanese driver said that his main goal is to win the Super Formula title to prove his readiness to Honda for an IndyCar seat. “I need to become a champion in Super Formula. [Alex] Palou and Felix [Rosenqvist] are proving their speed in IndyCar and both had good results in Super Formula,” Ohta said. “Becoming the Super Formula champion can affect the goal for the future in Italy, so it’s definitely my first goal.”

***Dane Cameron said he’s hoping this weekend will serve as another “reset” for the No. 99 AO Racing Oreca 07 Gibson, after a challenging opening two races of the season. Last year, Cameron and co-driver PJ Hyett entered Watkins Glen after fifth and seventh place class finishes in LMP2 at Daytona and Sebring but ended up with the championship after an impressive summer run. By comparison, the duo finished fifth and sixth in class in those races this year.

***Cameron told Sportscar365: “It’s very, very similar to how both campaigns started last year with some good speed but no results to show of it. We’ve been pushing along with our car development side because things continue to progress where everyone gets faster. We’ve done some good things lately, particularly in IMSA, so I’m confident we have really good speed.”

***Spencer Pumpelly is set to make his 250th start in top-level IMSA competition this weekend. In sheer coincidence, Pumpelly’s co-driver this weekend in the No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, Mario Farnbacher, is set for his 100th start.

***Pumpelly has taken part in three of the previous four GTD races to date this season, with three different teams, after starting the year with Magnus, joining RS1 for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring and then subbing for Tom Gamble in the No. 27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin at Long Beach.

***Heart of Racing team boss Ian James previously confirmed to Sportscar365 that Roman De Angelis will take Tom Gamble’s seat in its GTD class Aston for the upcoming round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, which clashes with the FIA World Endurance Championship round at Interlagos.

***Nicky Catsburg, who currently leads both the IMSA GTD Pro and WEC LMGT3 points standings, following class victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, is set to miss the next round of the world championship. Catsburg is set to be replaced in Brazil by fellow factory driver Nico Varrone in TF Sport’s No. 33 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R.

***With Keating having missed the opening two WEC races due to a broken elbow, and Catsburg missing Brazil, only Jonny Edgar, who is competing this weekend as AO Racing’s third driver in its LMP2 car, could have a chance of the LMGT3 title, should the car not score points in Sao Paulo. Catsburg said: “I was joking with the guys… I said make sure you don’t score any points [in Brazil]! But maybe if they do, we can achieve P1-3 in the championship. Jonny can win, Ben can be P2 and I can be P3. That’s all good.”

***Tyler Neff, who engineers both the No. 33 TF Corvette in WEC and No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports entry in the WeatherTech Championship, will be in Brazil that weekend.

***George Kurtz, who is coming off his second LMP2 Pro-Am class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, confirmed to Sportscar365 that he’ll return for another full WeatherTech Championship season in 2027 with CrowdStrike by APR. “It will be a similar program to next year,” said Kurtz, who indicated his co-drivers have yet to be determined. “Lots of guys have different schedules, so we’ll figure all of that out,” he added.

***More than 20 drivers competing at Watkins Glen this weekend will be straight off to Imola for the next European Le Mans Series round including Nick Yelloly, Tom Dillmann, Bijoy Garg, Tristan Vautier, Sebastian Alvarez, Alex Quinn, Ferdinand Habsburg, Antonio Fuoco, Dane Cameron, Louis Deletraz, PJ Hyett and Charlie Eastwood, Riccardo Agostini, Klaus Bachler,  Marius Fossard, Valentin Hasse Clot, Fran Rueda, Richard Lietz, Harry King, Tom Sargent and Alec Udell.

***Udell, who is in a TF Sport Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R with Eastwood and Blake McDonald, is in his first full European season campaign since winning the 2019 GT4 European Series title.

***It will be a busy three-week stretch for Sargent, as the Porsche Motorsport North America Selected Driver, who sits second in the ELMS LMGT3 title race, will then be jetting off to Japan, with the U.S.-based Australian teaming up with Kyle Washington in an Absolute Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo in GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS competition at Fuji Speedway.

***IMSA President John Doonan has dismissed any short to mid-term prospects of a hydrogen-powered car joining the WeatherTech Championship, due to lack of interest from OEMs. As confirmed earlier this month, a ‘H2 Hypercar’ formula will be written into the new-for-2030 top class regulations that will see hydrogen-powered cars compete for overall victories through an Equivalence of Technology process, at least in the WEC.

***Doonan told reporters in Le Mans: “At the moment we have not had any manufacturers approach us about that. We, as IMSA and the WeatherTech Championship, always want to be the heartbeat of the auto industry. When individuals come to us from the auto industry, we certainly have open ears.”

***Heart of Racing’s James indicated that its top-class effort, which spreads across both series, is likely to continue into 2030 despite its LMH-based prototype not being eligible and a new ground-up, hybrid-powered prototype, needing to be built.

***James told Sportscar365: “To be honest, we just like to go racing and have a shot at it. As long as that’s the same and there’s quality amongst all the manufacturers, I don’t think would be our deciding factor, rather than ‘Oh you can’t or can do a specific thing.’ It will be a sad day when the Valkyrie’s not racing because it really is the fan favorite. I think people are in love with it. But times change and it will have had a good run at that point. We’ll see what the next chapter looks like.”

***JDC-Miller Motorsports team principal John Church, meanwhile, indicated that it’s too early to see how the 2030 regs will impact customer teams. The Minnesota-based squad is currently the only active privateer in either the IMSA GTP or WEC Hypercar ranks.

***Church said: “From my perspective it seems like, from the outside, that everybody got what they wanted or there’s room for everybody to be happy with the new regulations. How that effects us as a privateer, I guess I’m not 100 percent sure just yet. But when you look at all the manufacturers… it will help bring everybody together in a single set of specs. I don’t see a downside to it.”

***Porsche Motorsport boss Thomas Laudenbach revealed to Sportscar365 that he’s not aware of any new Porsche 963 customers that are planning a WeatherTech Championship GTP effort next year. It’s a different story for the Asian Le Mans Series, however, with one current IMSA LMP2 team understood to be working towards a two-car 963 effort for the season that could end up being entirely held in Europe.

***Manthey Racing hasn’t ruled out an expansion into a full season WeatherTech Championship effort in the future according to its director of racing Patrick Arkenau. “For sure it’s things we’re looking into,” he told Sportscar365. “We didn’t do all the investment we did for just a single year. How the exact program will look like in the future is still to be confirmed. We’re working on various things but for sure the interest from our side is big… For sure, it’s very interesting and very tempting to do more and see the ‘Grello’ on the streets of Long Beach or Detroit. Maybe we will see it one day. We’re definitely working on it.”

***RAFA Racing Team founder Rafael Martinez has launched the Random Racing Club, a new community designed for motorsport fans can connect, meet up at events, attend watch parties, join conversations, and become part of a community that extends beyond a single team, driver, or championship. The club, which is free to join, exceeded the 150 founding memberships within 45 minutes of its launch on Tuesday and already has more than 500 members according to RAFA Racing Club Chief Growth Officer Toni Calderon.

***The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen gets underway Sunday at 12:10 p.m. EST with live coverage starting at noon on Peacock, as well as on IMSA’s YouTube channel internationally. The NBC Sports broadcast team will be led by Leigh Diffey, Brian Till, Townsend Bell, Calvin Fish and Oliver Gavin in the booth, with Dave Burns, Kevin Lee and Chris Wilner on pit lane.

***IMSA Radio’s team, meanwhile, has John Hindhaugh, Peter Mackay, Ryan Myrehn and Arjuna Kankipati.

Jack Rachinsky & Stephen Lickorish contributed to this report

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