Watkins Glen Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***A total of 54 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship teams unloaded on Thursday ahead of the start of on-track action for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, which marks the midpoint of the season and also the third leg of the Michelin Endurance Cup. Teams were greeted to intermittent showers from the mid-morning, although rain is currently not in the forecast for Friday.

***Both Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 entries will be running under the honorary banner ‘Vasser Sullivan Championship Racing/Dreyer & Reinbold’ banner this weekend in tribute to longtime IndyCar team owner Dennis Reinbold, who recently passed away at the age of 65. Reinbold was a longtime friend of both team co-owners Jimmy Vasser and James ‘Sulli’ Sullivan.

***Seven drivers competing at Watkins Glen are coming off class victories at the 24 Hours of Le Mans two weeks ago. They are Tom Dillmann (Inter Europol) and Nick Yelloly (both LMP2), George Kurtz and Alex Quinn (CrowdStrike by APR) plus Laurin Heinrich (all three in LMP2 Pro-Am) and Nicky Catsburg and Jonny Edgar (LMGT3).

***For Catsburg, it marked the Dutchman’s first win in a Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and came exactly three years since his last major victory, at the 2023 edition of Le Mans, also with co-driver Ben Keating, in GTE-Am aboard the Corvette C8.R. Of note, Catsburg is now leading both the IMSA GTD Pro and WEC LMGT3 championships.

***There have been several driver lineup changes, and a number of two-driver squads in the GTD Pro class that would typically utilize three, due to the clashing CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa, which has impacted no fewer than 30 drivers as well as three teams that have had to select one event over the other, in one of the largest clashes in recent memory.

***The highest-profile, and rather last minute change, was Heinrich, originally due to race a Schumacher CLRT Porsche 911 GT3 R Evo in the Belgian endurance classic, but will instead be in the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 in order to keep his his GTP championship hopes alive. Heinrich has won three of the five GTP races so far this season and sits second in the title race.

***Heinrich said: “I’m very upset with this IMSA clash with one of the big endurance races in Europe, which has been happening for quite some years. I think it’s a big shame because these are two very meaningful races. To not be able to do them both in the same year, to have this clash, is a big shame not only for us drivers but also for the teams, for the fans. I don’t understand why we cannot find a better solution for this.”

***Both Thomas Preining and Ricardo Feller have been replaced in the GTD Pro class No. 911 Manthey Porsche by Loek Hartog and Michael Christensen, with Richard Lietz in for Morris Schuring in the team’s GTD entry. Alec Udell is replacing Lilou Wadoux in the No. 21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo, which also like the No. 911 Manthey Porsche won last time out at Sebring International Raceway.

***Additionally, Jaxon Evans is in for Frederik Schandorff in the No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari

***Both Dan Harper and Max Hesse, who have shared the third driver role in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO, are in Spa, along with Franck Perera, which has forced the Pfaff Motorsports Lamborghini Temerario GT3 into a two-driver squad with full season pilots Andrea Caldarelli and Sandy Mitchell, who are missing the 24 Hours of Spa for the first time since 2016 and 2017, respectively.

***Other notable drivers who race annually at Spa that have prioritized Watkins Glen include Kurtz, Laurens Vanthoor, Kevin Estre, Dries Vanthoor, Sheldon van der Linde, Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann, Ben Barnicoat, Davide Rigon, Harry King (reigning Gold Cup winner), Antonio Fuoco, Charlie Eastwood, Russell Ward, Philip Ellis, Indy Dontje, as well as Wright Motorsports, which finished fourth in the Gold Cup class in its race debut last year with Adam Adelson, Elliott Skeer and Tom Sargent.

***Winward, which routinely fields a U.S.-crewed Mercedes-AMG, as well as Heart of Racing Team, which made a previous start in 2022 and was initially plotting a effort with SPS automotive performance this year, were also both affected.

***Of note, BMW M Motorsport director Andreas Roos is at Spa this weekend, along with WRT team principal Vincent Vosse.

***Multiple teams in Michelin Pilot Challenge and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, meanwhile, have also been forced to secure replacement drivers this weekend because of the clash. Ellis will be in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4, subbing for Daan Arrow, while both Dennis Lind (TR3 Racing) and Kyle Marcelli (TB Autosports) are missing Super Trofeo North America action due to their Spa commitments as well.

***The date clash is poised to again happen next year, with IMSA already confirming its full 2027 schedule, setting June 25-27 for Watkins Glen, and SRO Motorsports Group set to unveil its calendar on Friday, which is understood to have Spa again on the same weekend. SRO founder and CEO Stephane Ratel told Sportscar365 that the Watkins Glen IMSA event ‘doesn’t justify’ them moving the date of their event, which is the largest, and arguably most prestigious GT3 race of the year, featuring 69 entries this year.

***Watkins Glen was moved up by a week for the last two years to avoid clashing with Spa, following pressure from Kurtz, whose CrowdStrike cybersecurity company serves as the title sponsor of the race. But as a consequence, it was held the week directly after Le Mans, which put a strain on teams and drivers that contested both events.

***AO Racing’s Dane Cameron said he’s in support of the one-week buffer: “I think it’s nice. Le Mans is quite a long stretch, nearly close to two weeks, I think, to do that whole thing. There’s quite a lot of commitments and time, and some late nights given night practice, and all that. Regardless of whether you’re U.S.-based or European-based, it’s a bit of travel back and forth and get over to Watkins sometimes. It’s not the easiest place, I think, for the European guys to get to.”

***Inception’s sub Evans, who is making his fourth career WeatherTech Championship start after a string of races with Kellymoss by Riley in 2023, recently began a new career path in Australia, along with Jordan Love, in joining a finance firm as “asset finance specialists” according to a recent report by Speedcafe.

***The No. 9 Pfaff Lamborghini, which is coming off a best finish of second in GTD Pro last time out in Detroit, is sporting a new yellow livery for sponsor XPEL, a producer of paint protection film for cars.

***This weekend marks the first WeatherTech Championship race for GTP teams on Michelin’s new Pilot Sport Endurance Hard compound tire, although several teams tested at Watkins Glen earlier this month, while others, such as Wayne Taylor Racing, already gained race experience on the tire at Le Mans.

***Ricky Taylor said: “In the IMSA world, we don’t have the choice of compounds, so we use the information we’re given and we go to the sim and load the tire that we’re going to have, and we do all of our planning around one tire and how the track energy affects it and then we adapt. But I think coming from a WEC race, where you have to put the thought into which one you want to choose, and which one is going to be optimized for the situation, I think it gives a unique perspective on what, where you get the performance.”

***He added: “Le Mans was super hot, but the track is very low energy, and on the test day, a lot of people thought the hard would be a good option for the race, and then in the race, it didn’t seem like a very good option anymore. So going to Watkins, it’s going to be hot, but the track is extremely high energy. It’s normally a good option for that racetrack. And I think with the new tire obviously we haven’t been there yet with the new [2026] tire, but the warmup has been so much better with the other two compounds. I think everybody expects the same with the Hard.”

***IMSA President Doonan will be one of several notables that will be taking part in next weekend’s Le Mans Classic, in the first-ever HSR NASCAR Classic presented by Goodyear. A total of 36 NASCAR cars, dating back from a 1966 Richard Petty Plymouth Belvedere up to modern-day stock cars will take to Circuit de la Sarthe as part of the long-running historic event.

***Doonan, who also serves as president of HSR, will be at the wheel of a 2002 Chevrolet Monte Carlo painted in the iconic Wonder Bread colors from the 2006 film “Talladega Nights” that featured Will Ferrell’s ‘Ricky Bobby’ character. WeatherTech President Patrick Womack will also be driving, along with sports car racing veterans Carlos De Quesada, Dr. Jim Norman, as well as former Grand-Am driver J.C. France, the son of NASCAR and IMSA chairman Jim France.

***Additionally, 2004 NASCAR Cup Series champion Kurt Busch will be at the wheel of a 2020 Chevrolet Camaro, running the No. 8 in memory of his younger brother, Kyle, who tragically passed away in May at the age of 41.

***Bill Gibson, the founder of Zytek and Gibson Technology, passed away last weekend at the age of 78. Gibson, a pioneer in motorsports electronics and engine management, purchased the intellectual rights to Reynard’s unfinished prototype in the early 2000s, which laid the foundation for Zytek prototypes that competed in the American Le Mans Series, at Le Mans and in other ACO-run series. Zytek rebranded to Gibson Technology in 2014 and became the spec engine supplier for the LMP2 class three years later.

***Doonan said: “Bill made lasting contributions to endurance sports car racing and the broader motorsport community. A true innovator, his work spanned Formula 1, single-seater competition, touring cars, and endurance racing. His legacy continues to be felt in IMSA today through the LMP2 engines that proudly carry his name. Bill’s passion, ingenuity, and impact on our sport will not be forgotten, and he will be deeply missed.”

***Watkins Glen and IMSA will be hosting the first-ever ‘IMSA Preview Party’ at Seneca Lodge today, from 5:30-7:30 p.m. The free-of-charge fan event will include driver Q&As, an autograph session and the new ‘IMSA Enduro Lager’ a “crisp, golden lager brewed for those who embrace the journey” that will be available at the lodge while supplies last.

***WeatherTech Championship track action kicks off on Friday with a single 90-minute practice session from 11:25 a.m.-12:55 p.m. EST, although the day will include qualifying for Pilot Challenge, as well as the first races of the weekend for Mustang Challenge North America, Porsche Carrera Cup North America and Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America.

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