Watkins Glen Thursday Notebook

Photo: John Dagys

***A total of 57 cars are entered for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, marking the largest field to race at Watkins Glen International in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship era and equaling the number of cars that contested the race in 1984, which was won by Al Holbert, Derek Bell and Jim Adams in a Porsche 962 GTP.

***Only GTP class entries and teams with cars in other IMSA-sanctioned support series were set up in the paddock Thursday, for the GTP cars’ extended pre-event inspection and safety checks. The remainder of the WeatherTech Championship classes are set for an 8 a.m. EDT unload on Friday ahead of opening practice at 4:30 p.m.

***Watkins Glen marks the first time all five classes are back in action together since the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. It is also the first LMP3 race for the WeatherTech Championship since the Florida endurance classic.

***John Falb has been drafted into the No. 35 TDS Racing Oreca 07 Gibson this weekend, alongside Giedo van der Garde and Josh Pierson. Falb is subbing for Francois Heriau, who is recovering from a back injury sustained in a testing accident prior to the 24 Hours of Le Mans.

***It is the second Bronze-rated LMP2 driver change due to an injury, with John Farano sitting out of Tower Motorsports’ Oreca this weekend, which has seen Salih Yoluc brought into the Ricky Capone-led squad as a replacement. Like Heriau, Farano also missed Le Mans as a result of his injury, which was sustained in an accident at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last month.

***As reported by Sportscar365 earlier on Thursday, Raffaele Marciello has replaced Philip Ellis in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo this weekend, with the team citing personal reasons for Ellis, who is still set to be taking part in next weekend’s CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa.

***Other updates to the entry list for this weekend include Rob Ferriol in the No. 42 NTE Sport Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2, while Alex Kirby is confirmed alongside Christopher Allen and Connor Bloum in the No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 Nissan.

***Despite the pre-event entry listing the No. 93 Racers Edge Motorsports with WTR Andretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 with a to-be-confirmed driver, Ashton Harrison will race alongside Danny Formal and Kyle Marcelli as originally announced.

***Ben Keating told Sportscar365 that he hasn’t ruled out contesting the two remaining LMP2 sprint races at Road America and Indianapolis Motor Speedway, especially if he remains in with a chance of winning the Jim Truman Award, which awards an auto-invite to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. Keating was due to be replaced in the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Oreca by Patrick Kelly in those races.

***Keating, who was part of Corvette Racing’s GTE-Am victory at Le Mans earlier this month, said he’s targeting to be on the LMP2 Pro-Am grid at Le Mans next year, with no interest in continuing in the production-based ranks amid its shift to GT3 regulations.

***The Bronze-rated Texan currently sits fourth in the IMSA Trueman Award standings, trailing Steven Thomas and George Kurtz by 40 points, and is tied with Farano who is absent this weekend.

***CrowdStrike by APR driver Kurtz, who is coming off LMP2 Pro-Am class victory at Le Mans, told Sportscar365 that he’s also attempting to complete the full WeatherTech Championship season in LMP2, after initially only committing to the Michelin Endurance Cup rounds. Kurtz scored pole at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, which was a sprint race appearance.

***He told Sportscar365: “I’m taking it race by race but I have a conflict for one. But I’m seeing if I can work through that. If I can do the entire IMSA season, I’m going to try and do that.”

***Kurtz has one of the busiest five-week racing schedules of any driver, having spent two weeks at Le Mans, competed in last weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS rounds at Virginia International Raceway where he was also victorious in and will also race in next weekend’s 24 Hours of Spa.

***Chevrolet has scheduled a press conference for Friday at 11:15 a.m. EDT to announce the first Corvette Z06 GT3.R effort for the WeatherTech Championship next year. It follows Ford’s announcement at Le Mans that Proton Competition has become the first customer of its new-for-2024 Mustang GT3.

***Riley Motorsports, which recently announced a move to LMP2 next year, is looking to keep its undefeated streak of LMP3 races at Watkins Glen intact this weekend in the series’ final outing for the class at the track. Both Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga won the three previous LMP3 rounds held here, including both the Sahlen’s Six Hour and the WeatherTech 240 replacement races in 2021, as well as last year’s edition.

***Andrew Pinkerton will not only be making his WeatherTech Championship debut as part in MLT Motorsports’ LMP3 lineup this weekend, but will also serve as the team’s chief strategist and performance engineer. Pinkerton is also calling strategy on the No. 30 ANSA Motorsports Lamborghini Huracan Super Trofeo EVO2 in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America action.

***Matt McMurry, a Honda Performance Development vehicle dynamics engineer, and Mario Farnbacher completed a test in Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura ARX-06 at Road America last week. The two drivers were understood to have been drafted into the GTP entry because the team’s full-season drivers Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun were still en route returning from Le Mans.

***It marked Farnbacher’s first test in the Acura LMDh car after being part of a driver evaluation process for MSR’s 2023 full-season seat in the team’s previous generation Acura ARX-06 DPi contender.

***IMSA has facilitated a stayover at Watkins Glen for WeatherTech Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge teams wanting to prep their cars prior to the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in two weeks’ time. Teams are permitted to work from their existing paddock locations on Monday and Tuesday before packing up and heading north of the border to Canada.

***Unlike recent years where the two races were on consecutive weekends, there is a one-week buffer between Watkins Glen and CTMP.

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