IMSA Preview: 6 Hours of the Glen
- Aaron Carroll
- 2 hours ago
- 6 min read
For the first time since Sebring all the way back in March, all four classes of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship are present this weekend in Watkins Glen for the 6 Hours of the Glen.
Entry List
54 cars will lineup on the grid this weekend for the race, 11 GTPs, 11 LMP2s, 12 GTD Pros and 20 GTDs.
In the top class, the main storyline is coming from Laurin Heinrich. The German previously announced that he would miss the 24 Hours of Spa this weekend to focus on his IMSA title charge in the No.5 JDC-Miller Porsche 963. He'll share last years spec Porsche - that he steered to victory in Laguna Seca - with Tijmen van der Helm and Kaylen Frederik.
The rest of the GTP cars will run their usual two-driver lineups that they do for most of the season, barring the No.93 Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) Acura. Full season drivers Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande will be re-joined by Endurance Cup driver Kaku Ohta, off the back of his LMP2 outing at Le Mans.
The only change in LMP2 from Sebring is the abscense of the No.79 JDC-Miller entry, which was seen testing at the circuit, but is not on the race entry list.
In the GTD Pro and GTD ranks, many Endurance Cup only entrants return, including Manthey, who have an overhauled line-up for this race.
Loek Hartog and Michael Christensen will join regular Klaus Bachler in the No.911 GTD Pro car, while Richard Lietz joins Ryan Hardwick and Riccardo Pera in the No.912 GTD entry. The overhaul is due to Porsches heavy commitments in the 24 Hours of Spa.
Jaxon Evans fills in for Spa-bound Frederick Schandorff in the No.70 Inception Ferrari, while Alec Udell fills in for Lilou Wadoux in the No.21 AF Corse car.
Finally in GTD we also have a new entry on the grid. Van der Steur Racing has come under new ownership, and will now become the No.068 YRB Racing entry. The line-up has been changed too, with Valentin Hasse-Clot remaining onboard as the Pro, but joined this time by Marius Fossard and Trenton Estep.
Championship Standings
GTP
Heading into the last round in Detroit, it was a close fight between Heinrich and Jack Aitken, with the former leading the two. But after a disastrous race for the young German with the No.5 JDC-Miller crew, and a victory for his British rival in the No.31 Cadillac, the tables have turned.
Aitken sits top of the standings on 1760 points, with Heinrich trailing behind on 1616 points - a gap of 144 points. Whilst the Porsche driver has taken three wins out of five races so far (the most by any driver so far), Aitken's consistency has put him at the top. The No.31 Whelen Cadillac has yet to be off the podium this year, scoring three seconds, a third and a win in Detroit.
Interestingly, both drivers stand alone at the top, whereas we usually see drivers sharing the same cars going for glory together. However, Aitken's teammates (Frederick Vesti and Earl Bamber) have both missed various rounds of the season, and Heinrich's Endurance Cup duties with Penske and full-season with JDC mean both drivers are scoring independently.
Julien Andlauer and Felipe Nasr (Heinrich's Penske teammates) slot into third on 1606 points in the No.7, with their wins in Daytona and Sebring boosting them up the table. They have not stood on the podium since.
Fourth is Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande in the No.93 MSR Acura on 1552 points, with Kevin Estre and Laurens Vanthoor in the No.6 Porsche Penske rounding out the top five on 1501 points.
This weekend is also an Endurance Cup round, and unsurprisingly it's Heinrich, Andlauer and Nasr at the top of that championship on 35 points, having won both of the endurance rounds so far.
Estre, Vanthoor and Matt Campbell of the No.6 are second on 23 points, with Aitken, Vesti and Bamber in third on 20 points.
LMP2
Having only raced twice so far this season (Daytona and Sebring) the LMP2 title fight has still yet to take it's full shape in 2026.
Paul Di Resta, Dan Goldburg and Rasmus Lindh in the No.22 United Autosports car lead the way on 662 points, just three ahead of George Kurtz, Alex Quinn and Toby Sowery in the No.04 Crowdstrike entry.
Phil Fayer, Hunter McElrea and Mikkel Jensen in the No.2 United car are third on 604 points, with Jeremy Clarke, Tom Dillmann and Bijoy Garg in fourth on 585 points in their No.43 Inter Europol machine. Sebastian Alvarez and John Farano round out the top five in the No.8 Tower Motorsports entry.
Despite both races so far being Endurance Cup rounds, the standings there differ quite a bit to the actual standings due to the points that are handed out mid-race in both events.
The No.99 AO Racing car of PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Jonny Edgar leads the way there, from sixth in the overall standings on 25 points. Alvarez and Farano, along with Kurtz, Quinn and Sowery, are all tied for second and third on 21 points.
GTD Pro
Nicky Catsburg and Tommy Milner in the No.4 Pratt Miller Corvette lead the way in the premier GT class on 1243 points, on pure consistency, with the duo yet to win a race this season.
Second is Connor De Phillippi and Neil Verhagen in the No.1 Paul Miller BMW on 1225 points, just two ahead of Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch in the No.65 Ford Mustang. They are, in turn, just nine points ahead of Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims in the No.3 Pratt Miller Corvette. Rounding out the top five is Harry King and Nick Tandy in the No.77 AO Racing car.
Endurance Cup wise, De Phillippi and Verhagen lead the way on 27 points, with Catsburg and Milner tied with Bachler, Ricardo Feller and Thomas Preining from the No.911 Manthey car, however, the latter two are being replaced by Hartog and Christensen this weekend.
GTD
Eduaro 'Dudu' Barrichello sits at the top of this table on his own as part of the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin crew on 1280 points. He's followed by Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher in the No.96 Turner Motorsport BMW who are on 1140 points.
Benjamin Pederson and Aaron Telitz of the No.12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus are third on 1103 points, with Phillip Ellis and Russell Ward in the No.57 Winward Mercedes in fourth. Fifth is Tom Gamble, teammate to Barrichello, despite having missed the round in Long Beach.
In the Endurance Cup, Antonio Fuoco, Simon Mann and Lilou Wadoux in the No.21 AF Corse Ferrari lead the way on 25 points as an Endurance Cup only entry. Wadoux is busy in Spa this weekend, so will be replaced by Alec Udell.
Competitors from four different entries are all tied for second, third, fourth and fifth on 18 points. They are the No.27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin, No.96 Turner BMW, No.57 Winward Mercedes and the No.34 Conquest Racing Ferrari.
The track
The Watkins Glen track is a very balanced track, with lots of wide open, fast corners, plenty of medium speed and some slower hairpins.
One of the main overtaking opportunities will likely be the run up the hill through turns two and three, where drivers can slipstream up this long flat-out section down to the bus stop chicane.
After that there's a string of three 180 degree corners, which provide opportunities for the GTPs and LMP2s to lunge the GTDs, before another medium-length straight into a heavy braking zone where more overtaking can be done.
Pit entry at the end of the lap is quite tricky, as the pit entry line goes over the apex of the final corner. Drivers coming in will have to slow down more than usual, which can lead to some hairy moments, especially in traffic.
Lap time wise, last years GTP pole was a 1:31.558 set by van der Zande in the Acura. The LMP2 pole was a 1:35.9, while in GTD the fastest time in the two classes was a 1:44.2.
Schedule
Practice 1 will open up the IMSA weekend later on today at 11:25 local time (16:25 BST), with practice 2 taking place tomorrow morning at 10:05 (15:05 BST). Qualifying is at 15:40 on Saturday (20:40 BST) with the race getting underway at 12:10 on Sunday (17:10 BST)
Fans at the track and those watching at home on YouTube or IMSA TV can also enjoy action from the Pilot Challenge, Lamborghini Super Trofeo NA, Porsche Carrera Cup NA and the Mustang Challenge.
