IMSA Preview: Watkins Glen

Written by Natalie Johnston, Edited by Aaron Carroll

Credit: Dominic Loyer

Round three of the Michelin Endurance Cup takes place this weekend at Watkins Glen International for the Six Hours of the Glen. All four classes will be racing this weekend - GTP, LMP2, GTD PRO and GTD. With the additional teams committed to the Michelin Cup races, the grid will be made up of 56 entries.

13 of those entries will be for GTP with the addition of the Proton Competition Porsche and the Lamborghini Iron Lynx to the 11 full-season entries. 12 LMP2 entries, including Le Mans-winning No.43 Inter Europol, and the LMP2 Pro/Am winning No.99 “Spike” AO Racing car. 10 Entries in GTD PRO, and a whopping 21 GTD entries.

The No.7 Porsche Penske car will be the one to watch this weekend, having gone undefeated in the two previous endurance races. The No.7 took home victory last year and the No.6 Porsche Penske took home third place. However, IMSA has mandated a -33 MJ Maximum Stint Energy BoP change for the Porsches this weekend. That change could make a half a lap to a full lap difference in stint duration.

In LMP2, the No.43 Inter Europol will be one to watch after winning Sebring and most recently finishing first in class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It is important to note that of the Le Mans lineup, Thomas Dillman is the only overlapping driver this weekend, since Nick Yelloly will be competing in the No.93 Meyer Shank Acura and Jakub Śmiechowski will not be present.

In GTD PRO, the championship-leading No.77 AO Racing Porsche is a likely contender for the win this weekend after winning at Sebring. Their driver lineup of Laurin Heinrich and Klaus Bachler have been show-stopping for the team this season coming off a 2024 championship win.

The No.65 Ford Multimatic car should not be discounted either, as they showed wicked speed taking the win in GTD PRO in Daytona and showing decent pace in Sebring as well. In GTD the No.57 Winward Racing Mercedes leads the championship, and coming off of a victory in Laguna Seca, should be fighting for a podium at least.

The No.13 AWA Corvette comes into this weekend hot off of a P10 finish at Le Mans. Their driver lineup of Orey Fidani, Matthew Bell, and Lars Kern are battle-tested after winning at Daytona this year, but have had a series of weaker results since. 

The Six Hours of the Glen will see the green flag at 12:00 pm local time and will be streaming on NBC, Peacock, Youtube, IMSA TV and IMSA Radio.