Scuderia Corsa returns to Watkins Glen International for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen June 27-30 with the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship after globe-trotting podium celebrations.
Reaching the halfway point of the IMSA season, the team is currently fifth in the IMSA MICHELIN Endurance Championship as they enter the third installment of the four IMSA endurance rounds. Scuderia Corsa took home the GT Daytona class win in 2016 and finished on the podium in 2017 at Watkins Glen. Drawing from the positive result at Le Mans, the team will aim to add to its lineage of success at The Glen.
Closing out a month that has seen the team race 10 times in five weeks, notably in three countries and scoring podium finishes at each sports car venue, this weekend’s festivities will be capped off back in the United States. Located in upstate New York’s famous Finger Lakes region, the return to the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International signals the switch from sprint to endurance racing for the IMSA WeatherTech series. The change in format places a premium on patient driving and mechanical reliability of the No. 63 WeatherTech Ferrari 488. As a circuit featuring long straights and high-speed corners, the requirements for precision and risk aversion will be at an all-time high during the notoriously hot and humid six-hour event.
Adding to the effort, the team welcomes back endurance driver Jeff Westphal. Westphal last raced with WeatherTech Racing Driver Cooper MacNeil and Ferrari Factory Driver Toni Vilander at Sebring International Raceway where the team claimed third in the Twelve Hours of Sebring.
For MacNeil he sees an advantage in the ease of finding the correct setup for the No. 63.
“The 3.4-mile and 11-turns should suit our WeatherTech Racing Ferrari,” MacNeil said. “The Ferrari is a great handling car and together with the Scuderia Corsa guys we should be able to dial it right into the track. Toni and I are coming off of a lot of laps at Le Mans and third place run. We need to convert that performance to the rest of the IMSA schedule. Right now, it looks like we may get some rain, so we will have to be ready for anything.”
For Vilander he is focused on gaining ground in the championship.
“Watkins Glen is a very fast track,” Vilander said. “The key to a fast lap is to have a good exit off Turn 11 all the way to the Bus Stop. We will have to have a WeatherTech Ferrari that is free through the Esses as well as able to handle the tight Boot section. We need to get our IMSA season back on track after a tough DNF at Detroit.”
For Westphal he is relishing in the opportunity to drive the Ferrari at Watkins Glen.
“My racing history at the Glen goes back to 2009 with Grand Am GT,” Westphal said. “Racing the WeatherTech Ferrari around The Glen is a neat opportunity because the modern GT3 cars make so much aero downforce. We will need a race car that is extremely well balanced on the brake pedal, or in pitch. Most of the corners are fourth gear or higher, so we need a car that can accept a late braking application at high speed while maintaining an efficient balance through the entry of the corner.”
The weekend kicks off with two IMSA WeatherTech practice sessions Friday, June 28. Practice will carry over to Saturday, June 29, and the day will end with qualifying. The GTD class is set to qualify at 11:35 a.m. ET with the session streamed live on IMSA.tv. Race day is Sunday, June 30; the six-hour competition begins at 9:45 a.m. with the checkered flag falling at 3:45 p.m. The race can be viewed in its entirety live on IMSA.tv and watched in a three-hour highlight format on NBCSN from 7 to 10 p.m. ET. Fans can also catch live flag-to-flag coverage on IMSA Radio via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM Radio.
