Lamborghini Super Trofeo, Porsche Carrera Cup, Mazda MX-5 Cup Each Hold Two Practices ahead of Weekend Races
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen weekend got underway Thursday at Watkins Glen International with a full slate of practice sessions for the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge and three IMSA-sanctioned single-make series.
The first track appearance for the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship comes at 4:30 p.m. ET Friday with opening practice for the 57 cars spread among the five competing classes. The six-hour WeatherTech Championship race, the fifth of the 2023 season and third leg of the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup, starts at 10:40 a.m. Sunday. Flag-to-flag coverage streams live on Peacock, with USA Network joining at 2 p.m.
Here’s a recap of what transpired on track Thursday:
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge: The lone practice of the day for the Sahlen’s 120 at The Glen was led by Billy Johnson in the No. 88 Archangel Motorsports Aston Martin Vantage GT4 with a lap of 1 minute, 54.340 seconds (107.049 mph) that was tops overall and in the 22-car Grand Sport (GS) class. Mikey Taylor paced the 13-car Touring Car (TCR) class with a lap of 1:56.358 (105.192 mph) in the No. 17 Unitronic/JDC-Miller MotorSports Audi RS3 LMS TCR.
Another 60-minute practice begins at 10:10 a.m. ET Friday ahead of qualifying at 3:35 p.m. The two-hour race streams live on Peacock at 3:45 p.m. Saturday.
Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America: Giano Taurino put the No. 88 TR3 Racing, Lamborghini Palm Beach Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo Evo2 atop the speed chart following a pair of practices on the 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course. Taurino’s best lap of 1:47.283 (114.090 mph) came in Practice 2. Taurino shares the No. 88 Huracán with Lucas Petersson.
Danny Formal was second fastest at 1:47.904 in the No. 1 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Lamborghini Palm Beach Huracán that he shares with Kyle Marcelli. The WTRAndretti duo won both races last year at Watkins Glen, on their way to the Pro class championship. Super Trofeo qualifying begins at 9:20 a.m. Friday, with the first of two races at 2:25 p.m. that afternoon. Race 2 starts at 11:10 a.m. Saturday, with both 50-minute races streaming live on IMSA.com/TVLive.
Porsche Deluxe Carrera Cup North America: Points leader Riley Dickinson (No. 53 Kellymoss Porsche 911 GT3 Cup car (992)) paced both Carrera Cup practices, setting the fastest overall lap in the second session, 1:48.336 (112.981 mph). Dickinson, who’s won five of the first six races this season, was exactly two-tenths of a second quicker than Michael McCann (No. 8 McCann Racing).
Qualifying for the two 40-minute races is set for 8:35 a.m. with the first race at 1:25 p.m. Friday and the second at 12:20 p.m. Saturday. Both races stream live on IMSA.com/TVLive.
Idemitsu Mazda MX-5 Cup Presented by BFGoodrich Tires: Gresham Wagner (No. 5 Spark Performance was fastest through two Mazda MX-5 Cup practices, at 2:08.629 (95.157 mph). The 2021 series champion’s best lap came in the second session and was 0.264 seconds better than Robert Noaker (No. 13 Robert Noaker Racing).
IndyCar veteran and NBC Sports commentator James Hinchcliffe, a guest driver this weekend in the No. 3 JTR Motorsports Engineering entry, was sixth on the combined-session timesheet at 2:09.513. Qualifying for the two 45-minute races takes place at 8 a.m. Friday. Race 1 starts at 12:20 p.m. Friday and Race 2 at 10:05 a.m. Saturday. Both races stream live on IMSA.com/TVLive.