It Ain’t Over until It’s Over … and Then Some
By David Phillips
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Did all that happen in just six hours? Well, technically not, as it took 10 hours to confirm the true overall winner of the 2023 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Six hours or 10 hours, Round 5 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship produced fierce racing and carnage aplenty, along with fantastic recoveries and, yes, controversy.
A Win Is a Win
Although BMW M Team RLL would surely have preferred to take a first Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) win in a different fashion Sunday, a win is a win is a win. And in this case, it is fitting reward for a program that started off the season on the proverbial back foot in the Rolex 24 At Daytona and has steadily clawed its way to the front of the GTP pack. A somewhat fortuitous second place in the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring was followed by second and fourth at Long Beach, a P5 at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and an intensive testing and development program of the BMW M Hybrid V8 during the latter half of May and early June while Porsche and Cadillac focused on the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
The Nos. 24 and 25 BMWs were right on the pace from the get-go at Watkins Glen, only to be denied a legitimate shot at pole when qualifying was washed out. Worse yet, the No. 24 BMW entry was effectively eliminated from the race after a first-lap crash, only for its sister car to be caught up in a multicar incident short of the halfway point. Quick work by the BMW M Team RLL mechanics got the car repaired and back in the race on the lead lap and subsequent strategy – including eschewing new Michelin tires on the final pit stop – put Connor De Phillippi in the lead. Using lapped traffic (and new tires) to maximum effect, Porsche’s Mathieu Jaminet overhauled the leading BMW with minutes to go. But in IMSA postrace inspection it was discovered that the Porsche’s skid block measured less than the minimum thickness and the car was moved to the rear of the GTP finishing order, with De Phillippi, co-driver Nick Yelloly and the No. 25 BMW declared the winners.
Thus, GTP’s inaugural season has seen all four marques (Acura, BMW, Cadillac and Porsche) and five different teams (Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, Whelen Engineering, Porsche Penske, Cadillac Racing and BMW M Team RLL) mount the top step of the podium and now features tight championship races for all three (driver, team and manufacturer) titles.
Vasser Sullivan’s GTD Double
BMW’s win was not Sunday’s only “first.” Not only did a virtually flawless performance by Aaron Telitz, Frankie Montecalvo, Parker Thompson and the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 produce a Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class win, a stellar final stint by Jack Hawksworth carried the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus he shared with Ben Barnicoat past the No. 3 Corvette C8.R GT3 of Antonio Garcia to the GTD PRO win, completing the first sweep of the GTD categories for a team and manufacturer.
Making the GTD PRO win all the more impressive is the fact Hawksworth was assessed a drive-through penalty for exceeding the speed limit exiting the pits on his final stop. Thus, he had little time to make amends for the gaffe. What’s more, once past Garcia he had to deal with the fast-closing Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3 of Daniel Serra, who had posted the second fastest GTD PRO qualifying time in Saturday’s lone dry qualifying session. Although Serra had Hawksworth in his sights, catching Hawksworth and passing him in the closing stages of a race are two different things. We’ll never know what might have transpired, of course, as Bill Auberlen’s spectacular crash with a few minutes left on the six-hour clock meant the race ended under caution.
Lessons from The Glen
Lesson No. 1, It Ain’t Over until (after) It Appears to be Over: After an encouraging two days of practice, BMW M Team RLL’s race quickly went south when, first, Augusto Farfus clouted the guardrail after admittedly hitting the “loud” pedal too aggressively exiting Turn 1 on the opening lap. Then, De Phillippi could not avoid Sebastien Bourdais’ spinning Cadillac exiting Turn 10 in the third hour and was forced to pit for repairs. Undaunted, De Phillippi, Yelloly and the team clawed their way back into contention and, ultimately, won the race.
Lesson No. 2, Focus Forward: Having shot himself in the foot by incurring a drive-through penalty on his final pit stop, Jack Hawksworth didn’t dwell on his mistake. Rather, he focused on redressing the damage, first by tracking down and passing the leading Corvette, then by keeping a surging Serra at bay in the Risi Ferrari.
“The car was great,” Hawksworth said. “We just kept pushing. I’ll never give up. That’s what this team is all about.
Lesson No. 3, Efforts Equal Results: Some 18 hours before the start of the Sahlen’s Six Hours, the No. 17 AWA Duqueine D08 and No. 30 Jr III Racing Ligier JS P320 arrived in the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) paddock on the business end of wreckers, after sliding into tire barriers during a rain-drenched qualifying session. The AWA and Jr III mechanics faced the unenviable task of repairing the damaged cars in time for Sunday’s 10:40 am start. Not only did they deliver, their drivers (AWA’s Anthony Mantella, Wayne Boyd and Nico Varrone and Jr III’s Garett Grist, Dakota Dickerson and Dylan Murry) repaid them in spades with podium finishes behind the class-winning No. 74 Ligier of Riley Motorsports.