The 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was an endurance sports car race sanctioned by the

International Motor Sports Association The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

(IMSA). The race was held at

Watkins Glen International Watkins Glen International, nicknamed "The Glen", is an automobile race track located in the town of Dix just southwest of the village of Watkins Glen, New York, at the southern tip of Seneca Lake. It was long known around the world as the hom ...

Watkins Glen, New York Watkins Glen is a village and census-designated place in and the county seat of Schuyler County, New York, United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,829. Watkins Glen lies within the towns of Dix and Reading. To the southwest o ...

on June 25, 2023. The race was the fifth round of the

2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship The 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (known for sponsorship reasons as the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship) is the 53rd racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association, which traces its lineage back to the 19 ...

, and the third round of the 2023 Michelin Endurance Cup.

Background

's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the

(IMSA SCC) in August 2022. It was the ninth year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was the fifth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, and it was the third of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). The race was held at the eleven-turn

on June 25, 2023. On June 3, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining

Balance of Performance In sports car racing, balance of performance (BoP) is a regulation and mechanism that maintains parity between competing vehicles by adjusting limits on a car's parameters, such as horsepower, weight, engine management, and aerodynamics to preven ...

for the GTD and GTD Pro classes. A number of changes were made to the minimum weights of cars in the two classes, including 20 kg weight breaks for the

Lamborghini Automobili Lamborghini S.p.A. () is an Italian brand and manufacturer of luxury sports cars and SUVs based in Sant'Agata Bolognese. The company is owned by the Volkswagen Group through its subsidiary Audi. Ferruccio Lamborghini (1916–1993) ...

McLaren McLaren Racing Limited is a British motor racing team based at the McLaren Technology Centre in Woking, Surrey, England. McLaren is best known as a Formula One constructor, the second oldest active team, and the second most successful Formul ...

, and

Mercedes Mercedes may refer to: People * Mercedes (name), a Spanish feminine name, including a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or last name Automobile-related * Mercedes (marque), the pre-1926 brand name of German automobile m ...

. The

Ferrari Ferrari S.p.A. (; ) is an Italian luxury sports car manufacturer based in Maranello, Italy. Founded by Enzo Ferrari (1898–1988) in 1939 from the Alfa Romeo racing division as ''Auto Avio Costruzioni'', the company built its first car in ...

also received a 30 kg weight reduction, while the

Corvette A corvette is a small warship. It is traditionally the smallest class of vessel considered to be a proper (or " rated") warship. The warship class above the corvette is that of the frigate, while the class below was historically that of the slo ...

was handed a five kg reduction. The Corvette and Lexus also received horsepower increases following adjustments to the size of the cars' air restrictors. Finally, the Lexus received a three-liter fuel capacity increase, while the maximum fuel for the

Acura Acura is the luxury vehicle, luxury and performance division of Japanese automaker Honda, based primarily in North America. The brand was launched in the United States and Canada on March 27, 1986, marketing luxury and performance automobiles. It ...

was reduced by the same amount. On June 14, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining BoP for the GTP class. A number of changes were made to the minimum weights of the cars. The

ran on 1053 kilograms of weight, the

Porsche Dr. Ing. h.c. F. Porsche AG, usually shortened to Porsche (; see #Pronunciation, below), is a German automobile manufacturer specializing in high-performance sports cars, SUVs and sedans, headquartered in Stuttgart, Baden-Württemberg, Germany ...

ran on 1043 kg, the BMW ran on 1038 kg and the

Cadillac The Cadillac Motor Car Division () is a division of the American automobile manufacturer General Motors (GM) that designs and builds luxury vehicles. Its major markets are the United States, Canada, and China. Cadillac models are distributed i ...

ran on 1037 kg. The maximum power output had been changed to 515 kilowatts of power for the Porsche, and 513 kW for both the BMW and Cadillac. The Acura remained on 520 kW. After the Motul Course de Monterey one month earlier, Nick Tandy and

Mathieu Jaminet Mathieu Jaminet (born 24 October 1994) is a French racing driver. He is currently employed by Porsche as a Factory-backed, factory driver and participates primarily in Endurance racing (motorsport), endurance racing, including the Intercontinenta ...

led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 1307 points, ahead of

Pipo Derani Pipo is a masculine given name. Notable people with the name include: * Pipo (actor) (1933-1998), Mexican actor * Pipo Nguyen-duy (born 1962), Vietnamese photographer * Pipo of Ozora (1369–1426), Italian soldier * Pipo (footballer, born 1992), P ...

and Alexander Sims with 1282 points, and Filipe Albuquerque and

Ricky Taylor Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours o ...

with 1241 points. With 730 points, the LMP2 Drivers' Championship was led by Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas with a sixty-three point advantage over

Paul-Loup Chatin Paul-Loup Chatin (born 19 October 1991) is a professional racing driver from France who currently competes in the European Le Mans Series with IDEC Sport. He won the European Le Mans Series LMP2 class title in 2014 and 2019. Career Karting Born ...

and Ben Keating. In LMP3, the Drivers' Championship was led by

Josh Burdon Josh Burdon (born 5 September 1992) is an Australian professional racing driver and 2016 Asian Formula Renault Series champion.He is currently driving for Hong Kong-based KC Motorgroup in the Intercontinental GT Challenge, Nürburgring Langstr ...

, Felipe Fraga, and Gar Robinson with 380 points.

Ben Barnicoat Ben Barnicoat (born 20 December 1996) is a British racing driver who currently serves as a McLaren factory racing driver, while also competing in the 2022 FIA World Endurance Championship for Project 1 Motorsport. He has previously raced in the ...

and Jack Hawksworth led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 1415 points ahead of

Jules Gounon Jules Gounon (born 31 December 1994 in Aubenas) is an Andorran-based French professional racing driver. He is best known for his victories in the 24 Hours of Spa in 2017 and 2022 and Bathurst 12 Hour in 2020 and 2022. Career 1994-2015: Youth i ...

and

Daniel Juncadella Daniel Juncadella Pérez-Sala (born 7 May 1991) is a Spanish racing driver who currently competes in the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters. He is son of Xavier Juncadella and nephew of José María Juncadella, Alex Soler-Roig and Luis Pérez-Sala, als ...

with 1374 points. In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by

Bryan Sellers Bryan Sellers (born August 19, 1982 in Daytona Beach, Florida, Dayton, Ohio) is an American racing driver. Sellers won the title in the U.S. F2000 National Championship, U.S. F2000 in 2002 and later competed in the Atlantic Championship and in r ...

and

Madison Snow Madison Snow (born December 26, 1995) is an American racing driver who currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. In 2018 Snow became only the second driver in IMSA history to win two championships in the same year, winning both the W ...

with 1244 points, ahead of Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff with 1182 points.

, Lexus, and BMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche Penske Motorsport,

TDS Racing TDS Racing (Top Drive Services, also known as Pouchelon Racing) is a French racing team, currently competing in the European Le Mans Series, FIA World Endurance Championship and the 24 Hours of Le Mans. History Eurocup Mégane Trophy (2005-201 ...

, Riley Motorsports, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and

Paul Miller Racing Paul Miller Racing is an American auto racing team that is part of Paul Miller Auto Group and associated with former racing driver . The team has operations that are headquartered in Buford, Georgia; the Racing team also has operations in Par ...

each led their own Teams' Championships.

Entries

In LMP2,

AF Corse AF Corse is an Italian auto racing team founded by former racing driver Amato Ferrari in 1995 in Piacenza. Strongly linked to the Maserati and Ferrari brands, AF Corse currently competes in the FIA World Endurance Championship, GT World Chal ...

ran the No. 88 Oreca 07 machine with Nicklas Nielsen,

Luis Pérez Companc Luis Pérez Companc (born 2 January 1972 in Buenos Aires, Argentina) is a rally and racing driver. He competed at the World Rally Championship from 2001 to 2008, claiming a fifth place at the 2007 Rally Japan, a sixth at the 2004 Rally Argentin ...

, and Lilou Wadoux. Additionally, Tower Motorsport's

John Farano John Farano (born 8 December 1959) is a Canadian businessman and racing driver currently competing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship with Tower Motorsports. He is the series' 2022 LMP2 drivers' champion. Racing record Racing career summ ...

was replaced by

Salih Yoluç Salih Yoluç (born 22 August 1985, Istanbul) is a Turkish racing driver. Biography Salih started his racing career in 2015 with Optimum Motorsport and he won Dubai 24 hours on his first-ever year of competing. At the end of 2015, he made ...

in the #8 entry as Farano continued to recover from an injury suffered in a crash at Laguna Seca earlier in the season. In GTD Pro, MDK Motorsports withheld their planned GTD Pro entry for an additional round after forgoing the

12 Hours of Sebring The 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race for sports cars held at Sebring International Raceway, on the site of the former Hendricks Army Airfield World War II air base in Sebring, Florida, US. The event is the second round ...

due to BoP concerns. While the concerns had long since been addressed, team principal

Mark Kvamme Mark Kvamme (born February 20, 1961) is a venture capitalist at the firm Drive Capital in Columbus, Ohio and a sports car racing driver. Business career Kvamme founded Drive Capital with Chris Olsen in 2013. He currently sits on the board of Aver ...

elected to focus on the team's GT World Challenge America program, which had completed a race event at

Virginia International Raceway Virginia International Raceway (commonly known as "VIR") is a race track located in Alton, Virginia, near Danville. It is less than a half-mile from the North Carolina/Virginia border just outside Milton, North Carolina, on the banks of the Dan ...

the previous weekend. After missing Sebring,

Andrea Caldarelli Andrea Caldarelli (born 14 February 1990 in Pescara) is an Italian racing driver. He has competed in such series as Eurocup Formula Renault 2.0, the Formula Three Euroseries, GP2 Asia, the GP3 Series and the Super Formula series. He undertook ...

returned to

Iron Lynx Iron Lynx Motorsport Lab is an Italian auto racing team founded by Andrea Piccini, Deborah Mayer, Claudio Schiavoni and Sergio Pianezzola. The team is based in Cesena, Emilia-Romagna. They currently operate Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 2 spor ...

's GTD Pro lineup alongside

Jordan Pepper Jordan Lee Pepper (born 31 July 1996 in Edenvale) is a South African racing driver, currently competing in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup. He is the son of former South African Touring Car driver Iain Pepper and younger brother of W Ser ...

. Furthermore, the No. 61 Ferrari 296 GT3 entered, with drivers Miguel Molina,

Ulysse de Pauw Ulysse de Pauw (born 3 September 2001) is a Belgian professional racing driver who is scheduled to compete in the FIA World Endurance Championship with AF Corse. A race-winner in both French F4 and BRDC British F3 in his junior career, he is ...

, and Simon Mann. In GTD, The No. 42 NTE Sport car returned with Jaden Conwright and Luke Berkeley.

Practice

There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted 90 minutes on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 105 minutes.

Practice 1

The first practice session took place at 4:30 pm ET on Friday and ended with

Colin Braun Colin Braun (; born September 22, 1988) is an American racing driver. He is the 2014 and 2015 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Challenge Champion and currently drives the No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier LMP3 for CORE autosport in the IMSA ...

topping the charts for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, with a lap time of 1:33.563.

Final Practice

The second and final practice session took place at 8:00 am ET on Saturday and ended with

topping the charts for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, with a lap time of 1:32.311.

Qualifying

Qualifying was broken into three sessions. The first was for cars in the GTD Pro and GTD classes.

Daniel Serra Daniel Gardano Serra (born 24 February 1984) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He competes full-time in the Brazilian Stock Car Pro Series, driving the No. 29 Chevrolet Cruze for Eurofarma-RC and is also a Ferrari Factory Driver. He won 3 ti ...

qualified on pole in GTD Pro driving the No. 62 Risi Competizione entry and the No. 78 Forte Racing powered by

US RaceTronics US RaceTronics (USRT) is an auto racing team based in Buttonwillow, California, that competes in the Atlantic Championship. It was founded by former Dorricott Racing Team Manager Shane Seneviratne. Seneviratne and the Dorricott Racing organization ...

entry driven by

Loris Spinelli Loris Spinelli (born 30 December 1995) is an Italian racing driver. He currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship for Forte Racing. Since 2024, Spinelli has been employed as a factory driver for Lamborghini's GT3 program. Career Sp ...

set the fastest time among all GTD cars. The second session was for cars in the LMP2 and LMP3 classes. Steven Thomas and Gar Robinson were handed pole position for LMP2 and LMP3, respectively after the session did not reach minimum time to be declared official after cars aquaplaned off the track. Ari Balogh, driving the No. 30 Jr III Motorsports entry, spun into the inside wall of turn 7 before stopping alongside the tire barriers. Moments later, Ben Keating, driving the No. 52

PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports is an American sports car racing team that currently competes in the LMP2 class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. History American Le Mans Series PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports began entering the series with the ad ...

entry, aquaplaned off at turn 7 and hit the Jr III Motorsports Ligier. Not long afterwards, Anthony Mantella, driving the No. 17 AWA entry, also aquaplaned off the track at turn 7 and hit the

Oreca. The red flag was thrown and caused the session to be abandoned. Championship points were not awarded and starting positions were set by teams' championship standings. The final session of qualifying was for the GTP class. Nick Tandy was handed pole position after the session was cancelled due to poor weather conditions. Championship points were not awarded and starting positions were set by teams' championship standings.

Qualifying results

Pole position In a motorsports race, the pole position is usually the best and "statistically the most advantageous" starting position on the track. The pole position is usually earned by the driver with the best qualifying times in the trials before the rac ...

s in each class are indicated in bold and by .

Race

Post-race

As a result of being disqualified, Tandy and Jaminet dropped from first to third in the GTP Drivers' Championship. De Phillippi and Yelloly advanced from fifth to second while Derani and Sims took the championship lead. Hanley and Kurtz advanced from fourth to first in the LMP2 Drivers' Championship. Burdon, Fraga, and Robinson extended their advantage in the LMP3 Drivers' Championship over Boyd, Mantella, and Varrone to 124 points. In the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship, Barnicoat and Hawksworth extended their lead to 113 points over Gounon and Juncadella while García and Taylor moved from third after being fourth coming into Watkins Glen. The result kept Sellers and Snow atop the GTD Drivers' Championship while Montecalvo and Telitz advanced from fourth to second. Cadillac, Lexus, and BMW continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Riley Motorsports, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing kept their respective advantages in their respective of Teams' Championships. Whelen Engineering Racing and CrowdStrike Racing by APR took the lead in their respective Teams' Championships with six races left in the season.

Results

Class winners are in bold and .

Standings after the race

* Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings. * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings. * Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Notes

References

{{6 Hours of Watkins Glen Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen 6 Hours of Watkins Glen