24h Le Mans
After a break in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for the 24 Hours of Le Mans, Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen gets the 2016 season back under way this weekend at the iconic Watkins Glen International race track.
Although it is by no means one of the oldest circuits, “The Glen” as it is affectionately known is no less a monument among American racing fans. The Watkins Glen Grand Prix was the brainchild of law student Cameron Argetsinger, who wanted to bring European-style motor races to the New York State village where he spent his summers. The race was inaugurated in 1948 on a 6.6-mile course over public roads including asphalt, concrete and dirt tracks. The permanent circuit did not see the light of day until 1956.
Watkins Glen has hosted various forms of motor racing since then, including the Formula One U.S. Grand Prix from 1961 to 1980 (it was here that French driver François Cevert was tragically killed during qualifying for the 1973 race), a six-hour endurance race from 1968 to 1981, and NASCAR events since 1986. The creation of the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar Championship, now the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, has now seen the Six Hours of the Glen restored to its former glory.
In addition to the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the race also counts towards the North American Endurance Cup (NAEC) – a mini-championship of the four long races in the calendar (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans).
With a 42-car grid, rivalry is sure to be intense. The prototype field includes the Ligier JS P2s entered by Extreme Speed Motorsports, who won at Daytona and Sebring (11th and 16th in LM P2 at Le Mans), and Michael Shank Racing, 9th in LM P2 at Le Mans.
The GTLM (GT Le Mans) class is said to be one of the most highly competitive in the world and it certainly lived up to that reputation at the 24 Hours of Le Mans as cars from the North American championship took all three places on the LM GTE Pro podium – two Ford GTs and Risi Competizione’s Ferrari 488.
Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen will start on Sunday 3 July at 10:10 local time (14:10 UTC).
Photo: The Ford GT fielded by Ford Chip Ganassi Team USA scooped the LM GTE Pro class win at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. It will back on American soil with the number 66 at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.
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