Michelin at Watkins Glen Filled With Milestones and Excitement
- Wayne Taylor Acura wins overall
- Heart of Racing Aston Martins take GTD and GTD PRO
- LMP2 Honors to PR1 Mathiasen, LMP3 to Riley
- Robert Wickens Claims First Michelin Pilot Challenge Victory
- Michelin Passes 200 New Lap Records Milestone
Watkins Glen, New York—June 26, 2022 –The third of four IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, delivered an exciting mid-season weekend for Michelin and the IMSA WeatherTech, Michelin Pilot Challenge and Porsche Carrera Cup North America teams and drivers.
Despite track temperatures more than 125 degrees, qualifying produced the 200th and 201st new lap records for Michelin since becoming the Official Tire of IMSA in 2019.
Tom Blomqvist set a new track qualifying record with a 1:29.580 lap, aboard the Meyer Shank Racing Acura DPi. The Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Felipe Albuquerque prevailed in dramatic fashion in the final sprint to the 1-2 Acura race finish.
“To break 200 records at the variety of tracks with so many different manufacturers and teams is a great demonstration of the wide range of performance found in our MICHELIN® Pilot® Sport family of tires. Although it doesn’t appear in the record book, we are equally proud of our performance of rain tires in difficult conditions, as well,” said Tony Ménard, director of motorsport Michelin North America.
Michelin helped teams meet the relentless demands of the Watkins Glen International circuit’s fast, long duration corners, elevation changes, sidehill loadings, and aggressive curbing.
Acura Finishes 1-2 with Wayne Taylor Racing Taking Overall Win
Lightning forced a stoppage of racing, but the green flagged waved again with less than 30 minutes to go. The restart saw the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura DPi driven by Filipe Albuquerque pass the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing DPi piloted by Tom Blomqvist. The two battled until the finish with the No. 10 holding onto victory. Taking third was the No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing team.
Aston Martin Heart of Racing sweeps GT Classes
Because of drive time infractions by teams in GTD PRO and GTD, the Heart of Racing team was upgraded to winners in both classes. Ross Gunn and Alex Riberas drove the No. 23 and Roman De Angelis, Maxime Martin, and Ian James ran the No. 27.
Risi Competizione took second in GTD PRO racing the No. 62 Ferrari 488 and the No. 9 Porsche 911 of Pfaff Motorsports crossed the finish line in third. In GTD, Inception Racing finished second in the No. 70 McLaren 720S and the No. 96 BMW M4 of Turner Motorsport took the final spot on the podium.
PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports Wins LMP2 and Riley Motorsports Triumphs in LMP3
Ben Keating, Mikkel Jensen, and Scott Huffaker stood atop the podium after driving the No. 52 ORECA to victory for PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports. Tower Motorsport finished second and Racing Team Nederland rounded out the LMP2 podium.
Gar Robinson, Felipe Fraga, and Kay van Berlo led Riley Motorsports to victory in LMP3 driving a Ligier. Core Autosport took runner-up and Performance Tech Motorsports finished third.
Robert Wickens Makes Incredible Journey Back to Victory Lane
The sporting world celebrated the outcome of the Tioga Downs Casino Resort 120 with Robert Wickens scoring his first IMSA win with fellow Canadian co-driver Mark Wilkins and Hyundai Bryan Herta Autosport in TCR. Wickens returned to racing in 2022 after being paralyzed in a crash four years ago. Turner Motorsport won GS with Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern in the No. 95 BMW M4. Wickens and the No. 95 team won the Michelin IMSA Radio Moment of the Race.
Michelin Awards Tire Efficiency
Michelin is encouraging sustainability by rewarding WeatherTech and Prototype Challenge teams for efficient tire use. The Michelin Efficient Performance Award is being given in each class based on the numbers of laps completed and number of MICHELIN® slick race tires used in a race. Midyear awards are being given out along with a $5,000 tire credit. The first winners were announced at Watkins Glen in three classes.
DPi: No 10. Wayne Taylor Racing
LMP2: No 20 High Class Racing
GTD: No 32 Team Korthoff Racing
Michelin Post-Race Notes
- MICHELIN® technology has brought record setting pace to IMSA since becoming the Official Tire back in 2019. That pace continued this weekend at Watkins Glen with the 200th and 201st IMSA qualifying and race lap records set. Watch this race’s Michelin Tire Technology Minute here.
- The race weekend at Watkins Glen produced large fields with a total of 119 cars on MICHELIN® tires between WeatherTech, Michelin Pilot Challenge and Porsche Carrera Cup North America.
- McLaren finishing second in GTD means all 17 manufacturers in WeatherTech and Michelin Pilot Challenge have made the podium.
- Kay van Berlo won both Porsche Carrera Cup North America races at Watkins Glen. This raises 2022 total to six wins in the series.
- Michelin Man took some time to congratulate two IMSA regulars, Ben Keating and Cooper MacNeil, on their 1-2 GT class finishes at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. See here.
- Two new qualifying lap records were set over the event. Tom Blomqvist set a new mark in DPi at 1:29.639 and Nico Varrone broke the LMP3 record with a 1:40.028 lap.
Next up:
The 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship now returns to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in Ontario for the first time since 2019. Drivers will race for the Chevrolet Grand Prix on Sunday, July 3rd. The race can be seen on NBC and Peacock at 3:00pm ET