Rain Washes Out Watkins Glen Qualifying

June 27, 2015

Rain Washes Out Watkins Glen Qualifying

June 27, 2015

Corvette5_01Stormy weather and a wet track forced officials to abandon qualifying for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. In accordance with the IMSA rulebook, the starting grid for the six-hour enduro will be determined by driver championship points.

The beneficiary of the bad weather was the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP driven by Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi. Although tied with No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP drivers Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante at 156 points, Fittipaldi and Barbosa will start on the pole thanks to the tiebreaker with the team’s second-place finish in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.

“I think that everyone took the right decision,” said Fittipaldi. “With the amount of rain we had this afternoon, it would be risky to run out there and perhaps lose a couple of cars. We’re running a six-hour race; realistically you want to start up front, but you can win this race starting from the pits.”

The No. 31 Action Express Racing Corvette DP driven by Eric Curran, Dane Cameron, and Max Papis will be third on the Prototype grid. Curran and Cameron boosted their points total to 148 markers with their win in the preceding round at Belle Isle. The Taylor brothers, Jordan and Ricky, will start fourth in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP, with third driver Max Angelelli on hand for the six-hour endurance race.

Corvette3_04The wet weather also put Corvette Racing drivers Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia on the pole in the GTLM class. After a rough patch that saw their Corvette C7.R withdrawn from the 24 Hours of Le Mans after a hard crash in qualifying, the GTLM points leaders will start first in class in a replacement Corvette leased from Larbre Competition. The pair hope to regain the winning form that saw them on the top step of the podium at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring.

A pair of BMWs will line up next in GTLM. The No. 25 BMW Team RLL Z4 GTE driven by Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner is second in the standings after a win on the streets of Long Beach. The No. 24 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE driven by John Edwards and Lucas Luhr, the most recent winner in GTLM at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, will start third in GTLM.

The Porsche 911 RSRs of Patrick Pilet/Nick Tandy and Joerg Bergmeister/Earl Bamber are likely to mount a charge in the GTLM race. Although starting fifth and eighth respectivley on the GTLM grid, the Porsches were quick in the wet third practice session, and have the advantage of two 24 Hours of Le Mans overall winners in their driver lineup.

Oreca54_01Jon Bennett, Colin Braun, and third driver James Gue will grid the No. 54 CORE Autosport ORECA FLM09 on the pole in the Prototype Challenge class. The No. 48 Paul Miller Racing Audi R8 LMS driven by Christopher Haase, Dion von Moltke, and Bryce Miller will lead the GT Daytona field to the green flag.

Live television coverage of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen airs on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, June 28 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. ET, with FOX Sports 2 taking over coverage from 2 to 4:30 p.m. ET.

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