[h=2]Eventful first half of IMSA's Glen Six Hours[/h] Sunday, 02 July 2017


By Marshall Pruett / Images by Michael Levitt/Lumen Digital and IMSA

The halfway mark in the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was met with plenty of drama during the opening three hours of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action.
A yellow flag at 2h59m for the crashed No. 16 Change Racing Lamborghini Huracan GT3 driven by Jeroen Mul gave fans a moment to process the furious action and numerous mistakes that have shaped the popular endurance race.
Polesitter Pipo Derani opened the day with a strong battle for the lead in his No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi, gave way to the Ligier JS P217 WEC P2 driven by Olivier Pla, but both cars would find adversity as Derani's teammate Scott Sharp clipped a slower GTD car and impacted the barriers with the rear of his car (below). Pla's Ligier struggled to take on full tanks of fuel and lost significant time.
The No. 70 Mazda RT24-P DPi dealt with problems that dropped it to the bottom of the field, Eric Curran's Action Express Racing team left a wheel loose on a pit stop and his Cadillac was stranded trackside.
And to start things off, championship leader Ricky Taylor and Pla came together at the start, which forced the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac into the pits for repairs that cost the team six laps. With all of the Prototype problems, Bruno Senna led after three hours in the sister Nissan and Filipe Albuquerque held second in the second AXR Cadillac.
PC was the usual Performance Tech Motorsports holding a one-lap lead over the best BAR1 Motorsports.
The lead in GT Le Mans traded hands many times as the BMW Team RLL M6s were comfortably fastest and holding a 1-2 until both cars began suffering right-front tire problems that necessitated unscheduled pit stops. Both Ford Chip Ganassi Racing GTs and the pair of Porsche GT Team 911 RSRs traded the lead, but after the yellow for Mul's Lamborghini (below), Oliver Gavin emerged in the lead with his Corvette.
GT Daytona was the only class through three hours that offered a consistent 1-2 battle as the pole-sitting No. 93 Michael Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 and the second-place No. 57 Stevenson Motorsports Audi R8 LMS GT3 traded the lead until they were overtaken by Scuderia Corsa's Ferrari 488 GT3 as the yellow flags shuffled the order.
If the second half is anything like the first, the finish should be a thriller in Watkins Glen.