Paul Miller Racing Wins IMSA Six Hours of Watkins Glen

The IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship (IWSC) and Michelin Pilot Challenge series traveled to the Finger Lakes region of New York to Watkins Glen, where racing has been going on since the first contest through town and around the surrounding countryside in 1948. BMW has had a lot of success over the years at “The Glen” and celebrated another victory on Sunday in the GTD Pro class, along with a podium finish in Michelin Pilot Challenge on Saturday.

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

The six-hour IWSC round at Watkins Glen was the sixth round of the season and also the third round of the Michelin Endurance Cup, which counts points for the longer races at Daytona, Sebring, Indianapolis and Road Atlanta in addition to Watkins Glen.

In qualifying, the #24 M Hybrid V8 driven by Dries Vanthoor qualified sixth, around 1.4 seconds off the pole time of Renger van der Zande in the #93 Acura. It was uncharacteristic for Vanthoor, who had a streak of four consecutive pole positions in the GTP class for most of the season so far. The M Hybrid V8s were given 10kg of extra weight in a balance of performance adjustment before the race, but it’s unclear if that was the sole reason for the lack of competitiveness of the car. The #25 M Hybrid V8 driven by Sheldon van der Linde qualified in seventh right behind Vanthoor.

Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor finished eighth in the GTP class.

In the GT classes, Dan Harper was the fastest BMW driver in the #48 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVO, putting the car into second on the grid with a 1:44.737 lap, just 0.142 seconds off the pole time of the #9 Lamborghini. “First time here at Watkins Glen and I have to say in quali mode it’s really fun,” said Harper. “It’s a really high-speed track, so a lot of commitment needed, and that’s exactly what I like.” Madison Snow qualified the #1 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVO in eighth. In the GTD class, Patrick Gallagher qualified the #96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO in eleventh with a 1:46.213, around 1.4 seconds off the pole time of the #27 Aston Martin.

The race got started under cloudy skies and it wasn’t long before a downpour soaked the track and made all the teams scramble to put rain tires on. It stayed dry for most of the race after that, but the changing weather conditions at the start were a real challenge. Overall, the race had a lot of incidents and accidents, with over 30% of the race distance being run under caution.

Marco Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde had a DNF after a accident.

In the GTP class, the pair of BMW M Team RLL M Hybrid V8s never challenged for the win. The #24 car of Philipp Eng and Dries Vanthoor ended up eighth in the GTP class, with the win going to the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura, followed by the #40 and #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillacs. ” “From the start of the weekend, we knew we were going into the race with difficult conditions compared to some competitors,” said Eng. “We simply didn’t have the necessary pace. On top of that, we didn’t have a perfect race. Especially in the final stint, there might have been some opportunities through strategy, but we didn’t make the optimal decisions.” The #25 car of Marco Wittmann and Sheldon van der Linde had a DNF after an accident.

Things went much better for BMW in the GTD Pro class. The #48 Paul Miller Racing M4 GT3 EVO driven by Dan Harper and Max Hesse was running at the front for much of the race and the team fought their way back from a 60-second stop and hold penalty (for Harper running a red light at pit exit) to take the win. It was the first win of the year for Paul Miller Racing and the team nearly had a one-two finish. The #1 car of Madison Snow, Neil Verhagen and Connor De Phillippi was running in second late in the race before having to serve a penalty for low tire pressure, ending up eighth.

The #1 M4 GT3 EVO was on it’s way to a second place finish before a late race penalty.

The win for the #48 car was also the first in IMSA competition for works drivers Harper and Hesse, who are in their debut year in the series. “The team told us beforehand that they’ve often been strong here in the past, so we were really looking forward to it, but the race was anything but easy,” said Hesse. “With second place in qualifying by Dan and a good start, things initially went great, but then the rain came, and we got the 60-second penalty, which dropped us to last place. We were frustrated because we thought we had thrown away a top result but there were many yellow flags, and our car was very strong on restarts. I gradually worked my way back to first place, and Dan did an amazing job in the final stint. After five races, we are now third in the championship and have two podiums. Things are going well for us here in North America.”

Dan Harper celebrates the win with a crew member.

In the GTD class, Turner Motorsport #96 M4 GT3 EVO of Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher and Jake Walker had a strong race and was running in third in the closing stages of the race before contact with another car did damage to the front left side of the car, which caused Foley to drop back and eventually finish eighth. The GTD class was won by the #27 Aston Martin.

Turner Motorsport was running in third late in the race in GTD, but lost positions after contact with another car.

Michelin Pilot Challenge

On the Saturday before the main race, the Michelin Pilot Challenge had a two-hour race, which saw some great action and a podium finish by the Carbahn with Peregrine Racing #39 M4 GT4 EVO of Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister. McAlister put the car in a good position to start the race by qualifying third. Dillon Machavern qualified the #95 M4 GT4 EVO that he shares with Francis Selldorff (which won the previous round at Mid-Ohio) in seventh, while Austin Krainz also qualified inside the top ten in ninth in the #27 Auto Technic Racing BMW that he shares with Stevan McAleer.

Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister finished third in the #39 M4 GT4 EVO.

In the race, the #39 BMW of McAlister and Westphal stayed with the top five and was fighting for the win late in the race with a battle among the top three cars. Westphal ended up finishing third behind the second place #13 Ford Mustang, with the win going to the championship-leading #28 RS1 Porsche. The #27 BMW of Krainz and McAleer had a strong race to finish sixth. The Turner Motorsport #96 car of Patrick Gallagher and Matt Dalton finished eighth, while the #95 car of Machavern and Selldorff finished thirteenth after contact late in the race.

Stevan McAleer were sixth in the Auto Technic Racing BMW.

Both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the Michelin Pilot Challenge will compete next at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on the weekend of July 11th-13th. They will also be joined by the VP Racing Sports Car Challenge series.