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GTLM class completed qualify
Both BMWs are a no show, so only the 2 C8.Rs and 1 Porsche will be running in this GTLM class
Considering the Porsche was 17 seconds behind, looks like they are not trying too hard
The No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05c of Olivier Pla was the fastest car in the one and only practice session for the WeatherTech 240 at the Glen. Pla’s best time was 1m48.813s. Torrential rain, spins, and red flags wreaked havoc on the first half of the session, but times were able to come down in the final 15 minutes of the session reserved for the pro drivers.
Just 0.140s behind the No. 60 Acura was the No. 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing DPi-V.R. of Renger van der Zande. Like the rest of the DPi field, that car’s best time was set late in the running. The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac DPi-V.R. of Felipe Nasr rounded out the top three in DPi.
Corvette Racing topped GT Le Mans with the No. 4 Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy setting a time of 1m58.913s. Seven-tenths of a second behind Tandy was Antonio Garcia in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R.
Schedule for Watkins Glen International – Resource Guide
Watkins Glen International – Watkins Glen, New York
Circuit Type: 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship
IMSA WeatherTech 240 at The Glen
July 2, 2021
Fast Facts
Race Day/Time: Friday, July 2 – 6:10 p.m. ET
Live U.S. Television Coverage: NBCSN – 6 p.m.
Live Streaming Coverage: TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold, NBCSports.com, NBC Sports App (outside the U.S. on IMSA.com/TVLive) – Flag-to-flag – 6:10 p.m.
IMSA Radio: Live coverage on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com begins at 6 p.m. (also XM Channel 202, Sirius/XM Internet 992)
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Jordan Taylor put Corvette Racing on pole position Thursday for the IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Watkins Glen International. A winner with Antonio Garcia on Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, Taylor set a time of 1:43.821 in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R.
The time was a scant 0.224 seconds quicker than Nick Tandy in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R that he drives with Tommy Milner.
Friday’s race will air live at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Trackpass via NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage of the race from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER:
“It was a good lap, obviously. This session was a bit different and stressful with different conditions leading into it. We didn’t know whether to go slick or wet (tires).
Thankfully, the guys made the right call with slicks, and then it was all about building temperatures in the tires and nailing it at the end. The track was getting faster at the end. There are only three cars in our class, but any time you can be on pole and maximize the points from qualifying is a big part of the championship. I’m glad we’ve gotten that, and now we can focus on the race tomorrow.”
FIRST POLE OF THE SEASON: “It’s good. I think we’re four races in and Antonio has two poles, and now I’ve had one. It’s going well for the 3 Corvette so far, but we’re still early in the season. The momentum doesn’t hurt, so we’ll keep on going.”
DIFFERENCES IN FRIDAY’S RACE FROM SIX HOURS:
“It’ll be way different. There were a couple more cars overall on the grid Sunday and traffic was tough. I think this week we’ll see similar stuff. The race will be stressful with traffic. It will be about track position and fuel mileage, but that’s always a part of these IMSA races. So we’ll start from pole and try to maintain that track position. You never know what will happen.”
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C8.R Corvette Racing’s Jordan Taylor followed up a victory in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen with the GT Le Mans (GTLM) pole position Thursday for the IMSA WeatherTech 240 at Watkins Glen International.
A winner with Antonio Garcia on Sunday, Taylor set a time of 1:43.821 (117.895 mph) in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R ahead of Friday’s two-hour, 40-minute sprint race.
The time was a scant 0.224 seconds quicker than Nick Tandy in the No. 4 Corvette C8.R that he drives with Tommy Milner. Like Taylor, Tandy’s best lap – 1:44.045 (117.641 mph) – came on his final time around the 3.4-mile, 11-turn circuit on a quickly drying track.
It was the second GTLM pole in less than a week for the No. 3 Corvette with Garcia claiming the honors ahead of the Six Hours.
Rain pelted Watkins Glen throughout Thursday afternoon. The day’s lone practice session featured a mix of light and more moderate showers that left the track damp throughout. Conditions dried out for qualifying, with both Corvettes opting for slick Michelin tires for qualifying.
Weather for the race could mirror what Corvette Racing experienced Thursday, giving team strategists and engineers plenty to think about before Friday evening’s green flag.
Friday’s race will air live at 6 p.m. ET on NBCSN and Trackpass via NBC Sports Gold. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio is available on IMSA.com, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM POLE-WINNER:
“It’s great to be out front again. We were all glued to the TV watching Madison (Snow’s) qualifying, trying to decide whether to go wets or drys. We knew he was on wets and a couple other guys were on drys, and they were way out for most of it. Then they bridged the gap on the last lap, but not enough to get him. We thought maybe if they had a couple more laps, slicks would have been the way to go. So we committed to it.
The first couple of laps were a little git sketchy but as soon as you built some temperature, the grip level was pretty high, other than (turns) 9, 10 and 11. You needed a nice rhythm to keep building temps, finding brake points and how much speed you could carry. I caught someone with two to go, which kind of broke the rhythm and kind of had me stressed the last lap.
But thankfully everything worked out. When you are head-to-head with a guy like Nick Tandy, you really need to make the most of it. He’s a guy I've grown up watching and respected. So to go head-to-head with him, I knew I would be nailing everything and had to be on my A-game. I’m glad it worked out. It’s going to be a tough race tomorrow, but it’s nice to have Corvette Racing with another one-two.”
WAS THE RACING LINE DRY AND COULD THE SLICK TIRES WORK ALL THE WAY AROUND, OR WERE THERE WET SPOTS?
"To begin with, there were definitely wet spots in some short chutes between corners. Turn Nine was still pretty slick, and 10 seemed a little slick. Everywhere else, it looked damp, but you had to commit and trust that the grip was there. It was more of a mental game than anything. There definitely was a very narrow line. On a couple of laps, I got maybe six inches to a foot wide, and you lose the front end of the car. You definitely had to be precise. By the end, everyone knew where the grip was, and you could carry speed."
NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTLM:
“It was an interesting day today because we got to run in the full wet conditions, we got to run with the wet tires in the dry conditions, and then we got to run a slick tire in a wet to dry condition. You don’t often get that sort of thing in one day. It makes it difficult to plan what you are doing, or to make any plans. It’s kind of interesting in some regard because it is different.
For the qualifying session, when it is like this, you go out on slicks, and you know every lap is getting quicker and quicker. It’s always difficult to know how hard to push the car on the tire. But that is why we are in the car to find out. The good thing is we have both cars with decent lap times and in one piece. I think it’s given us all good experience of what the weather could bring tomorrow.”
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As they’ve done most of the 2021 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, the Corvette Racing entries battled tooth and nail Thursday evening at Watkins Glen International.
On this occasion, it was Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette C8.R getting the better barely of teammate Nick Tandy in the No. 4, in GT Le Mans (GTLM) qualifying for Friday’s IMSA WeatherTech 240 at The Glen. Taylor nipped Tandy by 0.220 seconds on a last-lap dash by both drivers to win the class pole position. It is the 17th career pole position for Taylor and first since WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca last October.
“It was a good lap, obviously,” Taylor said after being clocked at 1 minute, 43.821 seconds (117.895 mph). “This session was a bit different and stressful with different conditions leading into it. We didn’t know whether to go slick or wet (-condition tires). Thankfully, the guys made the right call with slicks, and then it was all about building temperatures in the tires and nailing it at the end.”
The Corvettes swapped the top spot at least four times in the last five minutes of the 15-minute session on Watkins Glen’s historic 11-turn, 3.4-mile road course. On their final lap as the checkered flag waved, Taylor crossed the stripe just ahead of Tandy, who couldn’t gain enough advantage of any draft effect to claim the pole.
“When you’re head-to-head with a guy like Nick Tandy, you really need to make the most of it,” Taylor said. “He’s a guy that I’ve grown up watching and respected, so I knew I had to be nailing everything and on my ‘A’ game. I’m glad it worked out.”
Cooper MacNeil qualified a cautious third in the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 that underwent significant repairs after catching fire Sunday in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. MacNeil and co-driver Matt Campbell used Thursday’s lone practice session and qualifying to work out issues in the car and focus on race performance.
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Action Express Racing capitalized on strategy & changing track conditions to take its first victory of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season in Friday’s weather-affected WeatherTech 240 at The Glen.
Felipe Nasr drove his No. 31 Cadillac DPi-V.R to a XX-second win over the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Renger van der Zande following a stop-start race that was marred by a 45-minute red flag for lightning in the area.
While the pole-sitting No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 of Ricky Taylor led from the green, an off-sequence pit strategy put the Whelen Engineering-sponsored Cadillac of Derani up front just prior to a caution for the stricken No. 19 Grasser Racing Team Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo of Franck Perera.
The yellow ultimately turned into a red and was restarted with 49 minutes remaining on the clock, when the DPi leaders all pitted for their final stops. After pitting just prior to the yellow, Nasr managed to re-take the lead in the pits and held the position through two restarts and to the checkered flag. It marked Nasr and Derani’s first win since the Sebring sprint race in July 2020.
Van der Zande and Kevin Magnussen, who made opening lap contact with the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura of Olivier Pla, finished second, with Albuquerque getting by the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Cadillac of Tristan Vautier late in the running to keep their podium streak alive.
In GT Le Mans, pole sitter Jordan Taylor held the lead at the start of the race in the #3 Corvette C8.R but teammate Nick Tandy deposed him on Lap 6, IMSA Radio reporting that Taylor was experiencing rear-end instability issues. However, Taylor stayed within 3sec of the #4 Corvette, and pitted a lap earlier to hand over to Antonio Garcia, while Tandy relinquished the leading ’Vette to Milner next time by.
After the race stoppage and second restart, Garcia moved the #3 car ahead of the #4 and pulled out a three-second lead, eventually crossing the line 1.9sec ahead of Milner. Matt Campbell in the WeatherTech/ Proton Porsche was up near them for the race restart, but was penalized for a pit lane infraction by the crew.
C8.R Corvette Racing ended up with a 1-2 sweep in GT Le Mans, led again by the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Antonio Garcia and Tommy Milner.
Garcia finished 1.8 seconds ahead of the No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner, with the No. 79 WeatherTech Racing Porsche 911 RSR-19 finishing on the lead lap in third.
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Antonio Garcia & Jordan Taylor won for C8.R Corvette Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech 240 on Friday, their second GT Le Mans (GTLM) victory in the No. 3 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Chevrolet Corvette C8.R at Watkins Glen International in five days.
Garcia got the jump on Corvette Racing teammate Tommy Milner sharing the No. 4 Mobil 1/SiriusXM Corvette with Nick Tandy on a traffic-filled restart with 28 minutes remaining in a storm-interrupted race.
Taylor led from pole position before Tandy moved ahead in the No. 4 Corvette about 15 minutes into the race. The gap between the teammates constantly ebbed and flowed with traffic from slower GTD and LMP3 cars and the quicker DPi and LMP2 runners.
Taylor was the first Corvette driver to hit pit lane at 51 minutes running. He came in from second place in class and handed over to Garcia, who left with a full tank of fuel and fresh Michelin tires. Tandy carried on for another two laps before stopping just before the pits closed for the race’s full-course caution period.
Milner got in the 4 Corvette and returned to the lead behind the safety car. Heavy rain started to pelt parts of the circuit, with the field under yellow. Two laps later, race officials halted the race due to a lightning strike in the immediate area of Watkins Glen.
The field began rolling again with 50 minutes to go behind the safety car. Another full-course caution period with 36 minutes left forced another reset before the race went green the rest of the way.
The next event for Corvette Racing is the Northeast Grand Prix from Lime Rock Park on July 16-17. The race will air at 5:30 p.m. ET on Saturday, July 17 with live-streaming coverage on TrackPass and NBC Sports Gold at 3:05 p.m. ET. Live audio coverage from IMSA Radio will be available on IMSA.com, Sirius 216, XM 202 and SiriusXM Online 992.
ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – GTLM RACE-WINNER:
“We can’t complain, for sure. The main thing is the C8.R is really, really strong and kind of easy to drive in those conditions. Somehow that red flag was kind of a relief. It was going to be a nightmare out there between Turn Six and Turn Eight. Luckily there was a red flag, which made things still interesting because we had to stay on slicks. I knew that was the main thing, but I had to take chances there.
I knew it was wet, but I had to be a little more aggressive than Tommy. He got caught out in the last corner with some P cars, so I had to take advantage. The grip was very, very good. I opened the gap and then just maintained because you never know there might have been another yellow and I had to have good tires for the end. I’m very happy with the No. 3 C8.R, but obviously Team Chevy and Corvette Racing are doing a great job. I’m looking forward to the next race and especially Le Mans which is coming soon.
“It was very challenging for sure. We pitted just before the red flag, and so did the 4 car. That would have been a key part of the race without the red because it would have been interesting to know how Tommy would have dealt with the damp track on cold tires. Those one or two laps of green before the red let me switch on the tires a little, at least. Even if we had to wait for a half-hour, somehow I heated up the tires pretty quickly before the start. Tommy was the one who had to take the risks. The first restart after yellow, I knew I could switch on the tire a little better than him. So on the second one I was all-out and he got caught up on the last corner with some P cars. I just took advantage.
After that, you had to close your eyes. From the Carousel onward, you had to believe the grip would be there. I knew the first two laps would be the main thing in the race. I could pull out those two seconds and kept the gap from that point. From that point, Tommy was the one who had to take the risks to close in. I didn’t want to push so hard because you never know if you’ll go yellow again, and I’d need good tires. It was a good battle with our teammates, which is difficult because they have the same car and same tools as you. I’m very happy for Corvette to go 1-2. We’re looking forward to the next few races, and Le Mans is coming closer. We’re looking forward to that, too.”
THE PASS FOR THE LEAD.
“It was green for us, but I made the pass basically coming out of the last corner. We weren’t side-by-side into Turn One. I knew after the Bus Stop that it would be a little wet, so I took a little more risk than Tommy did to open the gap and hold it. I was lucky that I could keep the car on the track. It can go either way. You can pull out a second or put it in the wall. I was glad for the first option.”
WERE THERE OTHER DIFFICULT MOMENTS AFTER THAT?
“Oh yeah, but there were for Tommy as well. We were both flat out. The car was excellent in those conditions. We realized that all last year with all the wet races we had. The C8.R looks very strong in all conditions.”
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 3 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R GTLM RACE-WINNER:
“I was struggling with tire temp in the beginning. But once I got in a rhythm, the car kind of came to life for the second half of my stint. Once we handed it over to Antonio, the weather hit and we had a red flag. We were happy to see it go green again. Obviously, we had a great spot on TV today to get some great racing in. Antonio made a great restart and was able to get by the No. 4 car and then kind of maintain it from there. So another great day for Corvette Racing going one-two and another great day for us in the No. 3 car.
“It was a good race all the way through. We had a good battle with the 4 car all day. I ran second most of my stint and then the way the pit cycle worked, it was going to be interesting to see how it fell through with fuel strategy and tire warm-up. Once it went red, we knew we had some practice time and qualifying in intermittent conditions, so we had some good confidence in what the car would be like once it went back green. Antonio got by the 4 car on the restart and maintained that gap through the end. It’s another great day for Corvette Racing with a 1-2 finish and for us in the 3 Corvette to go back-to-back with the Six Hours last weekend.”
HOW MUCH FUN IS IT RACING AGAINST YOUR TEAMMATES?
“I’d say it’s fun, but it’s stressful at the same time. There are no team orders of who will win the race. They let us race on track, but obviously any contact will be frowned upon. We had a head-to-head battle at Daytona and the last couple of weekends has been head-to-head. The guys in the 4 car are professionals and two of the best in GT racing. Like Antonio said, it’s great to have that rivalry, but it’s difficult when you’ve got such great drivers in both cars. You’re competing against the best in the same equipment. We’ve come out on top the last two races, but just as easily those guys could have won as well.”
TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R – FINISHED SECOND IN GTLM:
“Obviously the long red flag really reset the race. I’m really frustrated. I had some traffic coming to the green, some cars pitting coming to the green and that held me up massively. That was basically the race there. Antonio got by me by start-finish because I had such a bad run out of the last corner. It caught me off-guard. I left a gap just to account to any speed differential, but I didn’t expect (the car ahead) to hit the brakes in the middle of the corner.
There was traffic up the hill, and Antonio probably had two or 2.5 seconds on me. I think we ended up 2.5 seconds behind. It’s frustrating, we’re doing everything right with the things we can control with the strategy. Nick did an awesome job at the start to get us out front. It’s just not going our way right now. It’s tough. But I’m proud of the guys. I know they’re bummed. We’ve been fast and done everything right that we can control. We haven’t had the luck. On to the next one.”
NICK TANDY, NO. 4 MOBIL 1/SiriusXM CHEVROLET CORVETTE C8.R FINISHED FOURTH IN GTLM:
“It’s bitterly disappointing. We put ourselves in position as a team to have what looked like a pretty comfortable 1-2.
Up to the point, the way the guys managed the race the pit stops, how the engineers set the car up for the race had us absolutely flying. A few laps before the last yellow, I felt something strange on the car, and we’ll have to investigate what happened. We’re disappointed, but there are a lot of positives to go into next week with.”
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