WATKINS GLEN, New York – Mercedes-AMG Motorsport Customer Racing teams competing in both the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship and the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge series will reach the halfway point of the 2021 racing season this week, thanks to a quick span of back-to-back races this weekend and next Friday at Watkins Glen International. The tight schedule for both IMSA series begins with the traditional Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen this weekend, June 25 – 27, which is followed less than a week later by an IMSA WeatherTech Championship and IMSA Pilot Challenge sprint-race doubleheader at The Glen, Friday, July 2.
First run more than 50 years ago on the legendary 3.4-mile Grand Prix course in upstate New York, the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen race weekend is an endurance race showcase for both the WeatherTech Championship and the Pilot Challenge series.
A pair of Mercedes-AMG GT3 teams compete in this Sunday’s featured six-hour WeatherTech Championship race while six Mercedes-AMG GT4 entries will do battle in Saturday’s four-hour Pilot Challenge race.
By contrast, next Friday’s doubleheader features a two-hour and 40-minute WeatherTech Championship sprint and the series-standard two-hour race for Pilot Challenge competitors. The sprint-race event was added to the 2021 schedule earlier this year as a replacement for an event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park outside of Toronto, which was cancelled for the second-straight year due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The WeatherTech Championship races at The Glen are the fifth and six rounds, respectively, in this year’s 12 race championship. The Pilot Challenge races in turn are the fourth and fifth rounds on this year’s 10-race schedule.
This Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen IMSA WeatherTech Championship race is scheduled to start at 10:40 a.m. EDT. Live streaming on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold begins at 10:35 a.m. EDT with the NBC Sports Network (NBCSN) telecast airing at 7 p.m. EDT Sunday night.
Full-season competitors Michael de Quesada and Daniel Morad are set for both WeatherTech Championship races at The Glen in the No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3. They will be joined in Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hour by Alegra’s endurance race driver Billy Johnson.
Alegra will be joined on the WeatherTech Championship GT Daytona (GTD) grid in the six-hour race by the No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 of Kenny Habul, Mikael Grenier and Maro Engel.
Engel returns to the No. 75 after competing with SunEnergy1 Racing in the 12 Hours of Sebring. He also co-drove the race-winning No. 75 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, and has been in contention for the Michelin Endurance Cup GTD Driver Championship ever since.
The Sahlen’s Six Hour is round three of 2021 Michelin Endurance Cup, which awards the top performers in the year’s four endurance races at Daytona, Sebring, The Glen and November’s season-ending Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.
Coming into The Glen, Engel is just one point shy of the Endurance Cup driver championship leaders, 23 – 22, while Mercedes-AMG is second in the Endurance Cup manufacturer championship, 27 – 22.
The six-strong Mercedes-AMG GT4 Grand Sport (GS) class entry in Saturday’s four-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race includes a Mercedes-AMG customer team making its IMSA debut for the second-consecutive race.
Co-drivers John Allen, Kris Wilson and Gary Ferrera will give the first-year Capstone Motorsports team its first IMSA GS start following the team’s initial victory in SRO America GT4 competition earlier this month. Allen, Wilson and Ferrera co-drive the No. 60 Capstone Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT4 in tomorrow’s four-hour race.
Capstone’s inaugural IMSA start follows the IMSA debut of Mercedes-AMG Motorsport customer racing team FCP Euro one race ago at Mid-Ohio. Team drivers Nate Vincent and Michael Hurczyn scored a top-10 finish in the No. 11 FCP Euro Mercedes-AMG GT4 in Ohio and look to improve on that result at The Glen.
Winward Racing brings a two-car Mercedes-AMG GT4 entry to The Glen after securing a podium finish with the team’s No. 57 entry of Bryce Ward and Alec Udell at Mid-Ohio. The third-place showing was the first podium finish of the year for the Mercedes-AMG GT4 in IMSA competition and came in the season-debut of Ward, Udell and the No. 57 team.
Winward’s second entry is the No. 4 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Ward’s son, Russell Ward, and his co-driver Indy Dontje.
Another successful two car Mercedes-AMG GT4 team competing at The Glen comes from Murillo Racing. Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss are frequent contenders in the No. 56 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4 that competes alongside the No. 65 Mercedes-AMG GT4 of Brent Mosing, Tim Probert and endurance-race addition Kenny Murillo.
Saturday’s featured four-hour IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race is scheduled to start at 2:35 p.m. EDT with live coverage on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. International viewers can watch live at www.IMSA.tv.
On-track action in both the IMSA WeatherTech Championship and IMSA Pilot Challenge began Friday at Watkins Glen. Practice sessions for both series was followed by Pilot Challenge GS qualifying Friday afternoon.
Daniel Morad, Driver – No. 28 Alegra Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3: “The first four rounds of the championship haven’t gone to plan, with some things outside of our control and few things we could have done better together. We are really looking to regroup and bounce back, and I know that the Alegra Motorsports guys have worked hard on our Mercedes-AMG GT3 to get ready for this weekend. Everything has been checked, we are 100% ready for a six-hour endurance race. Having Billy back will be great with our three-driver lineup again. We are really looking forward to exploiting the full potential of the Mercedes-AMG GT3 around the fast circuit at Watkins Glen. This is one of my favorite circuits in the world now based on the surface since the repaving a few years ago. It just has the most grip of any race track I have been on around the world. After four races with the Mercedes-AMG GT3 package, Alegra Motorsports really understands the car and its sweet spots. I think the pace will be there. It is just going to be down to the drivers and the pit stop execution going perfectly.”
Bryce Ward, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “I think Watkins Glen is another track that I really enjoy. It’s unfortunate that we couldn’t go to The Glen last year, but it is so nice to be back now. Two races in a row at the same track is going to be a lot of fun. For me, it’s particularly important. The real pros can step into the car and knock it out of the park straight away, but it takes me a little bit of time to settle in. The first race we’ll get a bit of practice, but the second we don’t get much practice at all. We’ll have a decent amount of drive time between the two and I’m really excited to be there for both races. I’ll be traveling back home between races, but the rest of the team will prepare the cars and hopefully spend a little bit of time in New York City and have a good time and get some good food and be ready for the second race.”
Alec Udell, Driver – No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “We had a great car, the team executed perfectly, we had a great pit stop and Bryce drove a great first stint there, so we’re really happy with the result at Mid-Ohio. We can carry that momentum into a circuit that for all intents and purposes is going to suit the Mercedes-AMG GT4 really well. I think most circuits do, and that’s a testament to the Mercedes-AMG brand and to the car. For us as a team, it’s focusing on making the fewest mistakes, staying clean and keep working forward. I think we’ve got a really good package with myself and Bryce and the Mercedes-AMG GT4, and we’ve proven that a few times over the past season. The four-hour race this weekend is going to add an entirely new element. It’s always more challenging, but when you add more time to the race, there’s more opportunities for things to happen, more opportunity to show well. Our focus is on maximizing the amount of time we have on the track and taking the Winward machine to the front.”
Kenny Murillo, Driver – No. 72 Murillo Racing Mercedes-AMG GT4: “Ultimately, I am just grateful for the opportunity to not only drive a Mercedes-AMG GT4 again but to do it with Brent and Tim. We had a really good time at Daytona, and it was really my first time competing on the lead lap and battling in some restarts here and there. I am looking forward to putting what I learned at the beginning of the year to good use here at this Watkins Glen race.”
