Friday Evening’s Sprint Race Featured 45-Minute Red Flag For Lightning, Effectively Shortening the Opportunity to Move Forward
WATKINS GLEN, New York (July 2, 2021) – Team Hardpoint EBM drove to an eighth place finish on Friday at Watkins Glen in IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship competition, a two-place improvement over last Sunday’s six-hour race at the same track.
The team worked through the week to improve the No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R, driven in this week’s sprint race by season-long co-drivers Rob Ferriol and Katherine Legge. Though last weekend’s race was run in hot and sunny conditions, Watkins Glen saw rain every day beginning on Monday – including during the race, which was stopped near the mid-point for a 45-minute red flag for lightning in the area.
“All credit to the team this week,” Ferriol, the team owner, said. “They’ve been away from home for a week and a half, two weeks now. Living out of a hotel, through torrential downpours, getting the car prepped and then re-prepped after last week’s race. They got the car back together and nice and straight so we could go out and race today. It’s a top 10. We moved up a couple of spots over last week.”
The race resumed with 50-minutes to go and Legge in ninth place. Legge improved one position in the final stint and turned the team’s quickest lap of the race just two laps from the checkered flag as the track was drying.
With two races in less than a week at Watkins Glen, this weekend’s two-day sprint event featured just one practice session, held in the wet, and a 15-minute qualifying session – both on Thursday in advance of Friday’s race. An incident in that practice session led to a penalty for the opposing driver but limited Team Hardpoint EBM’s track time significantly.
“We didn’t have the best car today,” Ferriol said. “We only had half a practice session in the wet and we wanted to make a change in the dry from last weekend. We didn’t get a chance to try it so we had to test it in the race. It wasn’t spot on, but it was closer to competitive than we were last week. That’s a positive sign and a positive step and we’ll keep doing what we’ve been doing all season and just move forward.”
Team Hardpoint EBM’s next chance to move forward will be at Lime Rock Park in a GT-only event, July 16-17. Ferriol and Legge will once again drive the No. 88 Richard Mille/GridRival Porsche 911 GT3 R in the two-hour, 40-minute race.
About Team Hardpoint EBM:
Hardpoint Motorsports was founded by Rob Ferriol in 2018 with the vision of combining his experience as a successful entrepreneur with his passion for racing. Team Hardpoint EBM is a joint venture between Team Hardpoint and Earl Bamber Motorsport formed in late 2020 to utilize the resources of EBM and co-owners Earl Bamber and Will Bamber and the early success of Team Hardpoint. Headquartered at VIRginia International Raceway, the team’s 2021 plans include a full-season effort in the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship in a Porsche 911 GT3 R and a multi-car effort in the IMSA Porsche Carrera Cup North America. More information on Team Hardpoint EBM can be found at www.hardpoint.com or through its strong social media presence on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter.
