Acura Meyer Shank Racing Secures Pole at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen; New GTP Course Record Set
Renger van der Zande and Acura Meyer Shank Racing claimed pole position for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, establishing a new GTP course record at Watkins Glen International. The trio of van der Zande, Nick Yelloly, and rookie Kakunoshin “Kaku” Ohta will start at the front in the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 after van der Zande registered a remarkable lap time of 1:31.558 on his inaugural flying lap.
Starting alongside them will be Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber, and Frederik Vesti in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R. Aitken finished with a best time of 1:31.845, coming within 0.3 seconds of van der Zande. Colin Braun placed the No. 60 MSR Acura third, while Ricky Taylor and Louis Deletraz rounded out the top five in the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing V-Series.R and the No. 40 Cadillac, respectively.
Despite an impressive start in the session, the Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8s, driven by Sheldon van der Linde and Dries Vanthoor, ultimately qualified sixth and seventh. Mathieu Jaminet’s No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 secured the eighth spot, followed by Ross Gunn in the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie in ninth. Romain Grosjean qualified 11th in the No. 63 Lamborghini Squadra Corse SC63.
In the LMP2 category, PJ Hyett achieved pole position in the No. 99 AO Racing ORECA 07-Gibson with a lap time of 1:35.878, marking his first pole of the season following a last-minute engine replacement. Steven Thomas qualified second, with Daniel Goldburg and Nick Boulle claiming third and fourth for United Autosports.
In GTD PRO, Andrea Caldarelli led the way for Pfaff Motorsports, recording a pole-winning time of 1:44.595 in the No. 9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2. Dan Harper in the No. 48 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO and Nicky Catsburg in the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R followed in second and third, respectively. GTD points leader Klaus Bachler qualified ninth.
In the GTD class, Zacharie Robichon captured his first pole for Heart of Racing in the No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with a 1:44.788, while Alec Udell in the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette secured second. Daniel Morad and Russell Ward occupied the third row, both driving Mercedes-AMG machinery.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen kicks off Sunday at 12:10 p.m. ET, broadcasting live on NBC and Peacock, as well as internationally on IMSA’s YouTube channel and IMSA.TV.
