Aitken puts Cadillac ahead in first Watkins Glen practice

Cadillac Whelen Dominates Free Practice at Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen

In the opening Free Practice session for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, Cadillac Whelen Racing’s Jack Aitken clocked the fastest time in the No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R with a lap of 1m34.584s. This performance comes after a disappointing outing at the Le Mans 24 Hours, placing Aitken just four-tenths shy of the GTP lap record.

The two Acura Meyer Shank Racing entries followed closely, with Nick Yelloly in the No. 93 Acura ARX-06 recording a time of 1m34.966s, narrowly ahead of teammate Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Acura. GTP championship leader Nick Tandy secured the fourth-best time in the No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963, while Louis Deletraz rounded out the top five in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac.

In the LMP2 class, Felipe Fraga set the pace driving the No. 74 ORECA 07-Gibson with a lap of 1m35.798s. Although the session was interrupted by brief red flags due to incidents involving the No. 74 Riley and No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA, Fraga maintained his lead. The No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA followed in second, with the No. 99 AO Racing Spike and the No. 8 Tower Motorsports entries in tow.

In GTD PRO, Andrea Caldarelli achieved the fastest time in the No. 9 Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2 at 1m45.912s. Ben Barnicoat, in his return after a mountain biking accident, placed second in the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. Laurin Heinrich in the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche and Sebastian Priaulx in the No. 64 Ford Multimatic Motorsports Mustang completed the top four.

Notably, Scott Andrews in the No. 80 Lone Star Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 topped the overall GT classes with a time of 1m45.867s, outpacing Caldarelli in GTD PRO. The No. 36 DXDT Racing Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R and the returning No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage rounded out the top three in GTD.

The No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports, however, faced challenges, posting only three installation laps before undergoing a gearbox change due to diagnostic concerns.

The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship returns for Practice 2 at 9:00 AM ET tomorrow, followed by qualifying at 2:20 PM ET.

Results:

• GTP:

  1. No. 31 Cadillac V-Series.R – Aitken
  2. No. 93 Acura ARX-06 – Yelloly
  3. No. 60 Acura ARX-06 – Blomqvist
  4. No. 7 Porsche 963 – Tandy
  5. No. 40 Cadillac – Deletraz

• LMP2:

  1. No. 74 ORECA – Fraga
  2. No. 22 ORECA – United Autosports
  3. No. 99 AO Racing Spike
  4. No. 8 ORECA – Tower Motorsports

• GTD PRO:

  1. No. 9 Lamborghini Huracan – Caldarelli
  2. No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 – Barnicoat
  3. No. 77 Porsche 911 GT3 R – Heinrich
  4. No. 64 Mustang GT3 – Priaulx
• GTD:
  1. No. 80 Mercedes-AMG GT3 – Andrews
  2. No. 36 Chevrolet Corvette – DXDT Racing
  3. No. 44 Aston Martin Vantage – Magnus Racing