2016 6 Hours of The Glen

The 2016 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was a sports car race sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA). The race was held at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York on the July 3, 2016. This race was the sixth round of the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship.

International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) president Scott Atherton confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2016 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2015.^[1] It was the third consecutive year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2016 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was the sixth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2016 by IMSA, and was the third round of the Patron North American Endurance Cup.^[1] The race was held at the eleven-turn 3.450 mi (5.552 km) Watkins Glen International circuit on July 3, 2016.^[1]

IMSA altered the balance of performance to try to create parity within the GTD category. The Audi R8 LMS and Lamborghini Huracán GT3 received a 2 mm (0.079 in) larger air restrictor while the Dodge Viper GT3-R had a 1 mm (0.039 in) air restrictor reduction. The Ferrari 488 GT3 received a reduction in turbo boost pressure while BMW M6 GT3 received an increase in turbo boost pressure. The Porsche 911 GT3 R had its weight increased by 15 kg (33 lb).^[2]

Before the race, Jordan Taylor and Ricky Taylor led the Prototype Drivers' Championship with 151 points, ahead of João Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi on countback with 151 points, and Eric Curran and Dane Cameron in third 147 points.^[3] With 162 points, PC was led by Alex Popow and Renger van der Zande over Robert Alon and Tom Kimber-Smith by 3 points.^[3] In GTLM, Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner led the Drivers' Championship with 130 points, 12 points ahead of Earl Bamber and Frédéric Makowiecki in second.^[3] In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen with 126 points; the duo held an eight-point advantage over Mario Farnbacher and Alex Riberas.^[3] Chevrolet and Porsche were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Wayne Taylor Racing, Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa each led their own Teams' Championships.^[3]

Forty-one cars were officially entered for the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, with most of the entries in the Prototype, Grand Touring Le Mans (GTLM), and Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) categories. Action Express Racing (AER) fielded two Chevrolet Corvette DP cars while VisitFlorida Racing (VFR) and Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) fielded one. Highway to Help entered one BMW-powered Riley MkXXVI. Mazda Motorsports had two Lola B12/80 cars, and the Extreme Speed Motorsports (ESM) and Michael Shank Racing (MSR) entered one Ligier JS P2 chasis with Honda HR35TT twin-turbocharged 3.5-liter V6 engines. Panoz brought the DeltaWing car after skipping the previous round at Belle Isle.^[4] The Prototype Challenge (PC) class was composed of seven Oreca FLM09 cars: two from Starworks Motorsports. BAR1 Motorsports, CORE Autosport, JDC-Miller MotorSports, Performance Tech and PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entered one car each.^[4] GTLM was represented by ten entries from five different brands.^[4] In the list of GTD entrants, fourteen GT3-specification vehicles were represented by six different manufacturers.^[4]

There were three practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, two on Friday and one on Saturday. The first two one-hour sessions were on Friday morning and afternoon. The third on Saturday morning lasted an hour.^[5]

In the first session, Negri set the fastest time in the No. 60 MSR Ligier with a time of 1 minute, 36.705 seconds, 0.387 seconds faster than Angelelli's No. 10 car. Dane Cameron was third fastest in the No. 31 AXR vehicle.^[6] The fastest PC class car was Colin Braun's No. 54 CORE Autosport car with 1 minute, 38.701 seconds, followed by Tom Kimber-Smith in the No. 52 PR/1 entry.^[7] BMW paced GTLM with BMW Team RLL's No. 25 BMW M6 GTLM of Dirk Werner lapping 1:43.574, ahead of the two Ford GTs.^[7][6] Robin Liddell in the No. 6 Steven Audi R8 was fastest in GTD with a time of 1 minute, 46.147 seconds.^[7]

In the second practice session, Pla led with a lap of 1 minute, 36.155 seconds, ahead of Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda.^[8] The seven-vehicle PC class was led by Starworks Motorsports No. 8 car, driven by Renger van der Zande with a time of 1 minute, 38.582 seconds.^[9] Ford occupied first and second in GTLM with Hand faster than his teammate Westbrook by less than one-tenth of a second.^[10] Aschenbach's No. 9 Steven Audi R8 led GTD, and Jens Klingmann in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW, was second in class.^[9]

Derani led the final practice session in the No. 2 ESM car with a lap of 1 minute, 35.484 seconds. Bomarito's No. 55 Mazda was second-fastest.^[11] A 1:37.666 lap saw Braun's No. 54 CORE Autosport car lead PC.^[12] With a 1:42.129 lap, Westbrook led the GTLM class in the No. 67 CGR Ford GT, followed by Werner's No. 25 RLL BMW M6.^[11] Aschenbach led GTD with a time of 1:45.124.^[12]

Saturday afternoon's 90-minute four-group qualifying session gave 15-minute sessions to all categories. Cars in GTD were sent out first before those grouped in GTLM, PC, and Prototype had three separate identically timed sessions. Regulations stipulated teams to nominate one qualifying driver, with the fastest laps determining each classes starting order. IMSA would arranged the grid to put all Prototypes ahead of the PC, GTLM, and GTD cars.^[13][5]

Pole positions in each class are indicated in bold and by ‡.

Pos.	Class	No.	Team	Driver	Time	Gap	Grid
1	P	2	Tequila Patrón ESM	Johannes van Overbeek	1:35.207	–	1‡
2	P	55	Mazda Motorsports	Tristan Nunez	1:35.374	+0.167	2
3	P	60	Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian	Oswaldo Negri Jr.	1:35.592	+0.385	3
4	P	10	Wayne Taylor Racing	Ricky Taylor	1:35.749	+0.542	4
5	P	70	Mazda Motorsports	Tom Long	1:36.329	+1.122	5
6	P	5	Action Express Racing	Christian Fittipaldi	1:36.425	+1.218	6
7	P	90	VisitFlorida Racing	Ryan Dalziel	1:36.473	+1.266	7
8	P	31	Action Express Racing	Eric Curran	1:37.198	+1.991	8
9	PC	8	Starworks Motorsport	Renger van der Zande	1:38.407	+3.200	9‡
10	P	0	Panoz DeltaWing Racing	Katherine Legge	1:38.520	+3.313	10
11	PC	52	PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports	Robert Alon	1:39.211	+4.004	11
12	PC	38	Performance Tech Motorsports	James French	1:39.363	+4.156	12
13	PC	20	BAR1 Motorsports	Johnny Mowlem	1:40.028	+4.821	13
14	PC	85	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Misha Goikhberg	1:40.059	+4.852	14
15	PC	54	CORE Autosport	Jon Bennett	1:40.422	+5.215	15
16	GTLM	67	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Richard Westbrook	1:41.301	+6.094	17‡
17	GTLM	25	BMW Team RLL	Dirk Werner	1:41.650	+6.443	18
18	P	50	Highway to Help	Jim Pace	1:41.901	+6.694	WD
19	GTLM	100	BMW Team RLL	John Edwards	1:41.905	+6.698	19
20	GTLM	66	Ford Chip Ganassi Racing	Joey Hand	1:41.969	+6.762	20
21	GTLM	68	Scuderia Corsa	Alessandro Pier Guidi	1:42.706	+7.499	21
22	GTLM	4	Corvette Racing	Tommy Milner	1:42.794	+7.587	22
23	GTLM	62	Risi Competizione	Toni Vilander	1:43.088	+7.881	23
24	GTLM	3	Corvette Racing	Jan Magnussen	1:43.135	+7.928	24
25	GTLM	911	Porsche North America	Nick Tandy	1:43.435	+8.228	25
26	GTLM	912	Porsche North America	Frédéric Makowiecki	1:43.903	+8.696	26
27	GTD	6	Stevenson Motorsports	Robin Liddell	1:45.407	+10.200	381
28	GTD	23	Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing	Mario Farnbacher	1:45.449	+10.242	27‡
29	GTD	9	Stevenson Motorsports	Lawson Aschenbach	1:45.594	+10.387	28
30	GTD	48	Paul Miller Racing	Madison Snow	1:46.175	+10.968	29
31	GTD	63	Scuderia Corsa	Christina Nielsen	1:46.205	+10.998	30
32	GTD	73	Park Place Motorsports	Matt McMurry	1:46.461	+11.254	31
33	GTD	16	Change Racing	Corey Lewis	1:46.507	+11.300	32
34	GTD	44	Magnus Racing	Andy Lally	1:46.768	+11.561	33
35	GTD	96	Turner Motorsport	Bret Curtis	1:46.828	+11.621	34
36	GTD	97	Turner Motorsport	Michael Marsal	1:46.982	+11.775	35
37	GTD	33	Riley Motorsports	Ben Keating	1:47.192	+11.985	372
38	PC	88	Starworks Motorsport	Mark Kvamme	1:47.391	+12.184	16
39	GTD	540	Black Swan Racing	Tim Pappas	1:48.106	+12.899	393
40	GTD	22	Alex Job Racing	Cooper MacNeil	1:48.208	+13.001	36
41	GTD	27	Dream Racing	Did Not Participate			WD
Sources:[14][15]

• ¹ The No. 6 Stevenson Motorsports Audi was sent to the rear of the GTD grid as per 13.1.2 of the Sporting regulations (Ride height).
• ² The No. 33 Riley Motorsports Dodge was sent to the rear of the GTD grid as per 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Tire change).
• ³ The No. 540 Black Swan Racing Porsche was sent to the rear of the GTD grid as per 40.1.5 of the Sporting regulations (Tire change).

With a total of 187 points, Barbosa and Fittipaldi's victory allowed them to retake the lead of the Prototype Drivers' Championship.^[3] The final results of PC allowed Popow and van der Zande to extend their advantage in the Drivers' Championship to 13 points over Alon and Kimber-Smith.^[3] Gavin and Milner's fourth-place finish kept them atop the GTLM Drivers' Championship, but their advantage was reduced to 8 points as race winners Briscoe and Westbrook jumped to second place.^[3] Balzan and Nielsen's victory allowed them to extend their advantage in the GTD Drivers' Championship to 13 points over Farnbacher and Riberas. Keen and MacNeil advanced from sixth to fifth.^[3] Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufactures' Championships while Ferrari became the leader of the GTD Manufactures' Championship. Starworks Motorsport, Corvette Racing, and Scuderia Corsa kept their respective advantages in their of Teams' Championships while Action Express Racing retook the lead of the Prototype Teams' Championship with six rounds left in the season.^[3]

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡. P stands for Prototype, PC (Prototype Challenge), GTLM (Grand Touring Le Mans) and GTD (Grand Touring Daytona).

Final race classification Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Tire Laps Time/Retired Engine 1 P 5 Action Express Racing João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi Filipe Albuquerque Corvette Daytona Prototype C 197 6:00:21.671‡ Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 2 P 31 Action Express Racing Dane Cameron Eric Curran Filipe Albuquerque Corvette Daytona Prototype C 197 +0.709 Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 3 P 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian John Pew Oswaldo Negri Jr. Olivier Pla Ligier JS P2 C 197 +1.048 Honda HR35TT 3.5 Turbo V6 4 P 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Ricky Taylor Jordan Taylor Max Angelelli Corvette Daytona Prototype C 197 +7.302 Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 5 P 70 Mazda Motorsports Tom Long Joel Miller Ben Devlin Mazda Prototype C 196 +1 lap Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo 6 P 90 VisitFlorida Racing Marc Goossens Ryan Dalziel Corvette Daytona Prototype C 196 +1 lap Chevrolet 5.5 L V8 7 PC 8 Starworks Motorsport Alex Popow Renger van der Zande Oreca FLM09 C 195 +2 Laps‡ Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 8 PC 38 Performance Tech Motorsports James French Kyle Marcelli Kenton Koch Oreca FLM09 C 195 +2 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 9 PC 88 Starworks Motorsport Mark Kvamme Remo Ruscitti Richard Bradley Oreca FLM09 C 195 +2 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 10 PC 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports Misha Goikhberg Chris Miller Stephen Simpson Oreca FLM09 C 194 +3 Laps Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 11 GTLM 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook Ford GT M 190 +7 Laps‡ Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 12 GTLM 66 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Dirk Müller Joey Hand Ford GT M 190 +7 Laps Ford EcoBoost 3.5 L Twin-turbo V6 13 GTLM 25 BMW Team RLL Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner BMW M6 GTLM M 190 +7 Laps BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 14 GTLM 4 Corvette Racing Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 190 +7 Laps Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 15 GTLM 68 Scuderia Corsa Alessandro Pier Guidi Daniel Serra Ferrari 488 GTE M 190 +7 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 16 GTLM 62 Risi Competizione Toni Vilander Giancarlo Fisichella Ferrari 488 GTE M 190 +7 Laps Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 17 GTLM 3 Corvette Racing Antonio García Jan Magnussen Chevrolet Corvette C7.R M 190 +7 Laps Chevrolet LT5.5 5.5 L V8 18 GTLM 100 BMW Team RLL John Edwards Lucas Luhr BMW M6 GTLM M 190 +7 Laps BMW 4.4 L Turbo V8 19 GTLM 911 Porsche North America Patrick Pilet Nick Tandy Porsche 911 RSR M 190 +7 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 20 GTLM 912 Porsche North America Earl Bamber Frédéric Makowiecki Porsche 911 RSR M 188 +9 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 21 P 0 Panoz DeltaWing Racing Katherine Legge Sean Rayhall Gabby Chaves DeltaWing DWC13 C 186 +11 Laps Élan (Mazda) 1.9 L I4 Turbo 22 GTD 63 Scuderia Corsa Christina Nielsen Alessandro Balzan Jeff Segal Ferrari 488 GT3 C 185 +12 Laps‡ Ferrari F154CB 3.9 L Turbo V8 23 GTD 44 Magnus Racing John Potter Andy Lally Dion von Moltke Audi R8 LMS C 185 +12 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 24 GTD 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing Mario Farnbacher Alex Riberas Ian James Porsche 911 GT3 R C 185 +12 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 25 GTD 33 Riley Motorsports Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating Dodge Viper GT3-R C 184 +13 Laps Dodge 8.3L V10 26 GTD 22 Alex Job Racing Cooper MacNeil Leh Keen Gunnar Jeannette Porsche 911 GT3 R C 184 +13 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 27 GTD 9 Stevenson Motorsports Lawson Aschenbach Matt Bell Audi R8 LMS C 184 +13 Laps Audi 5.2L V10 28 GTD 540 Black Swan Racing Tim Pappas Nicky Catsburg Andy Pilgrim Porsche 911 GT3 R C 184 +13 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 29 P 55 Mazda Motorsports Jonathan Bomarito Tristan Nunez Spencer Pigot Mazda Prototype C 180 +17 Laps Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0 L I4 Turbo 30 GTD 73 Park Place Motorsports Patrick Lindsey Jörg Bergmeister Matt McMurry Porsche 911 GT3 R C 173 +24 Laps Porsche 4.0 L Flat-6 31 GTD 16 Change Racing Corey Lewis Spencer Pumpelly Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 168 +29 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 32 GTD 97 Turner Motorsport Michael Marsal Markus Palttala BMW M6 GT3 C 160 +37 Laps BMW 4.4L Turbo V8 33 DNF P 2 Tequila Patrón ESM Scott Sharp Johannes van Overbeek Pipo Derani Ligier JS P2 C 158 Engine Honda HR35TT 3.5 Turbo V6 34 DNF PC 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Tom Kimber-Smith José Gutiérrez Robert Alon Oreca FLM09 C 157 Electrical Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 35 DNF PC 54 CORE Autosport Jon Bennett Colin Braun Mark Wilkins Oreca FLM09 C 130 Suspension Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 36 DNF GTD 6 Stevenson Motorsports Andrew Davis Robin Liddell Audi R8 LMS C 110 Engine Audi 5.2L V10 37 GTD 48 Paul Miller Racing Bryce Miller Bryan Sellers Madison Snow Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C 91 +106 Laps Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 38 DNF GTD 96 Turner Motorsport Bret Curtis Jens Klingmann BMW M6 GT3 C 64 Boost BMW 4.4L Turbo V8 39 DNF PC 20 BAR1 Motorsports Johnny Mowlem Marc Drumwright Don Yount Oreca FLM09 C 19 Crash Chevrolet 6.2 L V8 DNS P 50 Highway to Help Jim Pace Byron DeFoor Dorsey Schroeder Riley Mk XXVI DP C -- Did Not Start Dinan (BMW) 5.0 L V8 DNS GTD 27 Dream Racing Cédric Sbirrazzuoli Luca Persiani Lawrence DeGeorge Lamborghini Huracán GT3 C -- Did Not Start Lamborghini 5.2 L V10 Sources:[16][17]

Tyre manufacturers Key Symbol Tyre manufacturer C Continental M Michelin

Prototype Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 1 João Barbosa Christian Fittipaldi 187 2 1 Jordan Taylor Ricky Taylor 180 3 Eric Curran Dane Cameron 180 4 Marc Goossens 168 5 1 Oswaldo Negri Jr. 165 Source:[3]

PC Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Alex Popow Renger van der Zande 198 2 Robert Alon Tom Kimber-Smith 186 3 Stephen Simpson Misha Goikhberg 182 4 1 Jon Bennett Colin Braun 152 5 1 James French Kyle Marcelli 150 Source:[3]

GTLM Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Oliver Gavin Tommy Milner 159 2 1 Ryan Briscoe Richard Westbrook 151 3 2 Bill Auberlen Dirk Werner 141 4 Daniel Serra 140 5 3 Earl Bamber Frédéric Makowiecki 140 Source:[3]

GTD Drivers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Driver Points 1 Alessandro Balzan Christina Nielsen 162 2 Mario Farnbacher Alex Riberas 149 3 Andy Lally John Potter 141 4 Jeroen Bleekemolen Ben Keating 134 5 1 Leh Keen Cooper MacNeil 121 Source:[3]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 1 No. 5 Action Express Racing 187 2 1 No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing 180 3 No. 31 Action Express Racing 180 4 No. 90 VisitFlorida Racing 168 5 1 No. 60 Michael Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian 165 Source:[3]

PC Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 8 Starworks Motorsport 198 2 No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports 186 3 No. 85 JDC-Miller MotorSports 182 4 No. 54 CORE Autosport 175 5 No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports 175 Source:[3]

GTLM Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 4 Corvette Racing 159 2 1 No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing 151 3 No. 25 BMW Team RLL 141 4 No. 68 Scuderia Corsa 140 5 3 No. 912 Porsche North America 140 Source:[3]

GTD Teams' Championship standings Pos. +/– Team Points 1 No. 63 Scuderia Corsa 162 2 No. 23 Team Seattle/Alex Job Racing 149 3 No. 44 Magnus Racing 141 4 No. 33 Riley Motorsports 134 5 1 No. 22 Alex Job Racing 121 Source:[3]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.

Prototype Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 201 2 Honda 197 3 Mazda 180 4 BMW 56 5 Ford 30 Source:[3]

GTLM Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 Chevrolet 160 2 Porsche 153 3 1 Ford 150 4 1 Ferrari 148 5 BMW 144 Source:[3]

GTD Manufacturers' Championship standings Pos. +/– Manufacturer Points 1 1 Ferrari 157 2 1 Porsche 157 3 Audi 153 4 Dodge 142 5 BMW 134 Source:[3]

• Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.