WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. – Tom Blomqvist recorded the fastest lap Friday during the first practice session for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International.
That was the expected part. The unexpected lies with Sunday’s race and its 48 cars in five classes.“We expect to be fighting at the very front this weekend,” Blomqvist said. “That’s what we’re aiming for. … But it’s going to be a really difficult race because there’s so many cars. Traffic is insane around here. It’s not easy at all. That’s something we’ll have to manage.” Driving the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Acura ARX-05 he shares with Oliver Jarvis, Blomqvist was clocked at 1 minute, 31.217 seconds (134.185 mph) around the 11-turn, 3.4-mile course.Blomqvist’s lap was 0.322 seconds faster than Renger van der Zande, who co-drives the No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R with Sebastien Bourdais in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.In Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), Mikkel Jensen was clocked at 1:32.629 in the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports ORECA LMP2 07 he co-drives with Ben Keating and Scott Huffaker. The fastest in Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) was Colin Braun, who turned a lap of 1:39.789 in the No. 54 CORE autosport Ligier JS P320 he shares with Jon Bennett and George Kurtz.Dirk Mueller led the Grand Touring Daytona (GTD) class with a lap of 1:46.197 in the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes-AMG GT3 he co-drives with Stevan McAleer and Mike Skeen.Alex Riberas led GTD PRO by recording a lap of 1:46.356 in the No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 shared with Ross Gunn.Qualifying for the race begins at 1:20 p.m. ET Saturday and will be carried live on IMSA.com/TVLive and IMSA Radio.
The race begins Sunday at 10:40 a.m., with flag-to-flag coverage live on Peacock. USA Network joins on TV at 2 p.m.
When IMSA and UFC Worlds Collide: Dillashaw Meets LallyBy Mark Robinson
Andy Lally puts it all on the line on the racetrack. T.J. Dillashaw does the same in the octagon. Their worlds collided Friday at Watkins Glen International and both athletes realized they aren’t all that different.
Dillashaw is a two-time UFC bantamweight champion in the mixed martial arts. Lally is a three-time IMSA champion and 34-time race winner. Lally showed Dillashaw around his No. 44 Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 in the paddock on Friday before Dillashaw took a lap around The Glen in an IMSA safety car.
“We’re both adrenaline junkies and do it because we love it,” Dillashaw said. “It’s cool to learn the ins and outs of being a driver, all the little details that it takes, the things you’ve got to pay attention to. You’ve got to be so meticulous on the way you drive and the preparation and hydration.
“All of that stuff is cool. Me being a professional athlete, that’s where my mind goes. How do I get prepared to race? How do I get prepared to fight? It’s cool to see there’s some similarities and obviously a lot of differences, too.”
Lally is a UFC fan whose training regimen includes some mixed martial arts.
“It’s why I enjoy martial arts and the UFC and those events because I know what those athletes have to go through,” Lally said. “I’m like an aspiring amateur. I train on the mats like four or five days a week with guys like that. It’s amazing.”
Lally was also glad to see a fellow athlete take interest in sports car racing.
“I’m thrilled that there’s another UFC guy that wants to be a part of this,” he said of Dillashaw, who’ll attempt to win the UFC bantam crown for a third time in September. “It’s really cool to be able to show someone that I’m a fan of around here and have some fun.”
Filgueiras, Filippi Take Poles in Michelin Pilot Challenge Qualifying
By John Oreovicz
Eric Filgueiras claimed overall and Grand Sport (GS) pole position for Saturday’s IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race at Watkins Glen, the Tioga Downs Casino Resort 120, by turning a lap timed at 1 minute, 54.499 seconds (106.900 mph) in the No. 28 RS1 Porsche 718 GT4 RS Clubsport that he will share in the two-hour race with Steven McAleer. That edged Alfredo Najri in the No. 14 Riley Motorsports Toyota Supra GT4 (1:54.711/106.702 mph) and Ken Murillo in the No. 72 Murillo Motorsport Mercedes-AMG GT GT4 (1:54.760/106.657 mph) for the Motul Pole Award.
“Steven and I did a lot of video and data research figuring out exactly where I needed to extract the best moments from the car and the track,” said Filgueiras. “I had a little bit of traffic in front of me initially, but it only took the one lap. Then we were biting our nails and sweating at the end there, waiting and waiting and waiting.
In the Touring Car (TCR) class, Mason Filippi claimed the Motul Pole Award with a lap of 1:56.955 (104.655 mph) in the No. 77 Bryan Herta Autosport with Curb-Agajanian Hyundai Elantra N TCR. The pole was the third in five races in 2022 for the pairing of Filippi and 17-year-old Tyler Maxson.
“It was a good lap,” Filippi recounted. “I kind of messed up the first turn; I think I just under-drove it trying to save the tires for the rest of the lap. We were looking to do another lap, but once we got a good time in there, we knew our Hyundai was awesome. I think we left some on the table.”
Saturday’s race is available on Peacock and IMSA Radio starting at 3:45 p.m. ET.
Keyword: Blomqvist Pushes No. 60 Acura To Top of Watkins Glen Practice Chart