WATKINS GLEN, NY – Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya remained red hot in the No. 6 Acura Team Penske ARX-05 DPi on Friday at Watkins Glen Int’l.
After winning the past two IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races, the No. 6 Acura DPi topped the charts in Friday practice for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen.
Cameron did the honors, running a best lap of 1 minute, 30.014 seconds (135.978 mph) in Friday afternoon’s session, which was the quickest lap of the day.
“We’re really happy with where everything is at the moment to be honest,” Cameron said. “Last year, we had a lot of pace, but just couldn’t quite put it all together. So, it’s kind of nice – at least for us in the 6 car without winning last year – to get the monkey off our back a little bit and get a couple wins in a row. It’s a lot of confidence for all the guys and I think everybody’s just really executing on a really high level right now, which is what we need and what we expect of Acura Team Penske.”
Cameron was more than six tenths of a second quicker than Harry Tincknell’s second-quickest lap of the day in the No. 55 Mazda Team Joest RT24-P DPi at 1:30.690 (134.965 mph).
Tincknell led the morning practice session in the No. 55 he is sharing with Jonathan Bomarito and Olivier Pla.
“It’s one of the best races of the season,” Tincknell said after morning practice. “You have to recalibrate what’s fast and what’s slow when you come to The Glen, ‘cause there’s so much grip. You look at a corner and you think it’s going to be third gear and it’s fifth gear, and you think you’re going to brake at 150 meters and you’re braking at 70. It’s a crazy place. Awesome track.”
Meanwhile, the love affair between No. 67 Ford Chip Ganassi Racing Ford GT driver Richard Westbrook and the 3.4-mile Watkins Glen International circuit continued in WeatherTech Championship on Friday.
Westbrook – who owns three Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen victories – led the GT Le Mans class in both practice sessions, finishing with a best lap of 1:42.321 (119.623 mph).
“Favorite track, favorite track,” Westbrook said. “I won here three times, lots of poles here, the first time I ever came here, I’ll never forget it. I’ve just been blown away by it. Ever since that first day, I’ve always said it’s my favorite track. But it’s going to be really tough this year. We know how strong Porsche and Corvette and BMW are now. I expect the others to be a lot quicker come Sunday.”
After posting the fastest time in WeatherTech Championship GT Daytona practice on Friday afternoon with a lap of 1:45.835 (115.651 mph), Spencer Pumpelly quickly pointed out a trend about the driver lineup for the No. 44 Magnus Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3.
“I’ve won this race twice, and both times Andy Lally was my co-driver,” Pumpelly said. “He was the guy that brought it home to both victories. He was quick this morning, the car was good this afternoon, so optimism is high. This Magnus team has been really strong on the long races. We were strong at Sebring, but I’m just happy that the car is performing well. We’ve got a little bit more we can do to make it even better for race day, but so far, things are on track for the weekend.”
Pumpelly, the Magnus team’s IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup driver, is joining the No. 44 Lamborghini’s full-season co-drivers Lally and John Potter this weekend.
Lally is one of two drivers in the field (along with No. 5 Cadillac DPi driver Joao Barbosa) to have four Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen victories, while Potter is still looking for his first.