International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in September 2020. It was the seventh year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.[1] The 2021 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was the fifth of twelve scheduled sports car races of 2021 by IMSA, and it was the third of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC).[2] The race was held at the eleven-turn 3.450 mi (5.552 km) Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York on June 27, 2021.[3] The race marked IMSA's return to Watkins Glen after the previous year's edition of the event was canceled as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. With the cancellation of the scheduled event at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park prompting the running of the WeatherTech 240, the six hour race became the first of two races in as many weeks at the track.[4]
On June 18, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[5] In DPi, The Acura and Cadillac received slight fuel capacity reductions at one and two liters respectively, while the Mazda featured a 3.6 kW horsepower increase. The two GT classes saw minor adjustments, with the GTLM-class Porsche receiving a 10 kg weight reduction, while the Aston Martin received a 7.1 kW horsepower decrease and a two-liter fuel capacity decrease after winning the previous round at Belle Isle.
A total of 38 cars took part in the event, split across five classes. 7 cars were entered in DPi, 5 in LMP2, 7 in LMP3, 5 in GTLM, and 14 in GTD. The pre-event entry list contained 40 entries, but both Sean Creech Motorsport and Forty7 Motorsports withdrew their LMP3 entries before the start of the weekend.[7]
DPi featured the expected addition of the Ally Cadillac Racing #48 alongside the six full-season entries in the class.[8] Four of the seven teams also elected to add a third driver to their lineups. In LMP2, United Autosports returned as part of their Michelin Endurance Cup schedule, while James French joined Tower Motorsport By Starworks for the first time in 2021.[9] LMP3 featured a series of additions, including Marco Andretti's addition to the Andretti Autosport entry, United Autosports' IMSA LMP3 debut, and the long-awaited first IMSA SportsCar Championship appearance for Dawson Racing.[10] GTLM saw the return of WeatherTech Racing after they missed the previous round at Detroit, while BMW Team RLL returned as part of their Endurance Cup campaign.[8] In GTD, CarBahn with Peregrine Racing added another event to their Sprint Cup schedule,[8] and NTE Sport returned after most recently appearing at Daytona in January.[11] Wright Motorsports also announced prior to the event that Trent Hindman would replace Ryan Hardwick as Patrick Long's co-driver for the remainder of the season.[8]
Practice
There were two practice sessions preceding the start of the race on Sunday, one on Friday and one on Saturday. The first session lasted one hour on Friday while the second session lasted 75 minutes on Saturday.[12]
Qualifying was broken into four sessions.[12] The first was for cars in GTD class. Kyle Kirkwood qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 14 car for Vasser Sullivan Racing, beating Trent Hindman in the No. 16 Porsche by more than three-tenths of a second.[24] Jaden Conwright in the No. 42 NTE Sport Audi was third followed by the No. 28 Mercedes-AMG of Daniel Morad, and The No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW of Robby Foley rounded out the top five.[25]
The second session was for cars in the GTLM and GTD classes. Antonio García qualified on pole in GTLM driving the No. 3 car for Corvette Racing, besting teammate Tommy Milner in the sister No. 4 Corvette Racing entry. Connor De Phillippi's No. 25 BMW was third, with the sister No. 24 car of John Edwards fourth. MacNeil rounded out the GTLM qualifiers.[25]Jack Hawksworth set the fastest time in the GTD points paying session driving the No. 14 car for Vasser Sullivan Racing and earned 35 championship points. Hawksworth was 0.282 seconds clear of teammate Zach Veach in the sister No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing entry.[26]Patrick Long was third in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche followed by Richard Heistand in the No. 39 Audi.[25]
The third session was for cars in the LMP3 class. Austin McCusker qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 2 car for United Autosports. McCusker was 0.570 second clear of Jarett Andretti in the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier. Following in third was George Kurtz's No. 54 Ligier while The No. 38 Performance Tech Motorsports Ligier JS P320 of Dan Goldburg was fourth.[25]
1 The No. 55 Mazda Motorsports entry initially qualified sixth for the DPi class. However, the team changed engines after qualifying. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the DPi field on the starting grid.
2 The No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the LMP2 field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[34]
3 The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing initially qualified eighth for the GTD class. However, the team changed engines after qualifying. By IMSA rules, the entry was moved to the rear of the GTD field on the starting grid.
4 The No. 75 SunEnergy1 Racing entry was moved to the back of the GTD field as per Article 43.5 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting driver).[34]
Race
Post-race
Cameron and Pla advanced from sixth to fourth in the DPi Drivers' Championship. Magnussen and van der Zande dropped fourth to fifth.[35] As a result of winning the race, Merrill, Nunez, and Thomas advanced from fourth to second in the LMP2 Drivers' Championship.[35] With a total of 1090 points, Robinson's victory allowed him to increase his advantage over Bennett and Braun in the LMP3 Drivers' Standings.[35] By finishing third place, De Phillippi, Eng, and Spengler advanced from fifth to third in the GTLM Drivers' Championship. Edwards, Farfus, and Krohn jumped from third to second while MacNeil dropped from second to fifth.[35] With a total of 1296 points, Auberlen and Foley's victory allowed them to increase their advantage over De Angelis and Gunn in the GTD Drivers' Championship. Sellers and Snow advanced from fifth to third while Long dropped from third to fifth.[35] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and BMW continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Riley Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Turner Motorsport kept their respective advantages in the their respective of Teams' Championships with seven rounds remaining in the season.[35]
^The #48 Ally Cadillac Racing entry received a 35-second time penalty for failing to serve a drive-through penalty. This demoted the entry from fourth to fifth in class.