2021 WeatherTech 240 at The Glen

Summary

The 2021 WeatherTech 240 at 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 July 2, 2021. This race was the sixth round of the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the third round of the 2021 WeatherTech Sprint Cup.

Track map of Watkins Glen International

The race featured a 46-minute weather-enforced red flag period, and was won by the Whelen Engineering Racing duo of Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr.[1]

Background edit

 
Watkins Glen International, where the race was held.

The race was a late addition to the 2021 IMSA SportsCar Championship calendar, after travel restrictions related to the COVID-19 pandemic forced the cancellation of the round at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for the second consecutive year.[2] With the round scheduled for the July 4th weekend, the WeatherTech 240 was run less than a week after the 2021 6 Hours of The Glen, creating a veritable double header at Watkins Glen.

On June 30, 2021, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the event.[3] The lone change occurred in DPi, where the Cadillac DPi-V.R received a one-liter fuel capacity increase after finishing fourth through seventh in class the previous weekend.

Before the race, Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor led the DPi Drivers' Championship with 1733 points, ahead of Oliver Jarvis and Harry Tincknell in second with 1701 points, and Pipo Derani and Felipe Nasr with 1576 points.[4] In LMP2, Scott Huffaker, Mikkel Jensen, and Ben Keating led the Drivers' Championship with 702 points, ahead of Thomas Merrill, Tristan Nunez, and Steven Thomas.[4] With 1090 points, Gar Robinson led the LMP3 Drivers' Championship, 50 points ahead of Jon Bennett and Colin Braun.[4] Nicky Catsburg, Antonio García, and Jordan Taylor led the GTLM Drivers' Championship with 1082 points, 81 points ahead of John Edwards, Augusto Farfus, and Jesse Krohn followed by Connor De Phillippi, Philipp Eng, and Bruno Spengler in third.[4] With 1296 points, the GTD Drivers' Championship was led by Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley, ahead of Roman De Angelis and Ross Gunn.[4] Cadillac, Chevrolet, and BMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Riley Motorsports, Corvette Racing, and Turner Motorsport each led their own Teams' Championships.[4]

Entries edit

A total of 30 cars took part in the event, split across five classes. 6 cars were entered in DPi, 3 in LMP2, 6 in LMP3, 3 in GTLM, and 12 in GTD. The pre-event entry list featured 31 cars, but was reduced to the final tally of 30 following the #16 Wright Motorsports entry's withdrawal.[5]

The only change from the previous round in DPi was the absence of Ally Cadillac Racing, while LMP2 saw a reduced three full-season entries after Era Motorsport announced their intention to scale back their 2021 program.[6] The Michelin Endurance Cup entry from United Autosports was also absent, as was their entry in LMP3. BMW Team RLL's absence saw the return of the three-car GTLM field, while GTD featured a host of changes owing to the round only paying points towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Pfaff Motorsports and Magnus Racing withdrew, as they had done at Detroit, while Gradient Racing and Compass Racing replaced them as part of their Sprint Cup-only campaigns.[7] Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports also made their IMSA SportsCar Championship debut at this event, bringing the GTD class tally to 13.[8]

Practice edit

There was one practice session preceding the start of the race on Friday, taking place on Thursday afternoon.[9]

Practice 1 edit

The first and only practice session took place at 9:20 am ET on Thursday and ended with Olivier Pla topping the charts for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, with a lap time of 1:48.813, ahead of the No. 01 Cadillac of Renger van der Zande.[10] Gabriel Aubry set the fastest time in LMP2.[11] Oliver Askew was fastest in LMP3 with a time of 1:59.440.[12] The GTLM class was topped by the No. 4 Corvette Racing Chevrolet Corvette C8.R of Nick Tandy with a time of 1:59.440, ahead of teammate Jordan Taylor in the No. 3 Corvette.[12] Robby Foley was fastest in GTD.[11] The session was red flagged three times for on-track incidents. Kevin Magnussen crashed the No. 01 Cadillac at turn five and sustained rear end damage.[11][12] Oliver Jarvis's Mazda came to a stop on an out lap causing the session to be stopped. The final stoppage came when Jarett Andretti spun the No. 36 Andretti Autosport Ligier.[10]

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap
1 DPi 60 Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian Olivier Pla 1:48.813 _
2 DPi 01 Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing Renger van der Zande 1:48.953 +0.140
3 DPi 10 WTR-Konica Minolta Acura Ricky Taylor 1:49.305 +0.492
Sources:[13][14]

Qualifying edit

Qualifying was broken into four sessions.[9] The first was for cars in GTD class. Madison Snow qualified on pole driving the No. 1 car for Paul Miller Racing, beating Frankie Montecalvo in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Racing by less than five tenths of a second. Richard Heistand was third in the No. 39 Audi followed by the No. 66 Acura of Till Bechtolsheimer, and Jeff Kingsley rounded out the top 5.[15]

The second session was for cars in the GTLM and GTD classes. Jordan Taylor qualified on pole in GTLM driving the No. 3 car for Corvette Racing, besting teammate Nick Tandy in the sister No. 4 Corvette Racing entry.[16] Jack Hawksworth set the fastest time in the GTD points paying session and earned 35 championship points.[16]

The third session was for cars in the LMP3 class. Mateo Llarena qualified on pole for the class driving the No. 38 car for Performance Tech Motorsports. Llarena was more than seven-tenths clear of Jon Bennett in the No. 54 CORE Autosport entry followed by Jarett Andretti in the No. 36 Andretti Autosport car in third.[17]

The final session of qualifying was for cars in the DPi and LMP2 classes. Ricky Taylor took overall pole for the event driving the No. 10 car for WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, besting Oliver Pla in the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian. Following in third was the No. 01 Cadillac of Kevin Magnussen, with the No. 31 Cadillac of Pipo Derani in fourth. The Mazda Motorsports entry and JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing entries rounded out the DPi field.[16]Ben Keating qualified on pole in LMP2 driving the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Oreca. Keating was 0.423 seconds clear of Steven Thomas in the WIN Autosport entry followed by John Farano in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport By Starworks car.[18]

Qualifying results edit

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

Pos. Class No. Team Driver Time Gap Grid
1 DPi 10   WTR-Konica Minolta Acura   Ricky Taylor 1:30.058 _ 1
2 DPi 60   Meyer Shank Racing w/ Curb-Agajanian   Olivier Pla 1:30.404 +0.346 2
3 DPi 01   Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing   Kevin Magnussen 1:30.545 +0.487 3
4 DPi 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Pipo Derani 1:30.684 +0.626 4
5 DPi 55   Mazda Motorsports   Harry Tincknell 1:30.947 +0.889 5
6 DPi 5   JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing   Loïc Duval 1:31.094 +1.036 6
7 LMP2 52   PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports   Ben Keating 1:34.969 +4.911 7
8 LMP2 11   WIN Autosport   Steven Thomas 1:35.392 +5.334 8
9 LMP2 8   Tower Motorsport By Starworks   John Farano 1:39.644 +9.586 9
10 LMP3 38   Performance Tech Motorsports   Mateo Llarena 1:42.633 +12.575 10
11 LMP3 54   CORE Autosport   Jon Bennett 1:43.368 +13.310 11
12 LMP3 36   Andretti Autosport   Jarett Andretti 1:43.608 +13.550 12
13 GTLM 3   Corvette Racing   Jordan Taylor 1:43.821 +13.763 16
14 GTLM 4   Corvette Racing   Nick Tandy 1:44.045 +13.987 17
15 LMP3 74   Riley Motorsports   Gar Robinson 1:44.650 +14.592 13
16 LMP3 84   D3+ Transformers-Dawson Racing   Theodor Olsen 1:49.677 +19.619 151
17 LMP3 91   Riley Motorsports   Jim Cox 1:50.230 +20.172 142
18 GTLM 79   WeatherTech Racing   Cooper MacNeil 1:57.420 +27.362 18
19 GTD 1   Paul Miller Racing   Madison Snow 1:59.380 +29.322 19
20 GTD 12   Vasser Sullivan Racing   Frankie Montecalvo 1:59.820 +29.762 20
21 GTD 39   CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing   Richard Heistand 2:00.946 +30.888 21
22 GTD 66   Gradient Racing   Till Bechtolsheimer 2:01.146 +31.088 22
23 GTD 76   Compass Racing   Jeff Kingsley 2:01.146 +31.088 23
24 GTD 23   Heart Of Racing Team   Roman De Angelis 2:01.198 +31.140 24
25 GTD 28   Alegra Motorsports   Michael de Quesada 2:01.201 +31.143 25
26 GTD 14   Vasser Sullivan Racing   Aaron Telitz 2:01.396 +31.338 26
27 GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Robby Foley 2:01.894 +31.836 27
28 GTD 88   Team Hardpoint EBM   Rob Ferriol 2:02.907 +32.849 28
29 GTD 32   Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports   Shane Lewis 2:04.610 +34.552 29
GTD 19   GRT Grasser Racing Team Time Disallowed
Sources:[19][20][21][22][23]
  • 1 The No. 84 D3+ Transformers-Dawson Racing entry was moved to the back of the LMP3 field as per Articles 40.1.4 and 40.5 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires) and (Engine change).[24]
  • 2 The No. 91 Riley Motorsports entry was moved to the back of the LMP3 field as per Article 40.1.4 of the Sporting regulations (Change of starting tires).[24]

Race edit

Post-race edit

The result kept Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor atop the DPi Drivers' Championship with 2068 points. Magnussen and van der Zande advanced from fifth to fourth while Cameron and Pla dropped from fourth to fifth.[25] With a total of 1087 points, Jensen and Keating's victory allowed them to increase their advantage over Nunez and Thomas in the LMP2 Drivers' Championship to 35 points.[25] With a total of 1468 points, Robinson's victory allowed him to increase his advantage over Bennett and Braun in the LMP3 Drivers' Championship to 96 points.[25] By finishing second place Milner and Tandy advanced from fourth to second in the GTLM Drivers' Championship. MacNeil jumped from fifth to third while the absent Edwards, Farfus, and Krohn dropped from second to fourth.[25] GTD drivers, teams, and manufactures did not score full season points due to the event only counting towards the WeatherTech Sprint Cup. Cadillac and Chevrolet continued to top their respective Manufacturers' Championships while WTR-Konica Minolta Acura, PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports, Riley Motorsports, and Corvette Racing kept their respective advantages in the their respective of Teams' Championships with six rounds remaining in the season.[25]

Race results edit

Class winners are denoted in bold and ‡.

Pos Class No. Team Drivers Chassis Laps Time/Retired
Engine
1 DPi 31   Whelen Engineering Racing   Felipe Nasr
  Pipo Derani
Cadillac DPi-V.R 63 2:41:27.882‡
Cadillac 5.5L V8
2 DPi 01   Cadillac Chip Ganassi Racing   Renger van der Zande
  Kevin Magnussen
Cadillac DPi-V.R 63 +1.473
Cadillac 5.5L V8
3 DPi 10   Konica Minolta Acura   Ricky Taylor
  Filipe Albuquerque
Acura ARX-05 63 +10.315
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
4 DPi 5   JDC-Mustang Sampling Racing   Tristan Vautier
  Loïc Duval
Cadillac DPi-V.R 63 +12.025
Cadillac 5.5L V8
5 DPi 55   Mazda Motorsports   Oliver Jarvis
  Harry Tincknell
Mazda RT24-P 63 +12.446
Mazda MZ-2.0T 2.0L Turbo I4
6 DPi 60   Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian   Dane Cameron
  Olivier Pla
Acura ARX-05 63 +15.107
Acura AR35TT 3.5L Turbo V6
7 LMP2 52   PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports   Ben Keating
  Mikkel Jensen
Oreca 07 59 +4 Laps‡
Gibson 4.2L GK428 V8
8 LMP2 11   WIN Autosport   Steven Thomas
  Tristan Nunez
Oreca 07 59 +4 Laps
Gibson 4.2L GK428 V8
9 LMP2 8   Tower Motorsport by Starworks   John Farano
  Gabriel Aubry
Oreca 07 59 +4 Laps
Gibson GK428 4.2L V8
10 LMP3 74   Riley Motorsports   Gar Robinson
  Felipe Fraga
Ligier JS P320 59 +4 Laps‡
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8
11 LMP3 91   Riley Motorsports   Jim Cox
  Dylan Murry
Ligier JS P320 59 +4 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8
12 LMP3 54   CORE Autosport   Jon Bennett
  Colin Braun
Ligier JS P320 59 +4 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8
13 LMP3 36   Andretti Autosport   Jarett Andretti
  Oliver Askew
Ligier JS P320 59 +4 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8
14 GTLM 3   Corvette Racing   Antonio García
  Jordan Taylor
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 59 +4 Laps‡
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
15 GTLM 4   Corvette Racing   Tommy Milner
  Nick Tandy
Chevrolet Corvette C8.R 59 +4 Laps
Chevrolet 5.5L V8
16 GTLM 79   WeatherTech Racing   Cooper MacNeil
  Matt Campbell
Porsche 911 RSR-19 58 +5 Laps
Porsche 4.2L Flat-6
17 LMP3 38   Performance Tech Motorsports   Mateo Llarena
  Rasmus Lindh
Ligier JS P320 58 +5 Laps
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8
18 GTD 14   Vasser-Sullivan Racing   Aaron Telitz
  Jack Hawksworth
Lexus RC F GT3 57 +6 Laps‡
Lexus 5.0L V8
19 GTD 12   Vasser-Sullivan Racing   Frankie Montecalvo
  Zach Veach
Lexus RC F GT3 57 +6 Laps
Lexus 5.0L V8
20 GTD 23   Heart of Racing Team   Roman De Angelis
  Ross Gunn
Aston Martin Vantage GT3 57 +6 Laps
Mercedes-Benz M177 4.0 L Turbo V8
21 GTD 39   CarBahn Motorsports with Peregrine Racing   Richard Heistand
  Jeff Westphal
Audi R8 LMS Evo 57 +6 Laps
Audi 5.2L V10
22 GTD 28   Alegra Motorsports   Daniel Morad
  Michael de Quesada
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 57 +6 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
23 GTD 66   Gradient Racing   Till Bechtolsheimer
  Marc Miller
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 57 +6 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
24 GTD 32   Gilbert Korthoff Motorsports   Guy Cosmo
  Shane Lewis
Mercedes-AMG GT3 Evo 57 +6 Laps
Mercedes-AMG M159 6.2L V8
25 GTD 88   Team Hardpoint EBM   Rob Ferriol
  Katherine Legge
Porsche 911 GT3 R 57 +6 Laps
Porsche 4.0L Flat-6
26 GTD 76   Compass Racing   Jeff Kingsley
  Mario Farnbacher
Acura NSX GT3 Evo 54 +9 Laps
Acura 3.5L Turbo V6
27

DNF

GTD 1   Paul Miller Racing   Bryan Sellers
  Madison Snow
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 48 Fuel Pump
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
28 GTD 19   GRT Grasser Racing Team   Misha Goikhberg
  Franck Perera
Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo 48 +15 Laps
Lamborghini 5.2L V10
29

DNF

GTD 96   Turner Motorsport   Bill Auberlen
  Robby Foley
BMW M6 GT3 31 Power Steering
BMW 4.4L Turbo V8
30

DNF

LMP3 84   D3+ Transformers-Dawson Racing   Theodor Olsen
  Dominic Cicero
Ligier JS P320 31 Engine
Nissan VK56DE 5.6L V8
Sources:[26][27]

Standings after the race edit

  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • : Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.
  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • : Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.


  • Note: Only the top five positions are included for all sets of standings.
  • : Points count towards WeatherTech Sprint Cup championship only.


References edit

  1. ^ "Whelen Cadillac Wins Weather-Interrupted Weathertech 240 At Watkins Glen". dailysportscar.com. July 3, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  2. ^ "WeatherTech 240 At The Glen Set for Friday, July 2". imsa.com. April 7, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  3. ^ "TB-IWSC-21-24-WGI-2-BoP-Tables-06302021.pdf" (PDF). imsa.com. June 30, 2021. Retrieved July 20, 2021.
  4. ^ a b c d e f "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. June 29, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  5. ^ "Wright Porsche Opts Out of WeatherTech 240". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  6. ^ "Era Scales Back LMP2 Program". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. June 25, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  7. ^ "31 Entries for WeatherTech 240 at The Glen". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. June 29, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  8. ^ "Gilbert Korthoff Steps Up to GTD With Mercedes for Cosmo, Lewis". sportscar365.com. John Dagys Media. June 26, 2021. Retrieved July 22, 2021.
  9. ^ a b "2021 IMSA Official Schedule and SR WGI WT240 062321 V1" (PDF). results.imsa.com/noticeBoard.php. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  10. ^ a b Dagys, John (July 1, 2021). "Pla Quickest in Rain-Affected Practice at Watkins Glen". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  11. ^ a b c Malsher-Lopez, David (July 1, 2021). "Watkins Glen 240 IMSA: Pla leads wet practice". motorsport.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  12. ^ a b c Kish, Ryan (July 1, 2021). "Another fast start for MSR Acura at Watkins Glen". racer.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  13. ^ "03_Results_Practice.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 1, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  14. ^ "06_Fastest Lap By Driver_Practice.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 1, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  15. ^ Malsher-Lopez, David (July 1, 2021). "Watkins Glen 240 IMSA: Taylor beats Pla to pole". motorsport.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  16. ^ a b c Dagys, John (July 1, 2021). "Taylor Takes Back-to-Back Watkins Glen Poles". sportscar365.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  17. ^ "Ricky Taylor Scores Back To Back Poles At Watkins Glen". dailysportscar.com. July 2, 2021. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  18. ^ Kish, Ryan (July 1, 2021). "Taylor claims pole for WTR at Watkins Glen". racer.com. Retrieved August 31, 2023.
  19. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying - LMP2-DPi Position - Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  20. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying - LMP3 Position - Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  21. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying - GTD Points-GTLM Position - Points.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  22. ^ "03_Results_Qualifying - GTD Position_Amended.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. Retrieved July 23, 2021.
  23. ^ "01_Grid_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 2, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  24. ^ a b "2021-IMSA-SPORTING-REGULATIONS-and-SSR-IWSC-Blackline-082621-V1.pdf" (PDF). Archived (PDF) from the original on 2023-11-11. Retrieved November 11, 2023.
  25. ^ a b c d e f g h i j k l m n o p q r "00_Championship Points - Official.pdf" (PDF). results.imsa.com. July 7, 2021. Retrieved August 28, 2023.
  26. ^ "03_Results_Race_Official.PDF" (PDF). July 2021. Retrieved July 24, 2021.
  27. ^ "2021 WEATHERTECH 240". racing-reference.info. Retrieved December 26, 2023.

External links edit

IMSA SportsCar Championship
Previous race:
2021 6 Hours of The Glen
2021 season Next race:
2021 Northeast Grand Prix