The 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was an endurance 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 June 25, 2023. The race was the fifth round of the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship, and the third round of the 2023 Michelin Endurance Cup.
Background
International Motor Sports Association's (IMSA) president John Doonan confirmed the race was part of the schedule for the 2023 IMSA SportsCar Championship (IMSA SCC) in August 2022. It was the ninth year the event was held as part of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The 2023 Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen was the fifth of eleven scheduled sports car races of 2023 by IMSA, and it was the third of four races of the Michelin Endurance Cup (MEC). The race was held at the eleven-turn Watkins Glen International on June 25, 2023.
On June 3, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining Balance of Performance for the GTD and GTD Pro classes. A number of changes were made to the minimum weights of cars in the two classes, including 20 kg weight breaks for the Lamborghini, McLaren, and Mercedes. The Ferrari also received a 30 kg weight reduction, while the Corvette was handed a five kg reduction. The Corvette and Lexus also received horsepower increases following adjustments to the size of the cars' air restrictors. Finally, the Lexus received a three-liter fuel capacity increase, while the maximum fuel for the Acura was reduced by the same amount. On June 14, 2023, IMSA released the latest technical bulletin outlining BoP for the GTP class. A number of changes were made to the minimum weights of the cars. The Acura ran on 1053 kilograms of weight, the Porsche ran on 1043 kg, the BMW ran on 1038 kg and the Cadillac ran on 1037 kg. The maximum power output had been changed to 515 kilowatts of power for the Porsche, and 513 kW for both the BMW and Cadillac. The Acura remained on 520 kW.
After the Motul Course de Monterey one month earlier, Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet led the GTP Drivers' Championship with 1307 points, ahead of Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims with 1282 points, and Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor with 1241 points. With 730 points, the LMP2 Drivers' Championship was led by Mikkel Jensen and Steven Thomas with a sixty-three point advantage over Paul-Loup Chatin and Ben Keating. In LMP3, the Drivers' Championship was led by Josh Burdon, Felipe Fraga, and Gar Robinson with 380 points. Ben Barnicoat and Jack Hawksworth led the GTD Pro Drivers' Championship with 1415 points ahead of Jules Gounon and Daniel Juncadella with 1374 points. In GTD, the Drivers' Championship was led by Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow with 1244 points, ahead of Brendan Iribe and Frederik Schandorff with 1182 points. Cadillac, Lexus, and BMW were leading their respective Manufacturers' Championships, while Porsche Penske Motorsport, TDS Racing, Riley Motorsports, Vasser Sullivan Racing, and Paul Miller Racing each led their own Teams' Championships.
Entries
In LMP2, AF Corse ran the No. 88 Oreca 07 machine with Nicklas Nielsen, Luis Pérez Companc, and Lilou Wadoux. Additionally, Tower Motorsport's John Farano was replaced by Salih Yoluç in the #8 entry as Farano continued to recover from an injury suffered in a crash at Laguna Seca earlier in the season. In GTD Pro, MDK Motorsports withheld their planned GTD Pro entry for an additional round after forgoing the 12 Hours of Sebring due to BoP concerns. While the concerns had long since been addressed, team principal Mark Kvamme elected to focus on the team's GT World Challenge America program, which had completed a race event at Virginia International Raceway the previous weekend. After missing Sebring, Andrea Caldarelli returned to Iron Lynx's GTD Pro lineup alongside Jordan Pepper. Furthermore, the No. 61 Ferrari 296 GT3 entered, with drivers Miguel Molina, Ulysse de Pauw, and Simon Mann. In GTD, The No. 42 NTE Sport car returned with Jaden Conwright and Luke Berkeley.
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 90 minutes on Friday while the second session on Saturday lasted 105 minutes.
Practice 1
The first practice session took place at 4:30 pm ET on Friday and ended with Colin Braun topping the charts for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, with a lap time of 1:33.563.
Final Practice
The second and final practice session took place at 8:00 am ET on Saturday and ended with Colin Braun topping the charts for Meyer Shank Racing with Curb-Agajanian, with a lap time of 1:32.311.