The weekend of June 24-26 was an extremely busy time as a number of issues came up during Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen that significantly affected the finishing order. In addition, a bunch of news broke as well.
Lightning Creates Drive-Time Chaos
It took over four hours for the unofficial results to be released from Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen by IMSA. Why? There were a series of issues pertaining to drive time that came out of the event.
In the supplemental regulations for the Sahlen’s Six Hours at the Glen, IMSA noted that there was a minimum drive-time in effect for all classes. For the top class (DPi), it was 30 minutes, not even a full fuel load. However, the other classes (LMP2, LMP3, GTD Pro and GTD) had a minimum drive-time of 90 minutes. All five classes had a maximum drive-time of four hours.
Normally, drive-time in a six-hour race is not an issue. There’s plenty of time to allow everyone to get all the time they need. Unless something unusual happens.
Sunday’s race was red-flagged with 85 minutes to go due to lightning. A number of drivers had just gotten into their cars to make the run to the finish. Due to the one-hour stoppage, IMSA adjusted the minimum drive-time outside of the DPi class downward from 90 minutes to 77.
Despite this change, roughly a quarter of the field ended up in drive-time trouble. Nine separate teams were moved to the back of their classes due to one of their drivers failing to meet the 77-minute minimum, while others were forced to adjust. This resulted in teams getting booted off the podium in three different classes and the winners from both GTD Pro and GTD losing their victories. Also of note, time spent in the pit lane does not count towards minimum drive-time. Only the time on the track itself.
The teams affected were as follows: Paul Miller Racing’s No. 1 BMW M4 GT3, due to Bryan Sellers being three minutes, 50.246 seconds short. The team actually pulled off-track in the final minutes in an attempt to avoid getting sent to the rear.
VasserSullivan’s No. 12 Lexus RCF GT3, due to Aaron Telitz being 13 minutes, 46.005 seconds short.
BMW M Team RLL’s No. 25 BMW M4 GT3, due to John Edwards being 15 minutes, 56.76 seconds short, the largest deficit on the list. This resulted in the team losing the GTD Pro class victory.
Team Korthoff Motorsports’ No. 32 Mercedes-AMG GT3, due to Mike Skeen being one minute, 43.942 seconds short. Teammate Stevan…
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