IMSA points, results Watkins Glen: Mazda scored its second consecutive victory at Watkins Glen International as Harry Tincknell stretched the final tank of fuel in the No. 55 for more than 45 minutes Sunday to win the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.
Tincknell, who was teamed with Oliver Jarvis and Jonathan Bomarito, ran out of fuel on the cooldown lap and needed a ride to victory lane (while the Mazda needed a tow).
It was the first victory this season and sixth victory in DPi for Mazda Motorsports, and its second at Watkins Glen (where its 2019 victory started a three-race winning streak). The road course in upstate New York canceled its 2020 race because of the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
. @HarryTincknell arriving in style after the #Sahlens6HRS. #IMSA / #Sahlens6HRS pic.twitter.com/IUaVMn0Zsd
— #IMSA (@IMSA) June 27, 2021
“I’ve got a great team behind me, and they just kept giving me the (fuel) numbers on the radio, and they kept coming down to the point where i was oh my goodness, this is crazy now,’” Tincknell told Parker Kligerman on NBCSN.
“I’m lifting halfway down the straights to make it around corners that I was braking. Incredible team effort. They said on the last lap you have enough fuel to make it to the finish line. They were correct on that. But they forgot about the in lap.
“Unbelievable job for Mazda. Thirty years ago this week, they won Le Mans in 1991. Thirty years on, to get another victory here where this program really took off in 2019 is absolutely fantastic.”
The manufacturer has announced its exit from IMSA’s top division after this year.
“We knew (Tincknell) could do it,” Jarvis told Kligerman. “The pace was incredible with the amount of fuel save. Thankfully everybody had to save (fuel). It’s just been amazing weekend. This was a real team effort. This is a special one. This has been a good year so far, but we need to put wins on the board if we want to win the championship, and that’s what we’ve done.”
Tincknell finished 0.965 seconds ahead of Olivier Pla in the No. 60 Acura (with co-driver Dane Cameron). Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Acura rounded out the podium.
The Action Express No. 31 Cadillac (of Felipe Nasr, Pipo Derani and Mike Conway and the No. 48 Ally Cadillac of Jimmie Johnson, Kamui Kobayashi and Simon Pagenaud rounded out the top five.
Kobayashi gained two spots on the final lap to cross the line in fourth but was penalized a spot for avoidable contact on Kevin Magnussen.
“It was a fuel-saving race for everyone,” Kobayashi said. “We managed to save fuel quite well. I think we were OK. Unfortunately, we got a penalty for a collision with Magnussen. I think he was low on fuel, maybe. I tried to overtake him on the inside, and when I moved to the inside under braking, he moved, too. He moved to the inside and I just couldn’t avoid (hitting Magnussen). I don’t know what I could have done if he’s low on fuel.”
GTLM: Antonio Garcia, co-driving the No. 3 C8.R with Jordan Taylor, fended off a charge from the BMW of John Edwards to deliver Corvette Racing its 116th career victory and first at Watkins Glen since 2014.
“It was tough,” Garcia, who had his 24th career victory, told NBCSN’s Dillon Welch. “I knew we had traffic and though it would be OK because we had a little more pace, but as you find out the last five laps, we found DPis, the GT3s, some LMP3s, everyone packed up and had John coming on me the last few laps. Intense, but the C8.R worked perfect today. Happy to bring home a victory.”
GTD: Bill Auberlen extended his IMSA record with his 64th career victory, taking the No. 96 Turner Motorsports BMW M6 to victory lane on a fuel conservation strategy with co-drivers Robby Foley and Aidan Read. It was Turner Motorsports’ second victory this season and 23rd overall (fourth at Watkins Glen).
“We don’t always have the fastest car, but this BMW M6 is awesome, and it’s the team, they put us in position to win every weekend, and you can’t ask for more than that,” Auberlen told Welch after his fourth Watkins Glen victory.
LMP2: Tristan Nunez carried the pole-sitting No. 11 of WIN Autosport to its first victory. Co-drivers Steven Thomas and Thomas Merrill earned their first victories.
LMP3: The No. 74 of Riley Motorsports scored its third victory this season and maintained its streak of finishing on the podium of every race with drivers Felipe Fraga, Scott Andrews and Gar Robinson.
RESULTS: Click here for the final overall finishing order and here for the class breakdown.
POINTS: Click here for the unofficial standings after Watkins Glen l Endurance Cup standings
STATS PACKAGE FOR THE SAHLEN’S SIX HOURS OF THE GLEN:
Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend)
Fastest laps by driver and class after race
Race distance and speed average
ROUND 1: Points and results from the Rolex 24 at Daytona
ROUND 2: Points and results from the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring
ROUND 3: Points and results from Mid-Ohio
ROUND 4: Points and results from Detroit
NEXT: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will return to Watkins Glen International for the IMSA Weather Tech 240, a two-hour, 40-minute race on July 2 (6 p.m. ET, NBCSN).