IMSA points, results Watkins Glen WeatherTech 240: The No. 31 Whelen Engineering Action Express DPi Cadillac made its first visit to victory lane in 2021, winning Friday at Watkins Glen International as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar championship wrapped up two races in six days at the road course.
Pipo Derani started fourth and took the lead on Lap 25 with an off-sequence strategy. He pitted eight laps later and handed over the wheel to fellow Brazilian Felipe Nasr on Lap 33.
Four laps later, the race was stopped for 46 minutes because of lightning in the area. After more pit stops, Nasr cycled into the lead for the restart and stayed ahead to win by 1.473 seconds over the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac of Kevin Magnussen and Renger van der Zande. The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor was third.
“We just didn’t have enough fuel capacity to make it if it went green all the way,” Nasr said. “So, we opted to do an alternative [strategy]. The crew did an amazing job to put the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac in victory lane. It was beautiful. It was a long time coming.”
With a victory, three podiums and two pole positions, Derani and Nasr rank third in the standins, 114 points behind Albuquerque and taylor.
“It’s a relief,” Derani said. “I think we’ve shown since the beginning of the year that we have the car and the team to win. But things didn’t go our way at Daytona and Sebring. We gambled a little bit on the strategy, and it paid off as we expected. What a drive in the end by Felipe.”
And that’s a wrap for the double header at The Glen 🏁
— #IMSA (@IMSA) July 3, 2021
Congratulations to the WeatherTech 240 at The Glen winners!
DPi: No. 31 @AX_Racing
GTD: No. 14 @vassersullivan
GTLM: No. 3 Corvette Racing @TeamChevy #IMSA / #WeatherTech240 pic.twitter.com/Qs972AhuNw
OTHER CLASS WINNERS
LMP2: With No. 52 drivers Mikkel Jensen and Ben Keating, PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports scored its 23rd career victory and second this season.
LMP3: The No. 74 completed a sweep of back-to-back races at Watkins Glen with Gar Robinson and Felipe Fraga.
GTLM: The No. 3 Corvette won its second consecutive at Watkins Glen with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor.
GTD: With co-drivers Jack Hawksworth and Aaron Telitz, the No. 14 Lexus of Vasser-Sullivan broke through for its first victory this season and seventh overall.
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 Sprint Cup standings
STATS PACKAGE FOR THE WEATHERTECH 240 AT WATKINS 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
ROUND 5: Points and results from the Sahlen’s Six Hours at The Glen
NEXT: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will head to Lime Rock Park for the Northeast Grand Prix, a two-hour, 40-minute race for GT cars on July 17 (3 p.m. ET).