- Tom Blomqvist's lap-record run secures pole for Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 in the Sahlen's Six Hourse of the Glen
- Filipe Albuquerque completes Acura sweep in his Wayne Taylor Racing Acura
Tom Blomqvist took his Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 to a new track record Saturday at Watkins Glen International Racing, securing the pole and leading an Acura sweep of the front row in qualifying for tomorrow's Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen.
It is the third IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship pole of the season for Acura and the first for Meyer Shank Racing and Blomqvist, who will share driving duties tomorrow with Oliver Jarvis for the six-hour endurance sports car race.
Felipe Albuquerque completed the front row qualifying sweep for Acura, and will start second in the Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05 he shares with Ricky Taylor.
In the production-based GTD division, the #66 Gradient Racing NSX GT3 Evo22 of Mario Farnbacher, Till Bechtolsheimer Kyffin Simpson will start 17th after it was damaged in a collision during the final practice session, and was unable to make a qualifying run.
Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen Qualifying Results
- 1st overall - #60 Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi [new lap record]
- 2nd overall - #10 Ricky Taylor, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
- No time GTD - #66 Till Bechtolsheimer, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
Quotes
Tom Blomqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05) Pole qualifier, new lap record; third consecutive pole for Acura at Watkins Glen: "Our Acura is quick! I have to say thanks to everyone at Meyer Shank Racing, Acura and HPD. We prepared for this event really well and tested here. That put us in a really good position to capitalize on the strengths of our ARX-05. After leading both of the practice sessions earlier this weekend, there was a bit of extra pressure going into qualifying, but thankfully we were able to capitalize on it and I think that bodes well for tomorrow's [six-hour] race."
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05) Qualified 2nd: "The car was pretty good. But, unfortunately the [chassis setup] window was really narrow in qualifying when it came to the peak [performance] of the tire—particularly with the hot weather we're feeling here. So, I tried to push more later in the session, but unfortunately the tires were already gone by then and I wasn't able to improve. It is what it is, the front row is still really good for a six-hour race. I think we have a good car for the race and we'll see how it goes!"
Fast Facts
- This is the third IMSA pole of the season for Acura. At the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, Albuquerque and Taylor combined to win the qualifying race that set the starting field; and Taylor led another Acura front-row qualifying sweep at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.
- Acura Motorsports has recorded five previous victories at Watkins Glen, including three consecutive Camel Lights class wins (1991-93) and GTD class victories in 2017 and 2019.
- Acura's initial Watkins Glen success came in 1991, with Parker Johnstone taking the Comptech Acura Spice SE90P to the Lights class victory in a three-hour IMSA Camel GT race. After the race was expanded to six hours in 1992, Johnstone teamed with Dan Marvin to repeat as Camel Lights class winner. Acura's third consecutive class win came in 1993, as Bob Earl and Bob Schader paired up for the victory in their Brix Racing Acura Spice SE91P.
- Katherine Legge and Andy Lally took their Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 to the GTD victory in 2017, marking the second consecutive race win for the pair that season and the second-win worldwide for the then-new NSX GT3 race program.
- Two years later, Mario Farnbacher, Trent Hindman and future NASCAR Cup team owner Justin Marks combined to claim GTD honors in 2019, taking their Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3 from the class pole to victory en route to GTD Drivers' Championship for Farnbacher and Hindman.
Where to Watch the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen
Flag-to-flag coverage from Watkins Glen will be available on NBC Peacock starting at 10:40 a.m. EDT Sunday. Live, network television coverage on the USA Network begins at 2 p.m. EDT.
Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA mobile device App.
Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD).
Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).
# # #
