Garcia & Sims finish 2nd in the Sahlen’s Six Hours at Watkins Glen

Antonio Garcia & Alexander Sims in the # 3 Pratt & Miller Z06 GT3.R finished 2nd in GTD PRO in a race interrupted by ten full-course caution periods.

They battled through rain followed by sweltering heat.

Extreme elements kept the team on its toes, looking to a rhythm for changing tires, drivers, managing fuel and the like.

Drivers described re-starts as nothing short of frantic in order to gain track position, not knowing what comes next.

Garcia and Sims hold the GTD PRO points lead approaching halfway through the season - by good results on four occasions but so far not having won a race.

The GTD PRO winner at Watkins Glen was the Paul Miller Racing # 48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO piloted by the young duo of Dan Harper and Max Hesse in their maiden outing. 

Tommy Milner & Nicky Catsburg in the # 4 Pratt & Miller Z06 GT3.R qualified 3rd, three spots higher than the # 3 but came up a bit short on execution and finished 5th.  (in a field of 31 GTP PRO and GTD cars).

They were scored 4th after the IMSA “Police” penalized the # 65 Ford Mustang GT3, piloted by Christopher Mies and Frederic Vervisch to last place for excessive negative camber and tire pressures for GTD PRO and GTD cars on "high energy tracks" (ie fast) such as Watkins Glen.  Are they kidding, who’s next?

The # 36 DXDT Z06 GT3.R piloted by Alec Yudell, Charlie Eastwood and Salih Yoluc started 2nd and was heading to win the GTD class when the left rear suspension gave out ten minutes from the end.  The team speculates the impact from an earlier hit might be the reason.

The # 13 AWA Z06 GT3.R piloted by Orey Fidani, Matt Bell and Lars Kern finished 9th in GTD.  They hope for better in the next race at CTMP, their “home” track in Bowmanville ONTARIO. 

Photo credits: Richard Prince, Jake Galstead, Jack Webster