Sahlen's
Six Hours of The Glen
June
12, 2005
There are three races at Watkins Glen on
the 2005 Grand Am calendar. The first is the 6-hour race on the
long course. We went into this race 4th in team points and 6th in
the driver standings. For this race, we formed a cooperative
effort with Farnbacher-Loles racing, winners of the Rolex 24. With
the help of Farnbacher-Loles and Wolf Henzler, we were optimistic for a
strong finish and hopefully a podium. Wolf, Leh and Cory were the
fastest drivers at the Club Race the weekend prior, but Professional
competition was sure to offer more of a challenge.
The Grand Am Hoosier tires and
aerodynamics package is dramatically different from that of a stock Cup
on Dunlops or Michelins, so it took some time to get our set-up
close. We ran consistently in the top 5 in the practice sessions,
but we hoped to do a bit better in qualifying. Unfortunately,
qualifying was cut very short when the #71 GT3RS reportedly shattered a
brake disc causing a black flag. Henzler only ran 2 flying laps,
and the 3rd lap would surely have been better, but was cut short due to
the black flag. Wolf would start fifth when Randy Pobst's pole
sitting car was found to be too low at tech. We hoped for a better
starting position, but in a 6-hour race, qualifying is not critical.
Skies
threatened poor weather on race day, and light sprinkles were present
most of the day. The start of the race went off pretty clean, and
at the end of the first lap, Wolf moved up one position to fourth.
It took only about 10 minutes to move into third, which Henzler held for
about a half-hour. At this point, the #21 and #16 BMW's came
through and dropped us back to 5th, the lowest position we would hold
all day. At about the 0:50 mark, we were less than 10 seconds
behind the class leader when the second yellow of the race came
out. We were fortunate to get a wave-by to keep with the GT
leaders, and when we caught the field, we brought Wolf in for
fuel. This was the first of many very well-timed pit stops, as we
actually picked up positions during the stop. When the green flag
dropped, Henzler was in 2nd position, but he got a good jump on the
leading #21 BMW and took the class lead on the restart. The #73
Porsche driven by Wolf's World Challenge rival Robin Liddell and the #16
BMW were turning laps faster than Wolf in the dry conditions, but Wolf
was able to hang onto the class lead for about a half-hour. The
top 4 GT cars were circulating only 2 seconds apart, and at the 1:45
mark, the #73 and #16 cars slipped by Wolf.
One-third of the way through the race, 8
GT cars were on the lead lap, and another yellow came out. Another
great stop by our crew sent Leh out with new tires and a full tank of
fuel without losing position. This yellow grouped the field
together, so there was some position swapping, but when the next caution
came around 2:45, we topped off the fuel and Keen maintained 3rd position.
At the half-way point in the race, we had a small lead on 4th and
trailed the leaders by about 15 seconds.
A
potential disaster came about when a double yellow was displayed around
3:20. We fell to 5th position, but the overall race leader sat
between us and the 4th place car. This should have resulted in the
top 4 cars picking up almost an entire lap on us, which would have been disastrous
for our chances at a podium. Before the disappointment really set
in, Leh called in on the radio that the #4 car (the race leader) passed
him under yellow. We immediately went to the officials, and we
were allowed to go by the #4 car and regain our position with the class
leaders.
At the 3:30 point in the
race, we were still running under caution and rain began to pick up a
little. We stayed out expecting to need rain tires soon, as the
radar showed some nasty weather coming. By staying out, we moved
up to 2nd place with the top 4 in GT very close together. Only 3
laps later, another yellow came out. This one would last a bit
past the 4:00 mark. We used this opportunity to put Cory in the
car, but unfortunately, it was not time for rains yet. When it
went green, the top 5 cars were within 7 seconds, and Friedman was right
in the middle. Conditions on the front straight were still pretty
reasonable, but Cory reported heavy rain in the 'boot' section of the
circuit. The inconsistent weather caused an ugly pile-up and
subsequent yellow. Friedman did an excellent job keeping the car
on the course and up to speed on slick tires until the yellow came and
we had a good opportunity to make a stop for rains.
With
1:10 left in the race, we had rain tires on and Wolf was in the car to
finish the race. After the dust settled from all the cautions,
Henzler sat 3rd in GT. The rain had slowed considerably, but the
track was wet and puddled enough that rains were still necessary.
Our car was extremely good in the wet conditions, and Wolf was driving
very well. It took only a few laps for him to regain the GT class
lead. About this time, the rain had totally stopped on the front
straight.
With 5 hours
gone and the #14 car leading the race, we made a decision that was very
risky, but we were confidant that it was the right call. Wolf
called in that the track required slicks. We learned at Mont
Tremblant how much faster a slick tire is over a blistered rain on a
damp track. Further, we were in our final-stop fuel window, so we
decided to make a stop under green, something we never want to do, to
change to slicks. When we came in, Henzler had a 10 second lead
over the second place car, and when he re-entered the track, he sat in
3rd nearly 50 seconds behind the new leader. Our crew did an phenomenal
job doing a full tire change and adding fuel so quickly. The stop
including the drive through pit lane cost us only about 60
seconds! We were the only car in the top 3 to make the change to
slicks and it really paid off for us. Wolf's laps were about 10
seconds faster than the cars in front of him, and in only 4 laps, the 50
second deficit we had was gone, and #14 was again at the top of the GT
standings.
The next 20 minutes of
the race had the potential to ruin what up until this point was a great
run for us. Rain began to fall on the front straight only a few
laps after going to slicks, but it did not warrant a change. A few
laps later, Wolf reported that the transmission was difficult to shift
into 3rd and 4th gear. We were prepared to bleed the clutch, but
with only 45 minutes left, we hoped that he could hold on. His lap
times certainly were not suffering from the problem. Then the #22
BMW, who at this point in the race was at least 2 laps down, started
battling very hard with us. It was obvious that his intentions
were to slow us down to give the #16 BMW in 2nd a chance to catch
up. Wolf and the M3 made contact twice before Henzler finally
overtook him. We are very fortunate that neither impact was
serious enough to warrant making a stop.
The
last of many yellows came out with about 40 minutes to go. This
time it was not for a damaged car, but for fog. Visibility on some
parts of the track was dangerously low, so it was necessary to keep the
cars slow. This brought out another tough decision. With
just over a half-hour left in the race, the rain picked up to the point
where rains were beneficial. If the fog did not lift, the race
would end under yellow and all we needed to do was stay out to take the
win. However, we know Grand Am well enough to know that they were
anxious to end the race under a green flag, and if the race were to go
green, we would be at a huge disadvantage over those who did switched to
rains. Another factor is when to stop. The earlier you stop,
the better track position you will have, so if we did decide to stop, it
had to be immediately to retain our lead.
We
made the quick decision to get Wolf in for rains. The #65 car with
Lally driving stopped at the same time. The #16 and #73 cars in
3rd and 4th stopped a lap or so later, so when all the stops cycled, we
maintained the lead with #65 right behind us, followed by #16 and
#73. The track went green with about 18 minutes to go, and the
rain continued. Our final stop worked out very well, and we were
in excellent position for our first professional race win.
Lally
passed Wolf on the restart and lead him for a few laps. We
informed Wolf that the #65 car was for position, so Wolf started to
challenge the TRG car. His first attempt to pass Lally in turn 1
did not stick. The top two Porsches were leaving the rest of the
field, so it was certain to be a two-car battle to the finish.
With only 7 minutes to go in the race, Henzler made another attempt to
regain the lead, and this time, he was able to make it cleanly.
The next time past start/finish, Wolf's lead had grown to 6 seconds and
was improving quickly. When the white flag flew, visibility out
the rear window was virtually non-existent, so Wolf asked what kind of
gap he had to 2nd. We told him it was 26 seconds and he could back off a
little. Wolf took the checkers 15th overall, and with it claimed
our first Grand Am win.
We have run
well this season, often in the top three and occasionally leading, but
we have always come up slightly short at the end. With the help of
Farnbacher-Loles, we were able to finish strong and bring home not only
our first podium of the season, but our first ever professional race
win. This was the sixth race of the Grand Am season, and six
different cars have won, three Porsches and three BMWs. The GT field
is so strong this season that any mistake on the track or in the pits
can cost you positions. We were fortunate that all of our calls
were the right ones and none of the potential problems we had hurt
us. We made 7 stops during the race, including 3 for tire changes
in the last hour and a half. Every stop was incredibly well-timed
and executed, and we were able to keep the car up front where the
drivers did an impressive job which left them in the center of the
podium. We can not offer enough thanks to those involved.
Our drivers, the Autometrics crew and Farnbacher-Loles were all vital
components, and without any one of them, this wouldn't have been
possible. This was Wolf Henzler and Farnbacher-Loles' second Grand
Am effort this season, and both have ended in the winners circle.
We wish them well as they continue to contest the World Challenge GT
Championship. |
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