Inception Racing claim second place at Sahlen’s Six Hours of Watkins Glen

Although Watkins Glen International hosted the third instalment of IMSA’s Michelin Endurance Cup, it was the sprint to the finish which determined who would come out on top.

Friday afternoon and Saturday morning handed themselves over to free practice, giving both the drivers and the team the chance to become accustomed with the layout and run through their testing program.

It was, as usual, Brendan on qualifying duties, setting the eleventh fastest time within GTD class in the short 15-minute session.

As the green flag dropped on Sunday morning, Brendan fell two places, yet avoided all opening lap drama. The first of many Safety Car’s was released just 15 minutes into the race. The #70 crew capitalised on the scenario, pitting Brendan for a splash of fuel and fresh tyres whilst the course was still under yellow flag conditions, warming both his new tyres and the brakes behind the Safety Car, which was prolonged by a prototype car fire at the entry of Turn 5.

45 minutes complete, Brendan cycles through the usual change to Jordan, who then rejoined the field in 15th. Flying through the field, the South African built up a 5.3 second gap over those behind to lead the GTD class and crucially, claim those all important points at the 3 hour mid-way mark of the race.

It was Ollie up next, and like Jordan, sat in the lead but with 90 minutes left on the clock, the race had been red flagged due to severe weather incoming over Watkins Glen International. As the rain passed, 35 minutes remained on the clock, and the Brit was sat in fourth as the racing action was resumed.

Passing the #42 Lamborghini on the race restart put the McLaren Customer Racing Team up into the podium position and thus, crossed the line to claim third, respectively.

Due to a drive-time infraction, Winward Racing whom had claimed the class win were stripped of their title, boosting Brendan, Ollie, and Jordan to the second spot on the podium.

Inception Racing now extend their lead in IMSA’s Michelin Endurance Cup standings and look ahead to the next Endurance round, Motul Petit Le Mans in November, thus, not contesting in the remainder of IMSA’s Sprint Cup for 2022

Jordan Pepper

“Yes, that’s P2 at the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of Watkins Glen. I’m so happy to share this podium with these two guys.

A huge thank you goes out to every single crew member today; this was once again down to a strong team performance on and off track. To top it off we increased our points lead in the Endurance Cup. It’s all to play for now going into Petit [Le Mans].”

Ollie Millroy

“We finished second in today’s IMSA race and led at the three-hour market get this all-important points. I had a lot of fun in the final 30-minute sprint for the flag to get us onto the podium.

“An amazing job by my teammates Brendan and Jordan and thank you to the team who did an incredible job in the pit stops. The strategy was epic!”