Ganassi has another rough race, but holds on to second in the NAEC
The #94 Turner Motorsport M3 driven by Bill Auberlen, Paul Dalla Lana, and Billy Johnson finished fourth in the GT class in the Sahlen Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International. Robin Liddell and John Edwards won the class in their Stevenson Automotive Group Camaro; it was their fourth win in five races.
Both the #94 Turner M3 and the team’s #93 car, piloted by Gunther Schaldach, Michael Marsal, and Pedro Lamy, led the GT class during the race. Car #93 was set back early in the sixth hour when Lamy was called in from the lead for giving an improper wave-by during a caution period, and #94 had to give up a 34-second lead late in the race to make a fuel stop.
Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas in their Ganassi Riley-BMW appeared to be on the road to recovery after difficult races at Belle Isle and Mid-Ohio, but Pruett took off from a late race pit stop with the fuel nozzle still coupled. He drew a stop and go plus 60- second penalty, and the car finished seventh. The overall win went to Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi in their Action Express Corvette DP. It was their second consecutive win. The #42 Team Sahlen Riley-BMW, which struggled with communications throughout the race, led at one point, but it lost a clutch with three laps remaining in the race and finished twelfth.
The Watkins Glen race was the second round of the three-race North American Endurance Championship. The first race was the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the third will be the three-hour race at Indianapolis Motor Speedway. Despite their seventh place finish at Watkins Glen, the Daytona winning Ganassi team held on to second in NAEC points behind Action Express.
The next event for both the Rolex Series and the CTSCC Series will be run at Indianapolis on Friday, July 26.—Brian S. Morgan
