Samwise Sportscar & Endurance Newsletter
Sunday, June 28, 2026
Blomqvist and Braun Win Watkins Glen Six Hours After Bamber Runs Out of Energy on Final Lap
Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun delivered Meyer Shank Racing’s second consecutive IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory with a dramatic win at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, after Action Express Racing’s Earl Bamber was forced to pit on the final lap having exhausted his Cadillac’s energy allocation. Blomqvist guided the No. 60 Acura ARX-06 to a 1.880-second margin over the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac of Louis Deletraz. The race featured a downpour and ten full-course cautions — breaking the series record for most yellows in a WeatherTech Championship round — making it one of the most chaotic editions in recent memory.
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Catsburg Calls GTD Pro Result a ‘Lottery’ as Milner Loses Lead on Final-Lap Fuel Stop
Nicky Catsburg called the GTD Pro result at Watkins Glen a “lottery” after co-driver Tommy Milner appeared set for the No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports’ first WeatherTech win, only to be caught out by fuel consumption on the final lap following a late full-course caution. The No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette stopping with suspension failure triggered the caution that disrupted fuel strategies of the leading GTD Pro cars, costing Milner and Catsburg what had looked like a certain victory. Catsburg leads the GTD Pro championship and had spoken before the race about the title being “more important” than a race win.
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Mercedes-AMG Takes 24H Spa Lead at Hour 8 After Ferrari Suffers Race-Altering Puncture
The Mercedes-AMG machinery moved to the front of the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps at the Hour 8 mark, as the early race-leading Ferrari entries were shuffled backwards following a significant tyre puncture. The HRT Mercedes, which had run competitively throughout the opening hours, capitalised on the Italian marque’s misfortune to take overall control. Hour 8 represented a pivotal swing in the race narrative: Ferrari had established a clear advantage in the opening stint, but the tyre failure opened the door for the German manufacturer to establish themselves at the head of the field with sixteen hours of racing still remaining in the Belgian endurance classic.
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Nielsen Steers Ferrari to the Front After the Opening Hour at 2026 CrowdStrike 24H Spa
Dennis Nielsen kept a Ferrari GT3 at the head of the field after the opening hour of the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, maintaining the advantage the Italian brand had established from the Superpole front row. Nielsen navigated the opening stint ahead of the chasing Mercedes-AMG and Porsche 911 GT3 R entries, with the entire Pro class field running at close quarters through the early phase of the Belgian endurance race. The early Ferrari dominance reflected strong pace in the warm summer conditions at the legendary Ardennes circuit, though teams were already executing their long-run fuel and tyre strategies as the race entered its second hour.
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Ratel Warns GT3 Going ‘Straight to the Wall’ if Manufacturers Abandon Category’s Founding Pillars
SRO Motorsports Group founder and CEO Stéphane Ratel issued a stark warning to GT3 manufacturers at the CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps, telling the assembled representatives that the category risks going “straight to the wall” if the trend toward race-developed machinery continues. Speaking after a private meeting with the ten manufacturers involved in GT3, Ratel referenced a Toyota GR GT3, a Mercedes-AMG concept, and a Genesis GT3 Concept as representing a dangerous departure from the founding premise of the category. He proposed renaming the class GT1 if manufacturers continue producing track-first designs, drawing comparison with the 1990s arms race involving the Porsche 911 GT1 and Mercedes CLK-GTR.
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Aitken Makes Golden-Hour Dash to IMSA GTP Pole at Watkins Glen International
Jack Aitken claimed the GTP pole position for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International with a late qualifying effort, storming to the top of the timesheets in what Racer described as a “golden hour dash.” Aitken’s championship-leading campaign continued its momentum entering race day, with the Action Express Racing Cadillac fastest in the final minutes of the session. The Watkins Glen pole built on a strong form run that included leading both Friday practice sessions at the circuit. The qualifying result set up a front-row start heading into Sunday’s six-hour race — a result that proved pivotal in the dramatic energy-management thriller that followed.
Watkins Glen Post-Race Notebook: Energy Strategy, GTD Pro Fallout, and Outlook for CTMP
The Sportscar365 post-race notebook from the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen captures the paddock reaction to Sunday’s chaotic race at Watkins Glen International. Key themes include the controversial energy management that decided the GTP class result, the GTD Pro fallout from the final-lap caution sequence, and how teams are reading the championship picture ahead of Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Among the subjects covered is the late caution for the No. 36 DXDT Racing Corvette’s suspension failure, which triggered the sequence that denied Earl Bamber what appeared to be a certain GTP victory and delivered the win to Tom Blomqvist’s Acura Meyer Shank Racing entry.
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Makowiecki Confirmed for 24H Spa as Heinrich Joins Watkins Glen GTP Field
Two driver confirmations emerged on Friday, with Frédéric Makowiecki confirmed to drive at the 2026 CrowdStrike 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps and GTP championship contender Maximilian Heinrich added to the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen starting grid at Watkins Glen International. Makowiecki — who has extensive experience at Spa and a long development relationship with Porsche GT3 machinery — returns to the Belgian circuit as an endurance entry. Heinrich’s Watkins Glen confirmation brought further depth to an already-competitive GTP field headlined by Jack Aitken’s championship-leading Action Express Cadillac, with the announcement part of a busy week of driver activity across both series.
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WEC Hypercar — Drivers
After Rd 3 / Le Mans
1. Kobayashi / Conway / de Vries — 75 pts
2. Rast / Frijns — 71 pts
3. van der Linde — 61 pts
4. Hartley / Hirakawa / Buemi — 56 pts
5. Rovera / Nielsen et al (#51 Ferrari) — 39 pts
WEC Hypercar — Teams
1. Toyota — 132 pts
2. BMW — 96 pts
3. Ferrari — 62 pts
4. Alpine — 38 pts
5. Cadillac — 32 pts
6. Aston Martin — 26 pts
Next Race
Rolex 6H São Paulo — Jul 10–12, 2026
IMSA GTP — Drivers
Pre-Watkins Glen
1. Aitken — 1760 pts
2. Heinrich — 1616 pts
3. Andlauer / Nasr — 1606 pts
IMSA GTP — Teams
Pre-Watkins Glen
1. Cadillac — 1797 pts
2. Porsche — 1772 pts
3. Acura — 1676 pts
4. BMW — 1628 pts
Next Race
Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CTMP)
Curated by JD · samwise.agency
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