Heinrich puts JDC-Miller Porsche atop second Watkins Glen practice

In the final minutes of second practice for the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, JDC-Miller MotorSports’ hired gun Laurin Heinrich set a 1m33.398s to put the 2025-spec No. 5 Porsche 963 on top of the timing sheets.

This came about an hour after his co-driver Tijmen van der Helm inadvertently brought out the first red flag of the 105-minute session: Van der Helm clipped the grass at the exit of Turn 7 and carbon fiber debris spilled out onto the racing line. After track cleanup and repairs to the No. 5 Porsche, van der Helm, Heinrich, and Kaylen Frederick resumed with minimal issues, headlined by Heinrich’s top time.

The No. 31 Cadillac Whelen V-Series.R finished with the second-best time, a 1m33.693s set by Jack Aitken with about 20 minutes left.

The two Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06es featured in the top five: Tom Blomqvist set a 1m33.838s in the leading No. 60 MSR Acura, trailed by Renger van der Zande in the No. 93 Acura with a 1m33.984s. In between them was the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac with a 1m33.877s set by Louis Deletraz.

Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 BMW M Team WRT Hybrid V8 was sixth fastest, and the No. 23 Aston Martin THOR Team Valkyrie improved to ninth near the end via Ross Gunn.

In LMP2, AO Racing’s No. 99 ORECA 07-Gibson leapt to the top of the board in the first 15 minutes, which were reserved for Bronze drivers like PJ Hyett, whose 1m35.896s was actually the quickest lap of the entire session. But Hyett would spin at Turn 7 and got stuck on the inside curb, bringing out a red flag to bring the session to a slightly premature end. Hyett will lose his fastest lap in qualifying this afternoon as a result.

Another Bronze driver, Jeremy Clarke in the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA, was second fastest in his class, ahead of the top-ranked professional driver, Paul di Resta in the No. 22 United Autosports USA ORECA in third.

The No. 04 CrowdStrike Racing by APR (Toby Sowery) and No. 11 TDS Racing (Mathias Beche) cars finished fourth and fifth in class.

Endurance specialists Risi Competizione finished at the top in GTD Pro. The No. 62 Ferrari 296 GT3 Evo went to the top of the board early after Daniel Serra set his best time of 1m45.348s, which wouldn’t be beaten, though it would be approached closely near the end.

The No. 14 Vasser Sullivan/Dreyer & Reinbold Lexus RC F GT3 was second fastest thanks to a late flying lap from Jack Hawksworth, followed by Antonio García in the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R in third.

Championship leader Nicky Catsburg was fourth in the No. 4 Corvette, ahead of Neil Verhagen in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 EVO.

And in GTD, the surprise of the weekend continues to be the No. 068 Car Blanche Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo, which was the fastest car in class yet again. This time out, newcomer Marius Fossard led the way with his time of 1m45.496s, picking up where co-driver Valentin Hasse-Clot left off yesterday.

The No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 EVO of Russell Ward went second fastest, followed by Fran Rueda, another debutant, in third aboard the No. 34 Conquest Racing Ferrari. The No. 912 Manthey 1st Phorm Porsche 911 GT3 R (Riccardo Pera) and No. 70 Inception Racing Ferrari (Brendon Iribe) rounded out the top five.

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