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IMSA: Epic final stint gains Lilou Wadoux top five at 6H of the Glen

  • Writer: RACERS
    RACERS
  • Jun 24
  • 5 min read

Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux delivered an outstanding performance at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen, charging from the back of the GTD field to finish fifth after a determined final stint in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3.


Lilou Wadoux, AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, 2026 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, IMSA
Photo credits: Ferrari Races

Ferrari factory driver Lilou Wadoux showed her talent with a remarkable run at the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, charging from the back of the GTD field to a top-five finish in the final stint. She delivered an exceptional performance in the #21 AF Corse Ferrari, securing P5 after an unlucky strategy forced the team into a late-race recovery.


Wadoux returned to Watkins Glen after making history in 2024, when she claimed victory in the LMP2 class, taking her first IMSA win after already securing success in the FIA WEC.

In 2025, she contested the race in the GTD class as part of a strong AF Corse Ferrari line-up in the #21 car, alongside fellow factory driver Alessandro Pier Guidi and Simon Mann—both coming off podiums at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in the Hypercar and LMGT3 classes respectively.


Lilou also impressed at Le Mans with a very solid race in the Richard Mille AF Corse entry, just missing out on a top-ten finish after one of her teammates suffered early contact, leaving the car off-sequence and playing catch-up.


Just a few days later, she had another opportunity in another iconic endurance race during one of the busiest months for sportscar racing: the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, round three of the IMSA Endurance Cup.


The #21 AF Corse Ferrari finished P14 in GTD in first practice with a 1:47.138, but soon moved into the top five in second practice, clocking a 1:45.862 with Pier Guidi at the wheel, while Wadoux also improved her best lap in that session.


Alessandro Pier Guidi took qualifying duties for the 15-minute session, opening with a 1:46.222 banker lap for eighth place, before improving to 1:45.779 to move up to seventh.

Pier Guidi qualified seventh, but all lap times were later disallowed after Technical Inspection revealed an unplugged mandatory sensor on car #21. As a result, the car was moved to the back of the GTD grid, with Pier Guidi forced to start from P20 and go on full attack.


Lilou Wadoux, AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, 2026 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, IMSA
Photo credits: Ferrari Races

On Sunday afternoon, one of the most prestigious races on the IMSA calendar began under overcast skies. The green flag waved for the 55-car field across all classes, with 30 GT cars, as everyone made it cleanly through the opening corners.


Starting from the back, Pier Guidi immediately began making moves—and as early rain began to fall, he superbly charged through the field, passing Fidani, Knox, Doyle, and Adelson on the first lap. By lap two, he was already P12 after dispatching Potter, Bechtolsheimer, Muss, and Franco.

Pier Guidi set a new fastest GTD lap of 1:51.5 and continued flying, moving up to fifth within the first ten minutes of the race.


He then passed the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW with a new benchmark 1:48.1 lap to claim P4. After the busy opening laps, the race settled despite tricky conditions, with more rain expected.

The AF Corse Ferrari ran in fourth, behind the Korthoff Mercedes of Daniel Morad and ahead of the #023 Triarsi Ferrari.


Thirty minutes in, as the race stabilised, the #45 WTR Lamborghini of Doyle went off at Turn 1 and hit the outside wall, bouncing back onto the track and ending the DEX Imaging Lamborghini’s race. The incident brought out the first caution of the day.


As the race went under caution, heavy rain arrived, and teams awaited the chance to pit for wet tyres. The #21 Ferrari stopped from fourth, and Lilou Wadoux took over for her first stint.

The race resumed after one hour, still under heavy rain. Chaos quickly followed at the Bus Stop chicane with a spin for the #78 Lamborghini.


Wadoux rejoined in P5 and immediately reclaimed fourth, but the race was soon neutralised again after a major crash in LMP2: Rodrigo Sales spun and was collected head-on by Thomas' TDS Racing Oreca, both cars sustaining major damage.


Following the lengthy clean-up, the rain had stopped and the track began drying. Wadoux made a great restart and grabbed third—just before another caution for debris. Pitting for slick tyres from third, Wadoux rejoined P6 in tricky mixed conditions. Quickly finding her rhythm, Wadoux passed Frankie Montecalvo’s Lexus for fourth and began closing the gap to Manny Franco’s Conquest Ferrari, gaining over a second per lap. She then took third and moved into second by the two-hour mark.


Lilou Wadoux, AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, 2026 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, IMSA
Photo credits: Jake Galstad

Another FCY came with four hours to go when the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche went off and hit the barriers. Wadoux pitted from second, handing the car back to Pier Guidi, who rejoined in fourth after the top three stayed out. With 3h 40m remaining, the green flag waved again.

Pier Guidi returned to pace, passing Walker’s Turner BMW for third and hunting down Sernagiotto and Tuck, the class leaders.


Another caution followed when Brichacek’s Lone Star Mercedes collided with Wright Motorsport’s Porsche and then collected the Proton Competition Porsche Hypercar of Nico Pino.

On the restart near halfway, Pier Guidi immediately climbed to second and attacked Tuck, but was then involved in contact with the #27 Heart of Racing Aston Martin—both cars spun but continued. Unfortunately, the Ferrari dropped to P8.


The next caution came when the #9 Pfaff Lamborghini stopped on track. Pier Guidi stayed out and cycled up to the GTD lead, before pitting a lap later as the caution was extended after the #14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus lost a wheel. Simon Mann took over the #21 Ferrari, but now had rejoined at the tail of the field in P15.


At the restart, Mann began recovering positions but another FCY came out as Marco Wittmann spun and hit the barriers in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, followed quickly by another caution for Valentin Hasse Clot’s crashed Van Der Steur Aston Martin.


With 100 minutes to go, the race resumed. Mann, running P10, was caught in a battling pack at the restart and fell to P12.

Another neutralisation followed for a major crash involving championship leader Nick Tandy in the #7 Porsche GTP, who struck the inside wall at Turn 1. With the pit lane opening on lap 123, the GTD field all pitted. From P12, Mann handed the car back to Lilou Wadoux for the final hour.


Rejoining P13, Wadoux immediately cleared the Gradient Racing Mustang and began closing on a group of Ferraris driven by Fuoco, Calado, Serra, and Balzan—all running deeper in the field after unlucky strategies. She matched their pace, proving the second-fastest Ferrari behind Fuoco.

Wadoux then passed fellow factory driver Serra on lap 151 to break into the top 10, then gained another spot when Fuoco was penalised with a drive through.


Lilou Wadoux, AF Corse Ferrari 296 GT3, 2026 Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, IMSA
Photo credits: Jake Galstad

Once in clean air, Wadoux’s pace was superb: she caught Matthew Bell—who also received a penalty for contact. With 15 minutes remaining, Wadoux was up to eighth with one of her strongest IMSA stints to date. She climbed to P7, then gained another spot with 10 minutes to go when the third-placed DXDT Corvette suffered a technical failure and stopped at Turn 1.


After a brief final caution, the race went green for the last three minutes.

Wadoux fought hard, attacking Balzan for P6 while defending from Serra. She passed Balzan for sixth and, when the leading #12 Lexus ran out of energy on the final lap, Wadoux snatched fifth at the line—capping off one of the most spectacular stints of her career, recovering from the back of the GTD field to P5.


An outstanding effort from the Frenchwoman, who was the most consistent driver of the trio and led the charge back to fifth after multiple setbacks.


Next, Wadoux returns to the cockpit for the 4H of Imola in ELMS, where she currently sits second in the LMGT3 standings after winning the previous round at Paul Ricard.

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