Sheena Monk's brilliant opening stint goes unrewarded after technical issue at 6 Hours of the Glen
- RACERS
- 2 hours ago
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Sheena Monk enjoyed a highly competitive opening stint at the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen aboard the #16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3, but a technical failure later in the race denied the team the opportunity to convert their pace into a stronger finish.
Sheena Monk enjoyed a highly competitive opening stint at the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen aboard the #16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3, but a technical failure later in the race denied the team the opportunity to convert their pace into a stronger finish.
Joined teammates Felipe Fraga and Jenson Altzman, Monk had one of her best stints in IMSA, charging from the back of the GTD field into contention for the Bronze-category lead during an impressive first stint. Technical issues later left the team 14th in GTD, however Monk still secured valuable Bob Akin Award points with a fifth-place finish among the Bronze entries.
The 44th edition of the Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen, one of the most prestigious races on the IMSA Endurance Cup calendar, marked another important opportunity for Sheena Monk to continue the positive momentum built over the previous round of the season.
Following a difficult start to the year despite consistently encouraging pace, Monk had gradually turned her fortunes around with a near top-ten finish at Sebring, a seventh-place result at Long Beach, and another highly encouraging performance at Laguna Seca, where she once again showcased her trademark consistency by leading the Bronze entries during the opening stages before securing her second consecutive GTD top-ten finish and a second straight runner-up result among the Bronze competitors.
Looking to capitalize on that momentum, Monk returned to the #16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 alongside Felipe Fraga, with Jenson Altzman joining the lineup for the six-hour endurance classic at Watkins Glen International.
The weekend began on a positive note. Throughout practice, Monk continued to run as one of the quickest Bronze-rated competitors in the GTD field. The trio finished P12 in the opening practice session and second among the Bronze entries, with Fraga recording a best lap of 1:46.9.
The encouraging pace continued in FP2: again the Myers Riley Mustang remained just outside the overall top ten in GTD, with Fraga once more matching his previous lap times.
Monk herself produced some very promising times, with a 1:48.017 ranking her among the fastest Bronze-rated drivers, confirming that the American was once again well positioned to fight for another strong result.
The fifteen-minute GTD qualifying session on Saturday afternoon was initially delayed after the preceding support race damaged the kerbs at the Bus Stop chicane, requiring extensive repairs before the IMSA session could begin. Once qualifying eventually got underway, only a handful of representative laps had been completed when Russell Ward's Winward Mercedes went off at Turn 5, bringing out the red flag.
With the session clock continuing to run during the stoppage, there was insufficient guaranteed green-flag time remaining for qualifying to resume. As a result, IMSA was forced to abandon the session entirely and the GTD grid was therefore determined by championship points - placing the #16 Myers Riley Ford tenth in GTD and third among the Bronze entries for Sunday's six-hour race.
Sheena Monk was entrusted with the opening stint for Myers Riley Motorsports.
An unfortunate spin during the formation lap forced the #16 Ford Mustang GT3 to start from the back of the GTD field; the setback, however, barely slowed Monk. As the green flag waved, the opening corners remained clean despite the packed multi-class field and immediately Monk began carving her way through the GTD pack.
Within the opening lap she had already climbed to 17th and sixth among the Bronze entries after passing several competitors in rapid succession. Monk then attacked the #81 DragonSpeed Corvette of Henrik Hedman and completed another clean overtake to move into 16th overall in GTD and fifth among the Bronze drivers.
Running consistently in the 1:49.5 range, she immediately began closing several seconds on the group of cars directly ahead. Over the next laps Monk successively overtook Eric Lux, James Roe and John Potter in the Magnus Racing Aston Martin, climbing to fourth among the Bronze competitors while continuing her strong opening stint.
When contact between two LMP2 cars scattered debris across the circuit on lap 8, the first Full Course Yellow of the afternoon was deployed. By that stage, Monk had already cleared Orey Fidani as well, moving into P13 in GTD and third among the Bronze entries.
Racing resumed with 5 hours and 38 minutes remaining. Monk immediately turned her attention toward Till Bechtolsheimer's Gradient Racing Ford Mustang, who was himself engaged in battle with Salih Yoluc's Corvette. Continuing to lap consistently in the 1:49s, Monk first established a comfortable gap over the cars behind before closing decisively on Bechtolsheimer. After applying sustained pressure for several laps, she completed another confident overtake on the #66 Mustang to climb into 11th place in GTD and second among the Bronze entries.
It was arguably one of the strongest opening stints of her IMSA career. Just as Monk settled into an excellent rhythm, another Full Course Yellow interrupted proceedings on lap 16 after the #40 Cadillac GTP struck an advertising board while navigating traffic at Turn 6, scattering debris onto the racing surface.
When the pits opened, most of the GTD field elected to stop under caution. Monk brought the #16 Ford to pit lane on lap 19 for service. Following the pit sequence, the Myers Riley Mustang temporarily dropped behind several competitors due to some differing pit strategies, with Monk rejoining 13th in GTD and fourth among the Bronze runners.
As the Safety Car procedures neared completion, however, the race was neutralized once more following a major accident behind the Safety Car. The #23 Aston Martin Hypercar, the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura GTP and the #81 DragonSpeed Corvette became involved in a heavy accident through the Esses while attempting to catch the queue after being released in traffic from the pitlane.
Monk safely threaded her way through the incident without damage, retaining P13.
The race finally resumed with 4 hours and 53 minutes remaining. Almost immediately, Monk resumed her progress and climbed back into 12th place while once again chasing Bechtolsheimer, although heavy traffic now complicated the stint as she also had to contend with Alex Udell's recovering #21 Ferrari, which had previously served a drive-through penalty.
Despite the congestion, Monk produced a new personal best of 1:48.4 while maintaining 12th position overall and third among the Bronze competitors.
Another interruption followed on lap 32 after John Field's #37 Intersport Racing LMP2 crashed, bringing out another Full Course Yellow.
As racing resumed once more, Monk had completed the Bronze driving time and remained on track while several rivals elected to pit. The strategy temporarily elevated her to 11th in GTD and second among the Bronze entries before she finally brought the #16 Ford Mustang GT3 to pit lane at the conclusion of lap 40.
It had been one of the most convincing stints of Sheena Monk's WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career to date; recovering from the rear of the GTD field, Monk had climbed back through a series of clean overtakes, consistently competitive pace and mature racecraft, positioning Myers Riley Motorsports inside the Bronze battle before handing the car over to Jenson Altzman.
Altzman climbed aboard the #16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 for the middle portion of the six-hour contest, rejoining down in 18th position in GTD as the strategy cycles continued to shuffle the order, with several Gold- and Silver-rated drivers extending their stints while the Bronze drivers had completed their mandatory driving time.
Altzman immediately began recovering ground.
As Machavern encountered problems and was forced into the pits, along with the #80 Mercedes, Altzman advanced to sixteenth position in GTD and sixth among the Bronze entries as the race approached the two-hour mark.
On lap 55, another caution interrupted the race when Loek Hartog's Manthey Porsche crashed heavily at Turn 6 with significant side damage, bringing out another Full Course Yellow.
A number of teams had managed to pit immediately before the neutralization, but when the pit lane reopened, Altzman brought the #16 Mustang in on lap 59 for another scheduled stop.
Once the pit cycle had fully completed, the Myers Riley Motorsports crew had climbed to 15th in GTD and fifth among the Bronze runners. Green flag racing resumed with 3 hours and 42 minutes remaining.
Altzman settled into a consistent rhythm in the 1:49s before yet another Full Course Yellow was triggered after the #5 JDC Miller Porsche prototype lost a wheel.
Despite the repeated interruptions, Altzman continued to make progress through the GTD order.
He overtook Mason Filippi and Dillon Machavern, climbed into 16th place, and then gained another position when Onofrio Triarsi made a pit stop.
A great lap of 1:48.301 established a new fastest race lap for the Myers Riley Mustang as Altzman continued to extract good pace from the car.
At the halfway point of the race, with 3 hours remaining, Altzman was running P14 in GTD and sixth among the Bronze competitors. As the next sequence of pit stops approached, Altzman was once again cycling forward through the order when another caution was triggered following an incident involving the #11 TDS Racing LMP2 machine.
Crucially, Myers Riley Motorsports managed to bring the Mustang into pit lane just before the pits closed under yellow, allowing Felipe Fraga to climb aboard for the final half of the race.
Before green-flag racing could properly resume, however, further chaos unfolded. The #59 McLaren spun at Turn 1 before a major accident erupted through the Esses, where the Inception Racing Ferrari of Millroy was tagged into the barriers and collected by both the Magnus Racing Aston Martin and the Winward Mercedes, eliminating all three cars with heavy damage.
The lengthy caution further complicated the race. Fraga was simultaneously battling a technical issue emerging on the #16 Mustang and was forced to return to pit lane multiple times while the race remained under caution.
Nearly 20 minutes later, green-flag racing finally resumed. Fraga immediately demonstrated strong pace - with his very first green-flag lap being a 1:48.175, another new fastest lap for the team, before he quickly began carving his way back through the GTD field.
Passing Heylen and then Walker, Fraga re-entered the overall top ten in GTD before lowering the benchmark once more with a 1:47.328 lap.
Unfortunately, the technical problem lingered. The Myers Riley crew found themselves repeatedly forced into the pit lane as the issue persisted: Fraga pitted again on lap 105, returned once more on lap 108, and then with approximately two hours remaining the team was forced to bring the Mustang behind the wall for more extensive repairs.
After spending 19 minutes in the garage, the #16 Ford eventually returned to the track, but by then the team had lost ten laps to the GTD leaders and eight laps to the nearest competitor.
Although any hopes of another top-ten finish had disappeared, the decision to continue running allowed the team to maximise valuable championship and Bob Akin Award points while gathering further data.
Fraga immediately returned to competitive pace, lowering the team's benchmark once again with a 1:47.7. Only four green-flag laps later, another Full Course Yellow interrupted the race after the #21 AF Corse Ferrari was struck by the race-leading #31 Cadillac GTP, producing yet another lengthy neutralization.
During the caution Fraga was again required to visit pit lane three separate times before the restart.
Once racing resumed, Fraga immediately returned to the 1:47.6 pace. Running 14th in GTD and fifth among the Bronze entries, the Brazilian focused on bringing the car home while preserving valuable Bob Akin Award points for Monk's championship challenge.
As the race entered its final hour, the GTD leaders completed their final pit stops while Fraga extended his own stint; despite the setbacks, his closing stint remained highly competitive and consistent.
Fraga eventually made the team's final stop of the afternoon on lap 157 before remaining behind the wheel for the final five minutes.
After an eventful and caution-filled six-hour contest, Felipe Fraga, Sheena Monk and Jenson Altzman guided the #16 Myers Riley Motorsports Ford Mustang GT3 to the chequered flag in 14th position in GTD and 5th among the Bronze entries.
The final result hardly reflected the pace the team had shown throughout the weekend. Monk had produced one of the finest opening stints, charging from the back of the GTD field into contention for second among the Bronze runners through a series of decisive overtakes; Altzman maintained that competitiveness through the middle stages of the race before Fraga looked poised to recover further positions with some of the fastest laps the Mustang had produced all afternoon.
Ultimately, the technical issues denied the trio the opportunity to convert their pace into another top-ten finish. Nevertheless, the result still proved valuable for the Bob Akin Award standings.
Monk collected in fact another 260 points reserved for Bronze-rated drivers, bringing her season total to 1,430 points and keeping her third in the championship as the battle for the prestigious Le Mans invitation continued.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship now heads north for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on July 11-12, where Monk will look to continue the strong form she has displayed over the last events.