Tatiana Calderon secures personal best finish in IMSA with P6 at Six Hours of the Glen
- RACERS
- Jun 24
- 7 min read
"It was a case of surviving, and finishing P6 is like a victory for us" - At the end of an incident-filled and mixed-weather Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, Tatiana Calderón secured her best finish to date in IMSA with a sixth place in the third endurance race of the season, where Gradient Racing also claimed its best result with Ford machinery.
At the end of an incident-filled and mixed-weather Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, Tatiana Calderón secured her best finish to date in IMSA with a sixth place in the third endurance race of the season, where Gradient Racing also claimed its best result with Ford machinery after a strong run for all three drivers, who navigated well through the hectic six-hour competition.
Tatiana Calderón returned behind the wheel of the #66 Gradient Racing Mustang, sharing the car with Joey Hand and Tim Bechtolsheimer — the trio competing in the Michelin Endurance Cup.
After a long break since her last race at Sebring in March, Tatiana was back in the cockpit of the Ford Mustang GT3 for the first six-hour race on this year’s schedule.
It marked the Colombian driver’s second trip to the circuit in upstate New York after her debut last year with Gradient in an Acura NSX GT3 Evo22. Tatiana and the Gradient team arrived at Watkins Glen off the back of a challenging Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, where she and her two co-drivers finished 13th in the GTD class after early setbacks and a general lack of pace. Since then, however, Gradient had gained further understanding of the Mustang GT3 in IMSA sprint races and aimed to capitalize after scoring a recent top-10 finish.
“It feels like such a long time since the last race at Sebring, so I’m excited to get back in the car", Tatiana commented. "I am interested to see how the car has changed because the team has had a few sprint races and they have tried some different things to improve the pace and learn more about the car. Watkins Glen is a super-fast track and we’ll have to see how the Balance of Performance is and the feeling of the car. I haven’t been in a racing car since Sebring, so practice will be super-important for me to get back into the rhythm."
The crew of the #66 Mustang ended FP1 in 18th place with a 1:47.550 lap — the field extremely close, with all 20 GTD cars covered by just 1.8 seconds. In FP2, the team set a 1:47.958, 20th fastest, with Bechtolsheimer focusing on getting back into rhythm ahead of qualifying.
Tim Bechtolsheimer in fact took the wheel for the 15-minute qualifying session, as the team opted to run their bronze driver. His first timed lap put him P14, and he improved to a 1:47.690, ending the session in P17.
One of the most popular and prestigious races on the IMSA calendar got underway on a more overcast Sunday afternoon. The green flag waved for the 55-car field across classes — including 30 GT entries — with everyone cleanly through the opening corners. Bechtolsheimer started P16 in GTD following a penalty for the #21 Ferrari, and almost immediately, rain began to fall.
It was a great start for Bechtolsheimer in tricky conditions, moving up to P14. While he lost one place to the recovering Ferrari factory driver Pier Guidi, Bechtolsheimer kept making up ground — running P15 on lap two.
He had an excellent opening ten minutes, holding P15 while chasing the Inception Racing Ferrari of Brendan Iribe. As the race began to settle despite the tricky track, Bechtolsheimer opened a safe margin over Potter’s Magnus Racing Aston Martin and remained within a few tenths of Iribe — with reports of more rain incoming.
Thirty minutes in, as the dust was settling, the #45 WTR Lamborghini of Doyle went off at Turn 1 and hit the outside wall before bouncing back onto the track — race over for the DEX Imaging Lamborghini and the first caution of the race was called.
As the field came under caution, heavy rain suddenly returned — with all teams preparing to pit for wet tyres. Bechtolsheimer pitted from 15th, stayed in the car, and after a well-executed stop by the Gradient Racing crew, emerged P11 after the round of pit stops.
The race resumed one hour in, still under heavy rain. At the Bus Stop chicane there was chaos, with a spin for the #78 Lamborghini — Bechtolsheimer skilfully avoided contact. Moments later, a major crash in the LMP2 class brought the race back under caution, after Rodrigo Sales spun and was collected head-on by Thomas’ TDS Racing Oreca — both cars heavily damaged.
Following a long clean-up for debris, the race went back to green. The rain had eased, and the track was drying quickly. Bechtolsheimer slotted into P12 before another neutralization for debris. Initially staying out, Bechtolsheimer climbed to second in GTD as most of the field pitted for slicks — then pitted the following lap as the race went back to green, with Tatiana Calderón taking over the #66 Mustang as the bronze minimum drive time was completed.
Calderón rejoined P17 in GTD and began settling into her rhythm, chasing Yoluc in the DXDT Corvette.
A Full Course Yellow followed shortly after when the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Porsche went off and hit the barriers. Calderón used the opportunity to pit under caution, moving up to P15. The team also used the stop to change the nose of the car due to earlier damage sustained by her teammate, which cost them some time — but crucially, Calderón was now back on track with the rest of the GTD pack.
The green flag waved with 3 hours and 40 minutes remaining. Calderón immediately showed competitive pace, continuing to improve her lap times, gaining ground on the cars ahead. She quickly put pressure on Rory Van Der Steur’s Aston Martin and engaged in a battle with Spencer Pumpelly’s Magnus Racing Aston Martin. Calderón gained P14 when Sargent pitted on lap 65.
The race was brought back under caution after contact between Brichacek’s Lone Star Mercedes — which moved across in an attempt to pass the Wright Motorsports Porsche — and the Proton Competition Porsche Hypercar of Nico Pino, resulting in another lengthy clean-up.
On the restart, almost halfway through the race, Calderón got away well, climbing to P11 and continuing to run strong lap times, in one of her best stints to date in IMSA.
With the #9 Pfaff Motorsport Lamborghini grinding to a halt soon after, another caution was triggered. By this point, Calderón had climbed into the top 10 in GTD. When the race resumed, Tatiana battled just outside the top 10, holding off Simon Mann’s AF Corse Ferrari in an intense duel.
Another Full Course Yellow followed when Marco Wittmann spun and hit the barriers in the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8 — and almost immediately, another caution was called for the crash of Valentin Hasse-Clot’s Van Der Steur Aston Martin. During this neutralization, Calderón pitted — having delivered a strong double stint — and handed over to Joey Hand for the final stints of the race.
After her solid run, Calderón had successfully brought the #66 Mustang back into the top 10. Hand rejoined the race in P9. With 100 minutes remaining, the green flag flew again. Hand immediately began climbing the order, passing Gamble’s Aston Martin for eighth. He soon found himself in tight battles for the top 10, as several faster cars were also recovering.
Another neutralization followed after a huge accident for championship leader Nick Tandy in the #7 Porsche GTP, who hit the inside wall hard at Turn 1.
When the pit lane opened on lap 123, the entire GTD field pitted. Hand rejoined P9.
At the restart, Hand initially struggled to keep pace and slipped to 14th but soon recovered, showing solid speed. Though unable to move past a cluster of faster cars ahead, he managed to climb back to P10 as both Fuoco and Bell were handed drive-through penalties.
Hand gained one more place with 10 minutes remaining when the third-placed DXDT Corvette suffered a technical failure and was stranded off Turn 1.
The race restarted with three minutes to go: Hand pushed hard, looking to seize every opportunity in the final laps. In an incredibly hectic sprint to the flag, he picked up several positions amid fierce battles — ultimately taking the chequered flag in sixth place in what was a remarkable result for the Gradient Racing Mustang.
“It was a difficult race that had just about everything – first rain, then a lot of heat and sun, and so many yellow flags", Tatiana said. "It was a case of surviving, and finishing P6 is like a victory for us, to be honest. At the beginning of the weekend we were struggling to find pace during practice, but we managed to turn it around in time for the race and we were much closer. We should be proud that we made no mistakes, and that the team did a great job with the strategy and the pit stops."
Tatiana Calderón secured her personal best finish in IMSA, earning her first top 10. It was a great team effort from all three drivers: despite the challenging start with ever-changing weather making strategies difficult to call, all drivers put in strong stints. Calderón’s runs during the middle portion of the race were particularly impressive, as she held her own in the top 10 before the final charge from Hand.
"Personally I was happy to get more time in the car, because every time I am driving I feel I am adapting better to the Mustang and getting quicker. We are happy with the result but equally we know there’s also a lot of work still to be done to prepare for the final two rounds at Indianapolis and Road Atlanta.”
Next up will be another six-hour race — the IMSA Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway — on 20-21 September, the penultimate endurance round of the 2025 IMSA season.
