Three hours down, three hours to go as Bruno Senna leads the field at the halfway point of the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen. Patrick Pilet has taken the control away from the Fords as his Porsche leads GTLM.
Senna remains out in his United Autosport LMP2, hoping to stretch his lead over Juan Pablo Montoya as he will still have to pit soon after the halfway point. Romain Dumas, having spun earlier in his turn having made contact with GTD leaders, pushed his way back onto the lead lap on pace and sits P3 at half.
A Canadian led the way on Canada Day for a time, as Misha Goikhberg inherited the lead from Montoya’s pit stop. He would pit just before the halfway point, handing the JDC-Miller Motorsports LMP2 over to Chris Miller.
The #7 Team Penske Acura, one of the more dominant entries of the race, was forced to pit with engine concerns. Castroneves brought the DPi down pit road to have the engine cover removed. Returning to the track, he exceeded pit speed limits and was served with a pass-through penalty.
As the clock struck 3:00:00, Patrick Pilet reclaimed the lead on pit cycle to turn the tide of the GTLM class in favour of Porsche. As the Ford pace dropped throughout the past hour, the Porsches jumped at the opportunity to run through to the front of the field. This marks the first time this weekend that Ford Chip Ganassi Racing has not dominated their class at the Glen.
Some contact was made between Earl Bamber and Ryan Briscoe on track, with both cars recovering and the Porsche going ahead as the team hopes to set themselves up for the second half of the race.
The battle on track in GTD has also been for the championship lead. Bryan Sellers and Katherine Legge were neck and neck for some time, with Legge eventually finding her way around Mario Farnbacher for the lead. As of the halfway point, Legge and Farnbacher pit and allowed Sellers to run through to the lead.
