Watkins Glen Preview

CAN-AM CHAMPIONSHIP - ROUND FIVE • GT CHAMPIONSHIP ROUND FIVE FIRST UNION SIX HOURS OF THE GLEN Watkins Glen International, Watkins Glen, N.Y.

Race Date: Sunday, August 23, 1998, 11:00 a.m. (EDT)

Circuit: Watkins Glen International Raceway, Watkins Glen, N.Y. • 3.4-mile, 11-turn road course.

Race Length: Six hours.

Circuit Records*:

Qualifying: 124.171 mph, 1:38.573, Andrea Montermini, Ferrari 333 SP, 1997 Race Lap: 121.285 mph, 1:40.919, Max Papis, Ferarri 333 SP, 1996 Winner’s Speed: 100.750 mph, Papis/Moretti, Ferrari 333 SP, 1996

*- Note: Watkins Glen International Recognizes First Union 6 Hours of the Glen Races Sanctioned by the International Motorsports Association and Professional Sports Car Racing as Official Event Records.

Also of Note:

The USRRC wraps up the rebirth season of the Can-Am Championship, and will crown Champions in the Can-Am as well as all three GT Championship classes. The First Union Six Hours of the Glen is a traditional August sports car endurance race being administered for the first time by the USRRC under an SCCA Pro Racing sanction. With 32 cars entered, this weekend’s event marks the biggest single-race turnout since the 1998 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Winners of three-straight USRRC races, Dyson Racing will attempt to defend its First Union Six Hour title while striving toward a top-four sweep in the Can-Am Drivers’ Championship with the No. 16 and No. 20 Goodyear/Safety Glow/300 Below Zero Ford Riley & Scotts. Teams primed to knock the Dyson team out of victory circle this weekend include: the No. 30 MOKART/Yokohama Ferrari 333 SP, the No. 8 Support Net Ford Riley & Scott, Nos. 28 and 29 American Fidelity/Wheel Works/Banana Joes Riley & Scotts, Nos. 36 and 39 MCI/Carolina Turkeys Riley & Scotts, Nos. 4 and 5 Visteon/Elan Natural Waters Panoz GTRs and the No. 38 Champion/Michelin/STP Porsche 911 GT1.

The Prototype Technology Group goes for its record 13th-straight GT3 class endurance win this weekend with the No. 1 and No. 10 Yokohama/Fina BMW M3s.