DeltaWing finishes seventh at Watkins Glen

Watkins Glen, N.Y., Jul. 3, 2016 – Panoz DeltaWing Racing took the checkered flag after six hours in seventh today at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International. Starting on the grid in 10th the team were able to secure their fastest lap time of the weekend during the race and Legge drove a 1:37.592 on the DeltaWing’s penultimate lap, lap 185.

It was a challenging race from start to finish and the team overcame several set-backs including the transponder and rear brake caliper issues. Both happened early on and cost them the lead lap. Legge started the race and after the early transponder issue, made a quick comeback from 35th to 14th position.

Chaves took over at the one-hour 30-minutes mark and had a strong stint, maintaining 14th position until debris on the track meant that the car had to pit and have a rear caliper replaced. Unfortunately, the time cost the team eleven laps and put Chaves in 35th.

Rayhall took the wheel just before the three-hour mark and drove consistently quick laps including a previous fastest lap for the DeltaWing of 1:37.988 on lap 128. Rayhall climbed six places and handed the DeltaWing back to Legge in 29th position with just over an hour 30-minutes to go. Legge continued the climb up the leaderboard and the team finished seventh in class, 21st overall after 186 laps.

The team will work on the car for two days before heading to Ontario for next weekend’s Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

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Katherine Legge: “Proud of the team for their never give-up attitude. Because of this and through the changes in the race, we learnt more about the car. I’m disappointed we weren’t faster, but there are many positives to be taken to the next race. I look forward to racing again next weekend.”

Tim Keene: “It’s unfortunate that we had some of the issues that we did, beginning with the driver ID transponder that we had to fix under green. Later we had a right rear brake line get cut in half by a piece of debris and Gabby did a great job to save the car and get it back to the pits so we could correct the problem. Unfortunately, with the result of the brake line being cut, most of the brake fluid had gotten pumped out of the car by the time the car made it to the pit. Not only did we have to change the right rear caliper we also had to bleed the entire brake system. We returned to the track 11 laps down and I’m very proud and happy of the job the drivers did as without any issues the rest of the race, we finished 11 laps down which means we never lost a lap to the leader on track. Very proud of the crew for doing such a good job of keeping their heads down and getting the job done. Now we’re looking forward to racing in Mosport.”

Sean Rayhall: “I’m extremely pleased with the progress we’ve made on the car this week. I think the whole team did a great job and we consistently improved achieving the fastest lap of the weekend during the race. I’m excited to get on the road to Mosport and see what we’ve got there. I want to thank the team for all their hard work and Dr Panoz.”

Gabby Chaves: “I had a fantastic weekend back with the team. It was very nice to see the progress the car has made over the last year and a half. To have my part in this weekend’s continued development was great. I’d like to thank everyone in the team for all their hard work and effort. I look forward to seeing what the team can do in the upcoming races and would love to be back with the team again soon.”

Panoz DeltaWing Racing