Return to action for Ben Barnicoat at Watkins Glen

It was a welcome return to the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship, as Ben Barnicoat turned out for the Sahlen’s 6 Hours of the Glen. Making only his second championship start of the season after injury, Ben looked like he had never been away at the wheel of the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3. After running at the front of the field, an issue following a pitstop would drop Ben and teammate Aaron Telitz out of contention, eventually finishing P9.

Aaron took on qualifying, and would see the #14 Lexus starting from P5, firmly in the mix with the GTD Pro class. The race got underway with the risk of rain, with the weather to become a major in the race within the opening minutes of the six hours.

The battling for position continued throughout the opening 30 minutes, before the first Full Course Yellow was called, with rain starting to fall. A heavy downpour was then followed by a prolonged caution period leading to a switch of tyres and drivers before going back to green. After an absence of nearly six months away from competition, Ben headed straight into the thick of the action on the restart, and was immediately up to speed to hold position.

Very tricky conditions soon claimed further victims, and a big incident shortly before the hour mark would bring out the second caution. With a drying track, the team made a strategy call to switch Ben onto slicks just before the conclusion of the caution period. As the track went back to green, Ben briefly held the race lead, and then stayed in contention with the leader over the remainder of his opening stint.

Further Full Course Yellow periods would interrupt running up until the halfway point of the race, with the fluro yellow and black Lexus running strongly in the fight for the overall GTD Pro class lead. A pitstop just after the three hour mark looked to be routine, but on the outlap, a rear wheel became loose and would ultimately drop the #14 down the order, as Aaron made a valiant effort to return to the pitlane.

After a trip behind the wall, and with the wheel replaced, the team returned to the race, now out of contention for the strong result which had looked on the cards. Despite the setback, the team continued to run with pace to challenge the leaders, eventually coming home just inside the top-10.

Commenting on his IMSA return:

“First and foremost, it’s just so good to be back, and back racing with Vasser Sullivan. I already said a million times, you don’t realise what you have until it’s gone, and you miss it. Being back out there with the guys was just an incredible feeling. Of course, the end result wasn’t what we wanted, but mistakes happen. It was very unfortunate that we had the pit stop error, but I’m sure the team will learn from this and come back stronger.

“Taking the positives – I felt like I had good pace in my return inside the Lexus RC F GT3. Aaron did a phenomenal job as well, as our engineer Geoff (Fickling), calling an incredible strategy. There were some tough calls to make, and he chose the right ones. I feel like we have everything we need to go and have a strong remainder of the season. We’re going to go out and have some fun, and look to win some races.”

Ben returns to the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship next month as the series heads to Canadian Tyre Motorsport Park, over the weekend 11-13 July.