Ally Cadillac drivers Jimmie Johnson (El Cajon, Calif.), Kamui Kobayashi (Japan) and Mike Rockenfeller (Germany) finished sixth in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International.
Heading into Saturday’s 15-minute qualifying session, the No. 48 Ally Cadillac had some mechanical issues the crew had to deal with. Unfortunately, the issues did not get completely resolved before Kobayashi took the track for qualifying. The result saw the No. 48 start today’s six-hour race from the fourth row in the DPi class.
Kobayashi got a great start in the opening laps. He moved the car from seventh to fifth in the first four laps. From there, he was able to gain one more spot to fourth before handing the car over to Johnson on lap 23.
In his return to the No. 48 Cadillac, Johnson put in a double stint. They were his laps in race conditions since Daytona earlier this season. He had to miss the Sebring race due to a schedule conflict. On lap 67, Johnson turned the car over to Rockenfeller.
Rocky’s quadruple stint to finish the race included a red flag for lightning in the area, which lasted a little more than an hour. The race finally went green with 21 minutes remaining. Unfortunately, the No. 48 was one lap down in sixth place, which is where it finished when the checkered flag flew.
“It’s great to be back in the Ally Cadillac,” Johnson said. “I was just trying to be smart; we’ve had a hard time getting to the finish. With the car count being so high, just taking my time, being easy out there.”
“We struggled throughout the weekend,” Kobayashi said. “We had a lot of trouble. Actually, I think we’re lucky to manage to finish the race. I think we got good points. But sure, we need to improve performance.”
“We really struggled with our car,” Rockenfeller said. “It was difficult. I think all three of us didn’t like it. So, there was not much to do. We were a lap down. We were even unlucky, at the end with the red flag, to not get that lap back. It wouldn’t have made any difference really. It was a bad day today.”
The next run for the Ally Cadillac team will be the season finale Petit Le Mans in October.
Source. Kyle Chura Associates/Photo. Brian Cleary
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