Gradient Racing Charge to Top-Five Finish at Watkins Glen

Gradient Racing scored a second top-five finish of the IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship season with a determined race-long charge at the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen on Sunday.

Katherine Legge’s battles with the #1 Paul Miller Racing BMW of Brian Sellers.

Sheena Monk, Marc Miller and Katherine Legge produced one of the performances of the race to climb from 16th on the GTD grid to finish fifth in class aboard the #66 JG Wentworth Acura NSX GT3 22.

It was the best result for the team from Austin, TX since the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona and moved full-season racers Monk and Legge up to sixth spot in the championship – just two points from a top-five spot - with the IMSA season approaching its halfway point.

Such a result looked like a distant dream after a fuel-system issue caused the #66 Acura to lose almost the entire opening practice session on Friday and over-boosting issues led to several of Monk’s qualifying laps being removed, limited her to an eighth-row starting spot.

But the Newtown, PA, native, defied her lack of experience of GT3 machinery at the iconic Watkins Glen International to turn in the best stint of her season to climb to seventh spot by the end of her two-hour stint.

Sheena Monk’s opening two hour stint laid the foundations for a superb result.

Miller, part of the winning Gradient line-up at last year’s Petit Le Mans, was back in action with the team for the first time since the 12 Hours of Sebring in March and was one of the fastest drivers on the circuit during the latter halves of his fuel stints.

The Holland, MI, racer took 15 seconds out of the GTD leaders during his time in the car in the middle phase of the race and enabled Legge – a Watkins Glen winner in the NSX GT3 in 2017 – to take over in sixth.

British racer Legge, who resides in Atlanta, GA, wasted no time in setting a searing pace and overtook several cars, but found her progress thwarted by rising track temperatures and was forced wide while being lapped by a prototype and slipped to fifth in the final minutes.

The next race takes place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Canada, on July 7-9 and marks the halfway point of the IMSA season.

Katherine Legge could not have asked more from her her co-drivers and crew.

Katherine Legge said: “Everybody did an impeccable job both on the track and in the pits today; the team were just flawless and every pitstop was absolutely spot-on. Unfortunately, when things got a bit hot, I didn’t have enough to fight with, but we brought the JG Wentworth Acura home fifth, which is a lot more than we’ve done recently and a lot more than plenty of other people, so it’s something to not only be proud of today, but something to really build on for the coming races.”

Marc Miller’s middle stint helped keep the #66 in the Top 10.

Marc Miller, said: “I can’t say enough about this Gradient Racing crew. Every stop was impeccable and we jumped people in the pits all day. Sheena did a great job in the first stint and I had the time of my life out there - even though it was really hot – and was pretty comfortable passing cars for position. Then Kat brought it home and did a great job. We lost a spot at the end in prototype traffic, but there were some big incidents and we avoided all of them to take some really good points away from Watkins Glen.”

Team Manager, Andris Laivins, could not have asked for more from his drivers and crew.

Andris Laivins, Team Manager, said: “I think fifth was a fair result. Everyone did a great job today. I can't fault the drivers and the crew nailed every pitstop. We may have a had a shot at the podium with a bit of luck, but fifth is an acceptable position and I'd like to think we can carry some momentum across the border when we go to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park in a couple of weeks.