Bolingbrook, Ill, (June 25, 2019) – WeatherTech Racing drivers Cooper MacNeil (Hinsdale, Ill.), Toni Vilander (Kankaanpää, Finland), and Jeff Westphal (San Mateo, Calif.) are ready to return to IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship action at this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, June 28-30.
Coming off of a third-place finish at the Le Mans 24 Hours, MacNeil and Vilander are ready to take on the remainder of the IMSA WeatherTech season. The season to date has been tough on the team with two DNF’s at Detroit and Daytona. The finishes are not indicative of the team’s overall performance with the goal this weekend to get on the podium at Watkins Glen International. The duo is joined by Westphal for the six-hour event.
“The 3.4-mile and 11-turns should suit our WeatherTech Racing Ferrari,” MacNeil said. “The Ferrari is a great handling car and together with the Scuderia Corsa guys we should be able to dial it right into the track. Toni and I are coming off of a lot of laps at Le Mans and third place run. We need to convert that performance to the rest of the IMSA schedule. Right now, it looks like we may get some rain, so we will have to be ready for anything.”
“I have raced there many times in many different championships including Grand-Am, World Challenge and IMSA,” Vilander said. “I haven’t had super results as always something has happened in the race. I do enjoy the track a lot. It has high-speed corners that requires a good flow throughout the lap. Set-up work needs to be perfect. High-speed corners and a high grip track, so you need a reactive race car that allows the driver to attack the corners without having too many issues. Depending on track temp, we will need to have a race car that doesn’t kill the tires too quickly over a stint. This track should be really good for our WeatherTech Ferrari 488 GT3.”
“My racing history at the Glen goes back to 2009 with Grand Am GT,” Westphal said. “Racing the WeatherTech Ferrari around The Glen is a neat opportunity because the modern GT3 cars make so much aero downforce. We will need a race car that is extremely well balanced on the brake pedal, or in pitch. Most of the corners are fourth gear or higher, so we need a car that can accept a late braking application at high speed while maintaining an efficient balance through the entry of the corner.”
The IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen race will be televised on NBCSN and IMSA.com starting at 9:30 a.m. ET, Sunday, June 30. Fans can also listen to live race coverage on IMSA Radio on IMSA.com and RadioLeMans.com.
For more information on WeatherTech Racing, including race recaps, photos and team gear, please visit the team site at www.WeatherTechRacing.com.
WeatherTech®- WeatherTech, headquartered in Bolingbrook, Illinois, has long been recognized by the discerning automotive enthusiast as a supplier of accessories of unparalleled quality. Best known for its WeatherTech FloorLiners™ and commitment to all-American manufacturing, the company supplies products to many automobile manufacturers as an original equipment supplier. More information can be viewed at www.weathertech.com.
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