They clinched victory at The Glen, finishing 11 seconds clear of the #93 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Renger van der Zande, Nick Yelloly and Kakunoshin Ohta.
CLICK HERE for Six Hours of The Glen results
CLICK HERE for Six Hours of The Glen results by class
It was a clean sweep for the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R – topping practice, taking pole position and winning the race.
Bamber, Vesti and Aitken dominated the contest, leading 143 of the 182 laps.
The race featured nine full course cautions, including one that involved the race-winning Cadillac.
Secure your spot today.
Bamber made contact with the #21 AF Corse Ferrari 296 through the uphill esses, which sent Simon Mann into the barrier and out of the race. Bamber escaped a penalty.
“It was super tight. We had some really ferocious battles all throughout the race,” said Bamber.
“It looked easy, but the whole time it wasn’t. There were a few cars that really showed up there for a while, the BMW, the Acura was on our toes all day, and the #5 there at the end.
“So, there was some really great hard racing, but what set that up all day was Jack’s pole position.
“We got track position and then the guys in the pit lane, this whole bunch here is the reason why we keep staying out front.
“It was amazing to win here at Watkins Glen and I managed to get another endurance cup win and extend that streak to, what is it, nine now? I don’t know.
“It’s just amazing momentum, a great organisation to be part of, and let’s roll on to Road America, where it’s a new format. It’s going to be something interesting with six hours there, everyone can’t wait.”
The race finished under yellow when Corvette Racing driver Nicky Catsburg clashed with the Ford Mustang of Christopher Mies coming out of ‘the boot’.
Contact sent Mies nose-first into the barrier and destroyed the factory Ford Racing entry.
As for how the drivers from Down Under went — New Zealand’s Hunter McElrea finished ninth in LMP2 with United Autosports co-drivers Phil Fayer and Mikkel Jensen.
They lacked outright speed to be contenders while the LMP2 class win went to AO Racing’s PJ Hyett, Dane Cameron and Jonny Edgar.
In GTD, Australia’s Tom Sargent claimed second alongside Wright Motorsports teammates Callum Illot and Adam Adelson in their Porsche.
They came within 0.538s of the class-winning Manthey 1St Phorm Porsche of Richard Lietz, Ricardo Pera and Ryan Hardwick.
Scott Andrews was 10th in the Lone Star Mercedes-AMG with Lindus Hodenius and James Roe. Their race featured a clash with the RLL Racing McLaren 720S at the first turn, which got sandwiched into a spin with the Conquest Racing Ferrari 296.
Australia-based New Zealand driver Jaxon Evans had a short-lived return to IMSA. His outing with Inception Racing lasted 94 laps after teammate Ollie Millroy crashed through the esses.
It was an ugly accident for Millroy, whose Ferrari got loose over the inside kerb and went into the side of the 13 Autosport Corvette Z06.
Millroy spun before going backwards into the barrier. There was a secondary hit when the Magnus Racing Aston Martin Vantage hit the spinning Ferrari.
Discussion about this post