– David Porter and Richard Bradley Score Run Group A Win in Rare 1975 No. 205 Toj SC205
– Dave Handy and Peter McLaughlin Co-Drive 1982 No. 05 March 822 Can-Am to Run Group B Triumph
– Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss Secure Second-Consecutive “HSR Classics” Victory in the Matador Motorsports 2017 No. 02 Cadillac DPi at The Glen
WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 12, 2024) – A fast and familiar group of Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) competitors broke through for overall Run Group victories this weekend in the Second Annual HSR Classic 6 Hours of The Glen, June 6 – 9. The HSR Classic 6 Hours is a retro-tribute race to The Glen’s longstanding and premier sports car race, which has been run as the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen for more than the last 20 years. Each of the Classic 6 Hour’s three era-specific Run Groups took to the track three times over the course of this past Saturday and Sunday to determine this year’s winners.
The Classic 6 began with a symbolic six-straight hours of racing Saturday afternoon into early evening as each Run Group contested its first two segments. All returned for one final round Sunday, after which the overall Classic 6 Run Group winners were presented with all-new and custom-made Wall Clocks from B.R.M. Chronographes. Displaying the same dial design as B.R.M.’s unique time pieces, the big clocks were a big hit with the three winners that each took one home.
The Classic 6 Hour began 2024’s three-race run of blockbuster “HSR Classics” races that also includes events later this year at Daytona International Speedway (DIS) and Sebring International Raceway.
Run Group A was a battle from the start between a pair of former and recent HSR Classics winners that went down to the wire in Sunday’s final round.
In his HSR Classics debut, Kyle Collins secured a convincing Run Group victory last December in the HSR Classic Sebring 12 Hour at Sebring International Raceway. The 24-year-old talent was looking for his second-straight HSR Classics victory this past weekend, but an expected group of challengers stepped up to take on Collins and his GMT Racing 1972 No. 18 Chevron B21.
The battle came down to Collins and the Chevron and the equally quick 1975 No. 205 Toj SC205 of multiple HSR Classics Daytona and Sebring race winner David Porter and his co-driver Richard Bradley. The Toj won Saturday’s opening race, but Collins responded with a victory in round two and went into the overnight break leading Porter and Bradley. Sunday’s final round was a thriller as Bradley, a winning co-driver in the LMP2 class in the 2015 24 Hours of Le Mans, won the segment and built a bit of a gap on Collins to secure the overall Run Group victory. Porter is now one of the few drivers victorious in each of the HSR Classics at Daytona, Sebring and The Glen.
Another December HSR Sebring winner looking for consecutive HSR Classics triumphs was the Matador Motorsports 2017 No. 02 Cadillac DPi of Pierce Marshall and Eric Foss. Competing in Run Group C at both Sebring and The Glen, the No. 02 took the opening segment win Saturday with a 36-second margin of victory before giving way to the similar 2017 No. 81 Cadillac DPi co-driven by longtime HSR competitor Juan Gonzalez and three-time Rolex 24 At Daytona race winner Butch Leitzinger.
The No. 81 won both Run Group C final rounds, but a typically calculated and strategic race by the Matador team delivered a second consecutive HSR Classics win, and their first at The Glen, for Marshall and Foss. Building enough of a lead-gap in the first Run Group C round, Marshall and Foss maintained first place overall through the final two segments. Similar to Sebring, the No. 02 team and drivers were content to trail just behind the No. 81 to the end, taking the weekend’s final checkered flag six seconds back but sealing the Run Group C crown with a comfortable overall margin of victory.
The Classic 6 Run Group B race was won by the unique Sasco Sports 1982 No. 05 March 822 Can-Am piloted by team owner Dave Handy and co-driver Peter McLaughlin. The 822 was originally designed as an open-wheel Formula 2 category single-seater and was driven to championships in Europe and Japan in 1982.
At the same time in the U.S, the second-generation Can-Am series welcomed single-seaters, like the March, fitted with bodies, and the 822 was a popular choice in the 2-liter category. Among the top competitors running the March 822 in its prime was then reigning 2-liter class champion Jim Trueman, who campaigned one of the Can-Am bodied cars similar to the Sasco Sports No. 05 in 1982.
Handy and McLaughlin added to the March 822’s winning history at the Classic 6 with a solid run to victory in Run Group B. The No. 05 built a more than one-minute lead after Saturday’s opening round and never looked back from there, ultimately sealing the Run Group B crown with a race-high two-lap lead over the nearest competitor. The win was the first for Handy in Sasco Sports in HSR Classics competition.
The Classic 6 weekend also featured the HSR Watkins Glen Historics, which were points-paying races for HSR’s various season-long championships. In addition to a doubleheader lineup of HSR WeatherTech Sprints for all Run Groups, the Glen Historics feature race calendar included the HSR Global GT race Saturday morning and the Sasco Sports International/American Challenge sprint that kicked off the weekend’s racing schedule Friday afternoon.
The longest races on the Glen Historics schedule got things rolling both Saturday and Sunday. Round 3 of the HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA began Saturday’s schedule with a 90-minute race.
Twin B.R.M. Endurance Challenge one-hour races in turn kicked off Sunday’s final day of on-track competition starting at 8 a.m. for the GT Classic (GTC) and Vintage classes, which was immediately followed by the Historic, Prototype and GT Modern (GTM) race.
Among the HSR Watkins Glen Historics winners was Todd Treffert, who secured the overall victory in his Speedconcepts 1974 No. 14 Porsche 911 IROC prepared by the 901 Shop in Friday’s Sasco Sports International/American Challenge. Eric Lux made another visit to HSR Victory Lane in Saturday’s Global GT race after a win in his Goldcrest Motorsports 2011 Mercedes-Benz SLS AMG GT3. David Agretelis won overall and in GTC in the first B.R.M. Endurance Challenge race in the 1974 No. 92 Porsche IROC. Marshall and Foss then showed a sign of things to come in the Matador No. 2 Cadillac with an overall and Prototype class victory in the second B.R.M. Endurance race, which set the stage for the final rounds of the HSR Classic 6 later on Sunday.
A full press release race report on Saturday’s HSR Prototype Challenge presented by IMSA race follows later this week.
Next up for HSR is the IMSA Michelin GT Challenge Support Race, August 23 – 25, which will be HSR’s first appearance at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) since 2016. Featuring HSR Group 8 Historic Stock Cars, the milestone race is HSR’s first support event on an IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship weekend since the leading road racing sanctioning body acquired HSR in early 2022.
About HSR: Now an IMSA property, Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR) was formed in the mid-1970s with an event at Road Atlanta. There was one goal then and it remains true today: to celebrate the race cars from the past. As a “time machine” of sights and sounds, HSR provides a venue for competitors and spectators alike to share in the wonderful history and excitement created by the cars that competed at race tracks around the world. HSR currently sanctions eight vintage and historic racing events at some of the world’s most renowned race tracks, including Road Atlanta, Sebring International Raceway, Daytona International Speedway and more. The complete schedule and full event information can be found on HSR’s website at www.HSRRace.com. Look for the HSR Channel on YouTube and follow HSR on Facebook at www.Facebook.com/HSRrace/
