Pfaff Motorsports powers to podium at Watkins Glen
June 25, 2024
Watkins Glen, NY, June 24, 2024 – At times, it was a race between yellow flags, but a mix of strategy and performance saw Pfaff Motorsports move the driveway.com McLaren 720S GT3 EVO up seven positions on Sunday, starting from ninth to finish second at the 6 Hours at Watkins Glen.
The Canadian squad made the annual trip to upstate New York on a weekend that promised a mix of weather conditions, though the practice and qualifying sessions saw dry and high temperature conditions dominate as the team searched for pace.
Qualifying ninth ahead of Sunday’s six-hour race, the team looked to its strategy and engineering team, and drivers Marvin Kirchhöffer (GER) and recent Le Mans 24-Hour winner Oliver Jarvis (UK) to formulate a different approach to the third endurance round of the season – which promised variable wet and dry conditions.
It wasn’t long before the action got wild, with the first of six yellow flags happening just three laps into the race. The Pfaff McLaren jumped one position to P8, and with another yellow flag on lap 16, moved up again into P7. Lap 34 saw the team move past the pitting Corvette into P6, and on lap 57 of 139, the team had moved into third position, just five laps before the third yellow of the race.
After 10 laps of yellow-flag running, a flurry of card shuffling, and a fourth yellow just eight laps later, the team executed a different fuel and tire strategy that would prove crucial in the latter stages of the race: opting for slicks with 90 minutes remaining and in P10 at the time.
A flash downpour saw multiple cars run off track, which brought the race to a red-flag stop for 42 minutes. But the Pfaff team’s decision to run dry tires saw them vault through the field when action resumed with 16 minutes to go – and a late fuel stop by the Corvette team saw the driveway.com McLaren 720S GT3 EVO cross the finish line in second. The result was as good as a win after the adversity the team had battled throughout the weekend.
Steve Bortolotti (general manager): “The weekend was very solid from our standpoint. We didn’t test [at Watkins Glen] as originally planned, so to get the result we did was incredible. The team was ready for the quick and ever-changing weather conditions, and our strategy was bang-on, so I couldn’t be more proud of everyone and our finishing result. We’re looking forward to carrying this back to our home race in a few weeks.”
Marvin Kirchhöffer (driver): “What a race. We did not expect that – everyone on the team was super happy about it. It was all-well played from a strategy point – we gambled a bit because we didn’t have the outright pace, but smart calls from the whole team and clean executed pit stops put us in a good position to capture second. After everything this weekend, it feels like a win and has us very motivated for the next one.”
Oliver Jarvis (driver): “It was a fantastic result for the team. Coming into the race, we knew it was going to be difficult, not having the outright pace of our competitors, but as usual the team did an outstanding job: perfect strategy and a little bit of luck got us to the podium, getting some good points. For us, the turning point was the downpour – we were on a slightly different strategy than everyone in front, and when the heavens opened, at one point it looked like it was going to hurt us, but as the track dried, our slicks on the restart were key, allowing us to move up a number of positions. It was a small reward for all the hard work the team put in. Now we look forward to our home race and hopefully fight for a win there.”
The second place at Watkins Glen sees Pfaff Motorsports move up two positions to P5 in the GTD PRO championship standings. The team hopes to continue that momentum when it returns home for the next round at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park, taking place from July 12 to 14, 2024.
For event information stay tuned to Pfaff Motorsports web and social media pages, and IMSA.com.
For further news, announcements and behind-the-scenes content regarding Pfaff Motorsports and the 2024 IMSA Weathertech season, follow @PfaffMotorsports on Facebook, Instagram, TikTok and YouTube, and @PfaffMotorsport on X (twitter).
About Pfaff Motorsports
Pfaff Motorsports has established itself as one of the most successful sportscar racing programs in North America over the past decade. A professional team in the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA), it has established long-term partnerships with premium brands such as Lithia & Driveway, Motul, and the Automotive Owned Brands of Canadian Tire Corporation, and is one of the top-performing teams in the sport.
Pfaff Motorsports’ competition résumé includes historic victories and championships across multiple series. Since joining the top-tier IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in 2019, the team has won the prestigious 24 Hours of Daytona and twice at the 12 Hours of Sebring, in addition to being crowned the 2022 WeatherTech Championship GTD Pro class and 2021 GTD class champions. It has also won the 2018 GT World Challenge America championship and is a three-time Porsche GT3 Cup Challenge Canada champion. For more information, please visit www.pfaffmotorsports.com.
Contact: Jordan Lenssen // info@pfaffmotorsports.com