The Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen qualifying started three hours late, was run without the Bus Stop kerbs, and the GTD session was cancelled due to a crash. In the midst of all that, Jack Aitken set a 1:31.284 at Watkins Glen and claimed GTP pole with a track record. The Briton, who leads the championship in the Action Express Racing Cadillac V-Series.R number 31, beat Tom Blomqvist by 0.197 seconds, putting the Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 on the front row. Louis Delétraz qualified third in the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac number 40, six thousandths behind the Acura.

Photo By IMSA

Aitken had seen pace in several cars during practice and did not expect to end up on top. "I wasn't very confident. We saw the JDC-Miller Porsche was quick in second practice and there were others in the fight. Here it's easy to overdo it because the track asks you to push. I tried to stay calm, do a clean lap and it turned out pretty good."

The three‑hour delay was caused by the Michelin Pilot Challenge race. The GS and TCR class cars battered the first kerb at the Bus Stop lap after lap until the concrete began to break up. Officials removed the loose pieces, but the kerb broke again shortly after, scattering debris across the track, forcing the race to be neutralised and qualifying to start without those kerbs. The Bus Stop has been a talking point for years. In 2023, several NASCAR teams broke suspension and steering components against those very kerbs, and in 2024 the series and the circuit modified the profile to reduce the load transmitted to drivers' heads. Aitken did not give much weight to the change for the GTP cars. "It barely changes our line. Some GTs can cut more now, but we don't have the ride height for that."

Renger van der Zande put the second Meyer Shank Racing Acura in fourth place, 0.240 off pole, and Tijmen van der Helm put the JDC-Miller MotorSports Porsche 963 fifth, 0.420 behind. Dries Vanthoor was the best-placed BMW, sixth in the WRT number 24, ahead of Filipe Albuquerque in the Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac number 10, Laurens Vanthoor in the Penske Porsche 963 number 6, Ross Gunn in the THOR Team Aston Martin Valkyrie number 23, and Felipe Nasr in the Penske Porsche 963 number 7. The top seven in GTP were covered by 0.745 seconds.

Jeremy Clarke took LMP2 pole with a 1:35.124 in the Inter Europol Competition Oreca 07 Gibson number 43, 0.164 seconds ahead of PJ Hyett in the AO Racing number 99. The two had been separated by three thousandths in practice, and the top four in class were covered by 0.753 seconds. Jack Hawksworth set a new GTD Pro record in the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 number 14 with a 1:43.701, followed by Harry King in the AO Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R and Neil Verhagen in the Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3.

Photo By IMSA

The GTD session was cancelled with only six minutes on the clock. Russell Ward lost the Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3 number 57 while crossing the Bus Stop, and the impact brought out the red flag. Ward climbed out of the car under his own power, but there was not enough track time left to validate any times. The grid was set by championship points. The Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 number 27 will start first in class, followed by the Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 number 96 and the Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 number 12.

Photo By IMSA

Cadillac has now had seven consecutive races with a car in the top three in GTP, and Aitken leads the championship with 1,760 points. Sunday's race brings together all four WeatherTech SportsCar Championship classes for the first time since Sebring, with 54 cars on track and six hours ahead. The front row repeats the same two protagonists who decided last year's edition, when Blomqvist snatched victory from Aitken in the final two laps because the Cadillac ran out of fuel. Blomqvist said then that that victory was not decided in the final three minutes, but by the early call from the pit wall to save fuel. This time the Acura starts second and the Cadillac that is pushing in the championship starts from pole.

Sahlen's Six Hours of The Glen 2026 Qualification

Pos	Pos. class	class	#	drivers	team	car	Gap
1	1	GTP	#31	Jack Aitken Earl Bamber Frederik Vesti	Cadillac Whelen	Cadillac V-Series.R	-
2	2	GTP	#60	Tom Blomqvist Colin Braun	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	Acura ARX-06	+0.197
3	3	GTP	#40	Jordan Taylor Louis Deletraz	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac V-Series.R	+0.203
4	4	GTP	#93	Renger van der Zande Nick Yelloly Kaku Ohta	Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb Agajanian	Acura ARX-06	+0.240
5	5	GTP	#5	Tijmen van der Helm Laurin Heinrich Kaylen Frederick	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Porsche 963	+0.420
6	6	GTP	#24	Dries Vanthoor Sheldon van der Linde	BMW M Team WRT	BMW M Hybrid V8	+0.480
7	7	GTP	#10	Ricky Taylor Filipe Albuquerque	Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing	Cadillac V-Series.R	+0.745
8	8	GTP	#6	Laurens Vanthoor Kevin Estre	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche 963	+1.053
9	9	GTP	#23	Ross Gunn Roman De Angelis	ASTON MARTIN THOR Team	Aston Martin Valkyrie	+1.342
10	10	GTP	#7	Felipe Nasr Julien Andlauer	Porsche Penske Motorsport	Porsche 963	+1.493
11	11	GTP	#25	Philipp Eng Marco Wittmann	BMW M Team WRT	BMW M Hybrid V8	+1.631
12	1	LMP2	#43	Tom Dillmann Bijoy Garg Jeremy Clarke	Inter Europol Competition	ORECA LMP2 07	+3.840
13	2	LMP2	#99	PJ Hyett Dane Cameron Jonny Edgar	AO Racing	ORECA LMP2 07	+4.004
14	3	LMP2	#22	Daniel Goldburg Paul Di Resta Rasmus Lindh	United Autosports USA	ORECA LMP2 07	+4.234
15	4	LMP2	#04	George Kurtz Alex Quinn Toby Sowery	Crowdstrike Racing by APR	ORECA LMP2 07	+4.593
16	5	LMP2	#52	Misha Goikhberg Parker Thompson Harry Tincknell	Bryan Herta Autosport with PR1/Mathiasen	ORECA LMP2 07	+4.897
17	6	LMP2	#11	Tobi Lutke Mathias Beche David Heinemeier Hansson	TDS Racing	ORECA LMP2 07	+5.536
18	7	LMP2	#2	Phil Fayer Hunter McElrea Mikkel Jensen	United Autosports USA	ORECA LMP2 07	+5.567
19	8	LMP2	#73	Pietro Fittipaldi Manuel Espirito Santo Chris Cumming	Pratt Miller Motorsports	ORECA LMP2 07	+5.751
20	9	LMP2	#37	Oliver Jarvis Seth Lucas Jon Field	Intersport Racing	ORECA LMP2 07	+5.861
21	10	LMP2	#8	John Farano Tristan Vautier Sebastian Alvarez	Tower Motorsports	ORECA LMP2 07	+5.963
22	11	LMP2	#18	Naveen Rao Ferdinand Habsburg Jacob Abel	Era Motorsport	ORECA LMP2 07	+6.235
23	1	GTDPRO	#14	Jack Hawksworth Ben Barnicoat	Vasser Sullivan Racing w/Dreyer & Reinbold	Lexus RC F GT3	+12.417
24	2	GTDPRO	#77	Nick Tandy Harry King	AO Racing	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	+12.630
25	3	GTDPRO	#1	Neil Verhagen Connor De Phillippi	Paul Miller Racing	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	+12.805
26	4	GTDPRO	#65	Christopher Mies Frederic Vervisch	Ford Racing	Ford Mustang GT3	+13.041
27	5	GTDPRO	#033	James Calado Riccardo Agostini	Triarsi Competizione	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	+13.187
28	6	GTDPRO	#59	Max Esterson Nikita Johnson	RLL Team McLaren	McLaren 720S GT3 EVO	+13.216
29	7	GTDPRO	#64	Ben Barker Dennis Olsen	Ford Racing	Ford Mustang GT3	+13.302
30	8	GTDPRO	#3	Antonio Garcia Alexander Sims	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+13.376
31	9	GTDPRO	#62	Daniel Serra Davide Rigon	Risi Competizione	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	+13.482
32	10	GTDPRO	#4	Tommy Milner Nicky Catsburg	Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+13.492
33	1	GTD	#12	Aaron Telitz Benjamin Pedersen Frankie Montecalvo	Vasser Sullivan Racing w/Dreyer & Reinbold	Lexus RC F GT3	+13.622
34	11	GTDPRO	#911	Michael Christensen Klaus Bachler Loek Hartog	Manthey	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	+13.649
35	2	GTD	#27	Dudu Barrichello Tom Gamble Zacharie Robichon	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	+13.784
36	3	GTD	#21	Simon Mann Alec Udell Antonio Fuoco	Af Corse Usa	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	+14.130
37	12	GTDPRO	#9	Andrea Caldarelli Sandy Mitchell	Pfaff Motorsports	Lamborghini Temerario GT3	+14.160
38	4	GTD	#34	Albert Costa Lorenzo Patrese Fran Rueda	Conquest Racing	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	+14.444
39	5	GTD	#912	Richard Lietz Riccardo Pera Ryan Hardwick	Manthey 1St Phorm	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	+16.863
40	6	GTD	#36	Mason Filippi Salih Yoluc Charlie Eastwood	DXDT Racing	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+17.485
41	7	GTD	#70	Brendan Iribe Jaxon Evans Ollie Millroy	Inception Racing	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	+18.455
42	8	GTD	#45	Danny Formal Trent Hindman Graham Doyle	Wayne Taylor Racing	Lamborghini Huracan GT3 EVO2	+18.715
43	9	GTD	#81	Henrik Hedman Giacomo Altoè Casper Stevenson	DragonSpeed	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+18.782
44	10	GTD	#66	Jake Walker Till Bechtolsheimer Corey Lewis	Gradient Racing	Ford Mustang GT3	+18.840
45	11	GTD	#80	Scott Andrews Lin Hodenius James Roe	Lone Star Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3	+20.322
46	12	GTD	#44	John Potter Spencer Pumpelly Mario Farnbacher	Magnus Racing	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	+23.031
47	13	GTD	#13	Orey Fidani Matthew Bell Lars Kern	13 Autosport	Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R	+25.196
48	14	GTD	#16	Sheena Monk Felipe Fraga Jenson Altzman	Myers Riley Motorsports	Ford Mustang GT3	--
49	15	GTD	#023	Onofrio Triarsi Kenton Koch Robert Megennis	Triarsi Competizione	Ferrari 296 GT3 EVO	--
50	16	GTD	#28	Eric Lux Dillon Machavern Jan Heylen	Rs1	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	+13.176
51	17	GTD	#57	Russell Ward Philip Ellis Indy Dontje	WINWARD RACING	Mercedes-AMG GT3	+4.829
52	18	GTD	#068	Valentin Hasse Clot Trenton Estep Marius Fossard	Car Blanche	Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo	--
53	19	GTD	#96	Patrick Gallagher Robby Foley Francis Selldorff	Turner Motorsport	BMW M4 GT3 EVO	--
54	20	GTD	#120	Tom Sargent Callum Ilott Adam Adelson	Wright Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3 R (992)	--