- Alessandro Balzan, Matteo Cressoni and Christina Nielsen aiming for another podium finish with Scuderia Corsa
- Balzan and Nielsen are currently second in season and NAEC championships
After a runner-up finish at the previous IMSA Sportscar Championship race in Detroit, drivers Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen are aiming to continue their podium streak at this weekend’s Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International in Watkins Glen, New York.
Balzan and Nielsen are in the midst of a strong push for the GT-Daytona class championship with four-straight podium finishes (Sebring, Long Beach, Circuit of The Americas, Detroit) in the no. 63 Scuderia Corsa Ferrari 488 GT3. That streak has brought Balzan and Nielsen within nine points of the lead in the drivers’ championship and Ferrari within nine points of the lead in the manufacturers championship, closing in on Mercedes-AMG.
This weekend, they will return to one of the circuits where they captured victory in 2016. In the closing stages of last season’s Six Hours of the Glen, Balzan narrowly held off several GT-Daytona cars to score the team’s second victory of the season en-route to the season championship.
A repeat victory for Scuderia Corsa would have added historical significance for Ferrari in a year where the company celebrates its 70
th anniversary. Victory in 2016 for the 488 GT3 added to victories in 1972 for the 312 PB (Andretti/Ickx) and 365 GTB/4 ‘Daytona’ (Jarier/Young) and a trio of victories for the 333SP in 1994 (Moretti/Salazar), 1996 (Moretti/Papis) and 1998 (Papis/Theys).
The Six Hours of the Glen is the third of four races in the North American Endurance Cup which is comprised of the four endurance races on the IMSA schedule (Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Petit Le Mans). With the strength of their performances at Daytona and Sebring, Balzan, Nielsen and Matteo Cressoni – who joins Scuderia Corsa for the North American Endurance Cup races – are in second place in the NAEC GT-Daytona standings, three points behind Riley Motorsports.
The Six Hours of the Glen will be shown live on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, July 2 at 10:00 AM ET before switching to FOX Sports 2 at 1:00 PM ET through the conclusion of the race. Saturday’s qualifying will be streamed live at 11:30 AM ET on IMSA.com.