The second race outing for ADAC Stiftung Sport driver Niklas Krütten in the IMSA WeatherTech SporsCar Championship began promisingly.
Krütten and his team-mates Edouard Cauhaupe (France) and Austin McCusker (USA) started the “Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen” from pole position. Furthermore, the 18-year-old from Trier had set the fastest time in the warm-up. After a good start and many kilometres leading the race, a crash dashed the hopes of the team. United Autosports had to bring the #2 Ligier JS P320 into the garage for repairs. After 183 laps of racing, the team ended the six-hour race in the US state of New York in fifth place in the LMP3 class.
The “Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen” started in sunshine and temperatures above 30 degrees Celsius on Sunday. 38 cars lined up across five different classes at the 5.472-kilometre circuit. Niklas Krütten was at the wheel for the warm-up and again underlined his huge potential with the fastest time. McCusker started from pole position and opened up a big lead in the first third of the race. However, an impact scuppered the team’s hopes of winning. The Ligier JS P320 had to come into the pits for repairs and lost valuable time. Krütten was the final man behind the wheel and guided the car home in fifth place.
Niklas Krütten: “All in all, we had a good weekend. As we did not have any time to test the car in advance, it was a bit of a case of jumping in at the deep end. The pace was really good and we were very quick in the second practice. We then secured pole in qualifying and I was the fastest in the warm-up. That shows how strong we were. Austin was able to open up a considerable lead in his stint. Unfortunately, the car had to come into the pits for repairs following a crash. There was quite a lot of damage. After that, it was difficult for Edouard and me to keep the car on the track. The team gave it everything. With our pace, we would definitely have been on the podium, and could even have taken victory. I am already looking forward to the next race in the USA.”
Krütten returns to race action in two weeks’ time (9th to 11th July). He and the COOL Racing team travel to round four of the European Le Mans Series in Monza as championship leaders in the LMP3 class. Krütten will line up with United Autosports again at the finale of the IMSA WeatherTech SporsCar Championship in November, when he starts at the legendary Motul Petit Le Mans in Road Atlanta.