A resilient drive by Mario Farnbacher at the end of a challenging weekend at Watkins Glen helped bank valuable points towards his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship campaign, and also demonstrated the ever-improving pace of Forte Racing’s Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2.
Farnbacher, who was joined aboard the #78 Lamborghini this weekend by season-long teammate Misha Goikhberg and Scott Hargrove, set one of the fastest GTD race laps during a heavily rain-affected Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen en-route to a hard-earned 15th. Though not the result the two-time GTD-class IMSA SportsCar champion was hoping for in New York State, the continued development of the Lamborghini following a successful test recently at Watkins Glen is a significant confidence boost heading into the next round of the series.
“We had a good car this weekend and lots of potential to get a good result“, said the 33-year-old. „Unfortunately we got caught up in the chaos on-track when the rain arrived, and we had to change a toe link, which cost us a couple of laps.”
Patience and conservative pace during both free practice sessions was eventually rewarded with ninth on the GTD grid. Despite atrocious conditions, the #78 Lamborghini established itself firmly in the top 5 in-class during the opening stages, and even ran as high as second at one point. Sadly, the Huracán suffered an assisted spin in the wet, and picked up further damage from debris scattered by a separate incident amongst the LMP2 frontrunners. Pitting to replace the broken toe link ultimately cost Forte Racing five laps, and dropped the team to 19th in-class after the opening hour.
“I want to give a big thank you to my crew. They worked so hard to get the car back out on-track, and they’ve been doing incredible work this season. It’s a great team and they all work towards one thing, and that’s to win the championship. That’s still our goal, even though it’s going to be an uphill battle from here“, continued Farnbacher.
Now racing in dry conditions, Farnbacher, a former class winner at Watkins Glen, managed to pull back two lost laps and recover five positions over the closing two hours of the race. The Ansbach native even set the fourth fastest race lap in GTD towards the end of his stint.
On 11 to 13 July, Mario Farnbacher returns to the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park for only his fifth event at the Canadian venue since 2014. Nevertheless, the two-time IMSA champion boasts an impressive record at the Chevrolet Grand Prix, having finished in the top 5 last year and secured a podium during his championship-winning year in 2019.
