Top Ten Finish for Taylor Hagler in Wet and Wild Watkins Glen IMPC Round
Taylor Halger began her summer racing swing with a top ten finish at the Sahlen’s 120 at the Glen – the fourth round of the 2023 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge season. Hagler and teammate Michael Lewis combined in No. 1 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR to finish ninth.
The start of the Sahlen’s 120 at the Glen was delayed due to a sudden downpour of rain and lightning. After an hour, the field of 35 cars began to roll onto wet track conditions as the skies cleared and the lightning clock expired.
Hagler took the single-file start from seventh and quickly gained a position up to sixth in the opening lap. As the track slowly dried, Hagler continued to push the No. 1 Hyundai through bumper to bumper traffic and set her fastest lap of the race on lap eight.
Just two laps later on lap 10, Hagler had gained four spots from her starting position, setting the No. 1 Hyundai third as she came to pit lane for four new Michelin tires, fuel and a driver change to Lewis. Lewis returned to the course with one hour, 12-minutes on the race clock.
With 42-minutes remaining, Lewis was on the tail of the TCR class leader in second. Suddenly, the leader began to slow allowing Lewis to take over the race lead as the stalled car prompted the fourth full course caution of the race.
Unfortunately, contact with a fellow TCR competitor after the restart caused the No. 1 Hyundai to lose position on track and resulted in a penalty. That would mark the day done for the BHA entry as the checkered flag appeared after two hours of racing.
Hagler returns to Europe to compete in the third round of GT4 European Series competition at Spa-Francorchamps before heading back to North America with IMSA at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park
Taylor Hagler, Driver of the No. 1 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR: “Today didn’t end as we had hoped, but that’s racing. We had everything thrown at us this weekend from a brake issue in practice to the torrential downpour before the race. As the rain cleared, I wasn’t too worried about track conditions because the racing line was going to be the first thing to dry up. I felt very confident in my stint – the No. 1 Bryan Herta Autosport Hyundai Elantra N TCR felt stable and fast. Unfortunately, we weren’t able to keep that momentum and get the win today. There isn’t much time to dwell on a bad weekend as my focus shifts to being back in GT4 European Series next week.”