Early Retirement: Performance Tech Motorsports Six Hours of The Glen

WATKINS GLEN, NY (July 1, 2018) – Performance Tech Motorsports was forced to retire with two hours remaining from Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen after an incident on track.

The No. 38 Centinel Spine/Restitute Health Prototype made contact with the No. 54 CORE Autosport Prototype. The contact sent the No. 38 and driver Joel Miller spinning into the wall between Turn 9 and Turn 10. Miller drove the No. 38 back to the garage where the team assessed the situation. The damage sustained was deemed extensive, and Team Principal Brent O’Neill retired his ORECA LMP2 07.

Between the high heat and on track incidents Watkins Glen International had been anything but forgiving to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship field. Ambient temperatures soared past 90 degrees Fahrenheit while track temperatures were well above 100 degrees making the cockpit temperature over 120 degrees. Drivers James French, Kyle Masson and Miller, battled the intense heat but made it look easy.

French qualified 10 in the prototype class. He took the grid eighth due to other prototype teams acquiring penalties before the start of the endurance event. Performance Tech held steady within the top 10 of its class, reaching as high as sixth place before retiring. French, Masson and Miller had strung together one of Performance Tech’s best performances of the season.

“The car was really strong all weekend,” O’Neill said. “The guys did a great job. I think Joel was trying to defend there and the situation caught him out. I’m not 100 percent sure how this will carry over to Mosport. There’s a lot of work that needs to be done on the car right now, so we’ll see how this all plays out. Proud of everyone’s effort today. The pit stops went well, and the drivers were solid, it’s just a shame this had to happen. Not the way you want a great weekend to end.”

Performance Tech Motorsports heads north to Canada for Round 6 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship July 6-8. With a quick turnaround, the team’s repair and preparation will also be swift. Race Day is Sunday, July 8, with warmup kicking things off at 9:50 a.m. ET. The two hour and 40-minute Mobil SportsCar Grand Prix begins at 2:05 p.m. For a detailed schedule visit http://imsa.com.

Performance Tech in the media:

NBC WETM Channel 18: http://mms.tveyes.com/PlaybackPortal.aspx?SavedEditID=d1d9cd63-9adf-46e7-8386-903037788c11

Star Gazette: https://www.stargazette.com/story/sports/motor/2018/06/29/robert-masson-spreads-message-spinal-health-imsa-driver/746345002/