Kaku Ohta collected his first IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship podium at Watkins Glen on Sunday, finishing second in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen aboard the #93 Acura Meyer Shank Racing ARX-06 he shared with Nick Yelloly and Renger van der Zande.
The #93 started fourth with van der Zande at the wheel. The Dutchman moved into third on the opening lap and ran there through the first stint before a well-timed caution pit stop elevated him to second. He held position until handing off to Ohta, the current Super Formula championship leader, who ran a double stint that included setting the fastest race lap among the three drivers at 1:35.327. Ohta was in the car at the halfway mark when the team collected second-place Michelin Endurance Cup points.
The decisive sequence came just over 90 minutes from the finish. Meyer Shank Racing called Ohta to the pits moments before another caution, switching to Yelloly. When the field went green, Yelloly cycled into the lead and held it for 16 laps before falling to second on strategy during the final pit stop. The trio came home in second position, moving the #93 to second in the teams’ championship and Yelloly and van der Zande to third in the drivers’ standings.
Nine cautions marked the six-hour race. Nearly one-fifth of the field dropped out due to incidents, including the #60 Acura. Tom Blomqvist ran second in the opening stint before handing over to Colin Braun under caution. During that caution, a GT check-up ahead caused another prototype to hit the #60 from behind, ending the car’s race after 21 laps. Blomqvist and Braun had been defending their 2025 victory at Watkins Glen.
Yelloly framed the result as maximizing what the car had. “Finishing P2 is what we could do and what we needed to do,” he said. “We executed very well in the pits all day. The boys and girls at Acura Meyer Shank Racing were fantastic and HRC provided us with the best car in the business.”
Van der Zande acknowledged the winning car was stronger. “Obviously, we would have loved to win in Watkins Glen, but the 31 was strong and congrats to them,” he said. “We had a good car and we got lucky with that pit stop and then the yellow.”
For Ohta, the podium closed a pursuit that started when he joined the team at Daytona in 2025. “Finally got my first podium in IMSA,” he said. “It took quite a long time. I’m so happy with the result, but it’s also a bit a shame that we couldn’t win the race. We had a chance, but the leader was just rapid.”
Braun, who was driving the #60 when it was hit, pointed to the spotter for preventing a harder impact. “I came out after a splash of fuel during the class split and came up the hill. At the top of the hill, all of the cars were basically stopped,” he said. “Our spotter, Steve Welk, did a good job and told me they were checking up. So, I slowed way down and just got hit from behind by the Aston.”
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP class returns for the SportsCar Endurance Grand Prix at Road America on August 2.
Source: Acura. Images courtesy of Acura.
