IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP: SAHLEN'S SIX HOURS OF THE GLEN

June 28, 2026

Jack Aitken

Earl Bamber

Kaylen Frederick

Laurin Heinrich

Tijmen Van Der Helm

Frederik Vesti

Press Conference

THE MODERATOR: Laurin, looked like really frantic racing there for a lot of especially the last probably two hours or so. Take us through that and what it was like out there to do the battle today.

LAURIN HEINRICH: Yeah, frantic to say the least, I would say. It was a roller coaster, the race, I would say, on a roller coaster track. Had a good start. Yesterday was the first time qualifying, so that means a very first time starting in GTP in a prototype in general.

So that was a new experience for me, which was great to do. I knew it was a long race, so just trying to get settled, came in in third. Then we hit some trouble, we were a lap down, had to take emergency service to refit a tire. And looked like it's going to be difficult, but what I really liked was today the team didn't give up, didn't give up.

I was obviously a bit disappointed, also looking at the championship because I knew it's going to be difficult. But we recovered the lap. I have to say it's just the racing god who was on our side today because the caution came at the right time. But the team was always aware of what's happening, and we knew that this caution would give us the lap back, so it was great.

From there, we never gave up, we kept our heads cool. And we knew we're back in the lead lap, we are last, but we have a good car underneath us on the long run, which takes good care of the tires. And I think it was a key today to make some good moves at the end of the race.

I have to give credit also to my fellow competitors. There was some very good racing out there today. I think that's exactly what IMSA stands for and what the fans want to see. It was hard but fair. Very exciting, I hope. I'm looking forward to re-watch it tonight.

And I have to say a big thank you Porsche and to JDC and my teammates because it was a really good day, and we made a good turnaround.

THE MODERATOR: Tijmen, as I mentioned, your second podium of the year. Just talk about what this season has been like for you as part of JDC really since the start of the Porsche 963 cut as a customer program.

TIJMEN VAN DER HELM: Yeah, I think this year it's changed quite a bit. I think this year it changed quite a bit after we decided also to stick with the version 1 of the 963, and we got on our own B, which helps quite a bit to be for us more competitive.

I think with the team we made great steps this year to be more competitive on each race weekend. We worked quite hard to come here and roll good out of the box, and I think my teammates and myself did the rest. I think it was a bit of a messy race but good and fair.

Yeah, I think we should be happy with a second podium this year.

THE MODERATOR: Kaylen, as I mentioned, your first podium here in IMSA. What does it mean?

KAYLEN FREDERICK: It definitely means a lot, not having much experience here in endurance racing. Pretty happy to come away with a podium so early. It's my third race in endurance racing in general. Happy to learn. Happy to get a good result. Definitely happy with what we've been able to achieve this weekend.

I think the team did a great job. The car was really quick. Like Laurin mentioned, it was all about damage limitation this weekend really, or in the race at least.

Yeah, I'm super happy that we came back from that lap down. And like Laurin said, we never gave up. We just kept pushing. And now it just shows how strong this outfit is, and now I'm excited moving forward going to Road America.

THE MODERATOR: We'll slide over to our GTP winners here in the No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R, Jack Aitken, Earl Bamber and Frederik Vesti.

Jack, why don't you start us off. Obviously started the race from pole position. A lot happening. You guys were strong for almost all the race, but take us through the battle that kind of ensued there towards the end and what you had to do to bring it home.

JACK AITKEN: Yeah, so I got back in the car -- my memory is always bad straight after the race. But the yellow sequence, the way it worked out, we had a couple of cars in front of us with a bit of an advantage, stopping just before the yellow came out. And we knew we had a bit of a fuel advantage. So it was just trying to stay close to them and keep saving fuel, see if we could get by if there were any opportunities.

I think the next pit stop sequence the team played it pretty much perfectly, so we got out with a decent gap, and we were able to just manage it from there and kind of just make sure we're taking care of the car and managing the traffic, which is always a bit -- a lot of fun here but quite scary at times.

Yeah, the car was fantastic today. Another great performance from the Whelen Cadillac guys and my teammates who were at the front the whole race in some form or another.

It's a real pleasure, as I said before. And it feels a bit surreal to keep the streak going, but it's a testament to what's been done and the talent of the people involved.

THE MODERATOR: Earl, especially about basically the whole second to last hour, at least in here it was pretty exciting with a lot of wheel-to-wheel battling and all that stuff. What was it like from your seat?

EARL BAMBER: Yeah, we just had a really good car, so it made it a lot easier, what we were doing in the clear air. Made a big difference. Obviously you saw a lot of competitors get close to people, but they never really managed to overtake. So for us the clean air was making a big difference.

Then we had the 25 BMW, I believe it was, end up nearly going a lap down or coming out in front of us with a penalty, and then they were using both to their advantage, just trying to block us back into the 24. So that got a little bit spicy there for a while.

Yeah, and then we were going through the S's, and then there was the incident and the 24 got by us. But our guys in the pit lane were really good all day long, always managing jump positions and stuff like that. And like Jack said, the fuel advantage.

It's just a testament at the moment with all the hard work Cadillac is doing. We had such a good showing at Le Mans. We had such good showings over here as well in IMSA. There's a whole massive team of people track side but also people back at the factory, so it's really nice to see.

THE MODERATOR: Fred, this is your first race in a little bit here. Just tell us about what it's like to jump back in with this team.

FREDERIK VESTI: Yeah, I'm so happy to actually make it to Watkins. Obviously not all teams are using three drivers, so it just means we have a little bit less time in practice. But in the race, we think we can share the drive time a bit better, keep Jack in this case fresh for the end, which is an advantage. It was actually a pretty hard day today, so it worked out really well. And for myself, it's just so cool to be a part of this team.

We all started the beginning of last year, had a bit of a rough start to the season, but since then, we have done some incredible things. And it's not only us, it's the team, it's everyone in Cadillac as well who are just pushing so hard for these results to come.

We are not taking it for granted. We're putting in the hours, and it's just very cool to have these kind of results.

Q. Laurin, I wanted to ask if you could just talk about one heck of a drive, especially at the end of the race, to get back up on to the podium?

LAURIN HEINRICH: Yeah, it was a lot of fun. I have to re-watch the replay to really see what everything happened because it was just so much. It was so intense. It was quite a long stint there at the end in the car.

But the team kept me in the loop with what was happening. I think we had a very great recovery. And as I said, I have to give credit to my competitors. There was some really good battling out there. I hope the fans enjoyed it as much as I did. I think IMSA has proven that it's a very entertaining series, and the competition is at the highest level this year.

Q. Jack, after a day with so many different caution periods, during that last stint, do you almost feel like, okay, it's coming, it's coming? Were you able to settle in?

JACK AITKEN: Yep, I definitely was expecting it. It was kind of then typical that it didn't come, and I was happy for that. Obviously managed to be able to build up a bit of a buffer.

Yeah, I think you just never know in IMSA racing. That's the cool thing. You can say it's going to be super predictable, then there'll be another yellow coming, but then you've got a massive green run until right at the end when you can't go green again.

It was in the back of my mind, but I was just trying to run clean laps, keep the car in a nice place, keep the tires happy and all that good stuff and just wait watching the (audio interruption).

Q. Earl, talk to me about the incident with the Ferrari in the penultimate hour of the race from your perspective. Were you surprised there wasn't an investigation or a verdict on that either way?

EARL BAMBER: I got in the tower of our car, and I followed it up when I was inside of the Ferrari. I got a little bit of air wash and then he (indiscernible) so it was just a very slight touch. I think it was a combination of the (indiscernible) where he was (indiscernible) on the dirty stuff and then turning into us. Yeah, I'm not really sure what it was actually doing.

Q. It was a race with a lot of incidents. Do you feel the driving standards are starting to slip a bit after the moment we had at Road America where we kind of brought the field and said, we need to change things?

EARL BAMBER: I think it's also just the natural speed of the differentiating classes up through there. Especially the P2 cars are making it difficult. The GTs are not that bad. The P2s end up in very similar speed to the GTs going through there, and then you have us getting a massive run. So I think naturally when you've got two wide and then we need to go with other cars behind us (indiscernible).

Q. Jack, last year you were leading this race coming down to the wire. You had to go to the pits for a fuel stop, and of course there went the victory. This year obviously you turned it around, you guys did, you're in Victory Lane now. I don't know if you would call it redemption, but do you think you got one back after last year?

JACK AITKEN: Yeah, there's definitely a little bit of that. I think last year hurt for a lot of reasons. We obviously came very close and had a quick race car on that day, as well.

You have to just chalk it up as a learning experience sometimes on a day like that. We haven't made mistakes like that in a long time, and that's part of the reason we're on the streak.

Yeah, it is lovely to do it, right, and come back and win it because you never know when you have a chance to win these big races. Yeah, it's fantastic.

Q. For Kaylen, I think tire incident for y'all happened on your stint, if I recall. What was the reason for that? What ended up causing that?

KAYLEN FREDERICK: Yeah, so I was coming up through the S's in Turn 2 and 3 onto the straight, and there was a couple of GT cars like right behind each other going up through there, and I went around the outside through the left up the hill.

I think the first one just didn't see me, and while I was blowing by, unable to not commit through that gap anymore, he just started closing that gap in terms of the wall and clipped the left rear. Thankfully didn't end up in the wall or anything. But yeah, we just got an instant puncture and then had to pit. So was unable to really avoid that.

Q. Just a general question to anyone who wants to chip in on this. Watkins Glen, this event, seems to thrive on chaos, and wondered what is it about this racetrack and the event that kind of always seems to end up in a lot of full-course yellows and a lot of damaged equipment?

JACK AITKEN: I think one of the big things is that you've got a lot of cars per mile here. Big field fitting into not the biggest track in the world, and it's narrow, it's fast. There's a lot of pinch points, like Earl was saying before, going up the hill into some very fast sequences.

As the race gets to a close, people start taking more risks. It's always going to be quite a cool race because it's sketchy and it's a bit scary, like I said before. But it's thrilling, that's for sure. That's it for me.

LAURIN HEINRICH: Yeah, I mean, as Jack said, there's a lot of cars. I think none of us are going for a shopping trip here for six hours, so everyone is pushing.

I think there's not so many low-speed corners, so because of that, there's obviously high speed differences in the middle of the corner and moves are made around the outside and all of that stuff.

I wouldn't blame the track. I think it's one of the greatest tracks we have in the U.S. And I have to say driving alone already around this track is high commitment. So if you add -- I don't know how many cars we were, 50 cars, surely there's going to be incidents. But I wouldn't say that this was something out of the ordinary. It can happen, and I think it was still a good race.