Acura Motorsports and Honda Performance Development will expand their presence in 2024 with partner team Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport by adding a second Acura ARX-06 GTP entry to its IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP stable.
The move, which was expected after Michael Andretti expressed the desire to field a second car in a January interview with RACER, bolsters the GTP field which is expected to have more factory and customer entries on next year’s grid with the arrival of Lamborghini and additional sales of Porsche’s 963.
For the WTR/AA outfit, the strengthened relationship with Acura and HPD will lead to a workforce expansion to run a second 2.4-liter twin-turbo V6-powered prototype and the need to hire more drivers to helm the entry that will run alongside its No. 10 ARX-06 piloted by Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque. Numerous drivers are known to have inquired about the opportunity which should lead to a stampede of interest for the brand and team.
The relationship between Acura and WTR got off to a perfect start in 2021 when the team delivered the manufacturer’s first overall win at the Rolex 24 At Daytona and went on to win two more races on the way to a runner-up finish in the DPi Drivers’ and Teams’ standings.
WTR was the most dominant DPi team of 2022, earning four wins on the way to placing second in the championship behind fellow Acura factory team Meyer Shank Racing. Joined by Andretti Autosport in 2023, the new union finished second at the Rolex 24 and currently holds third in the GTP championship.