Tag: Wayne Talyor Racing

Acura assumes Petit lead as night falls around Road Atlanta

The first rule of Petit Le Mans is make to the night, and all but six cars have done so. Of the cars still going, 17 are on their respective lead laps – a lower number than might be expected, however the entire third quarter was caution-free, the …

The first rule of Petit Le Mans is make to the night, and all but six cars have done so. Of the cars still going, 17 are on their respective lead laps – a lower number than might be expected, however the entire third quarter was caution-free, the last green flag coming with 5h32m left in the race.

The No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 came on strong in the late afternoon, and Filipe Albuquerque set the car’s best lap of the day as the last vestiges of twilight faded from the sky. Albuquerque led at the three-quarter mark.

The No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport 963 is the closest pursuer, usually within 10s, despite having to serve a drive-through penalty for Nick Tandy making contact with the No. 47 Cetilar Ferrari 296. Mathieu Jaminet was wheeling the No. 6 with two-and-a-half hours to go.

The sister PPM Porsche with Matt Campbell at the wheel had a long pit stop to replace a fuel flow meter, and then fell off the lead lap immediately after another stop when he slid off Turn 3 on fresh, cold tires.

Both the No. 01 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R and the No. 40 WTRAndretti Acura made it onto the lead lap, but a puncture for the No. 40 dropped it back a lap again, leaving the No. 01 the third and last car on the lead lap.

The No. 7 Porsche is currently on a different pit stop sequence, going 14-15m longer than the rest of the contenders, which could certainly become a factor at the end.

Hunter McElrea had the No. 11 TDS Racing ORECA in the lead of LMP2, which portends well for the team as it looks to take the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup. McElrea was followed by Nicklas Nielsen in the No. 88 AF Corse entry and the No. 74 Riley Motorsports ORECA driven by Josh Burdon.

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The No. 52 Inter Europol by PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports team of Nick Boulle, Tom Dillmann and Jakub Smiechowski is fourth, enough to claim the championship.

After an early brake problem, the No. 3 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Z06 GT3.R was leading GTD PRO, but was due for a pit stop being off sequence from most of the field. Jordan Pepper was wheeling the No. 19 Iron Lynx Lamborghini Huracan GT3 Evo2 in second, and that car is looking like a strong contender for the win. Daniel Serra was third in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari 296 GT3.

In the GTD PRO championship picture, AO Racing is still in position to take the title unless Ross Gunn can haul himself up from the fourth place he was running with 2.5h to go and into second.

Winward Racing is in the middle of the GTD pack, but that will be more than enough to clinch the title. Defending PLM winners Forte Racing led the class with Loris Spinelli at the wheel of the No. 78 Lamborghini. Mikael Grenier, who was not feeling well earlier but came back refreshed after a visit to medical, was in pursuit in the No. 32 Korthoff Preston Motorsports Mercedes AMG, followed by Parker Thompson in the No. 12 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3.

The only retirement during the third quarter was the No. 22 United Autosports ORECA LMP2 car, leaving the team packing up early after a miserable day.

HOUR 7 STANDINGS

WTR on staying in the mix: ‘We feel so lucky to be still in the fight’

Daytona seemed a sure indicator that Wayne Taylor Racing was going to have another strong season, just as Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque have taken the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to the wire the last two years, albeit falling short …

Daytona seemed a sure indicator that Wayne Taylor Racing was going to have another strong season, just as Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque have taken the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship to the wire the last two years, albeit falling short each time. While they missed standing on the top step of the podium at Daytona with the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 in Victory Lane, they showed pace as the new era of GTP began, and after penalties were applied to Rolex 24 winners Meyer Shank Racing, had the points lead.

Fighting for victory in the latter stages of the 12 Hours of Sebring. Pole and dominance at Long Beach until a pit stop miscue. In both those races, while lunging for the lead, there were disasters and DNFs. Last year WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca produced WTR’s first win of the season. This year they were fourth. Then came a mechanical DNF at the Glen. Finally, Sunday, another second-place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsports park that, had the yellows fallen a bit differently, could very well have been a victory.

Still, Albuquerque and Taylor, in three years together at WTR, haven’t been winless this far into a season. Yet Sunday’s result, with some bad luck by other contenders, have them third in the championship, only 29 points out of first, occupied by Action Express Racing’s Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims. The No. 31 Cadillac Racing V-Series.R fielded by AXR, despite showing good pace, fell afoul of some unfortunate yellows that didn’t jibe with their pit stop strategy, plus Sims had to make an extra trip through the pits when they tried to beat a full-course caution and entered a closed pit lane.

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“We feel so lucky to be still in the fight,” Taylor declared. “The No. 31, they had bad luck today — as much luck as we had to beat that yellow that we weren’t even trying to beat. And for it to be a short yellow on top of that… And for them to enter the closed pit by, like, nothing… That was a lot of luck in our favor, and a lot of bad luck against them. That’s racing, and it comes and goes. Just like the traffic comes and goes, that luck comes and goes and hopefully that’s a sign that our season is headed in the right direction. We don’t expect to get these kinds of days every weekend, so we’re going to need to execute and keep doing these sorts of clean performances the rest of the year and make sure we put in put ourselves in a situation to be lucky more often.”

The fact that WTR has three DNFs, no wins, and is still in the thick of the title fight shows the part that luck plays in motorsports, and perhaps never more than this season in which everyone is dealing with new equipment. Until CTMP, no team has scored a repeat victory, and even then, Meyer Shank Racing doesn’t have the points to reflect two wins.

“We were talking…the other day that we rarely do DNF,” said Albuquerque. “But it happens. And I think this season has been demonstrating exactly that it is ups and downs for everyone. Like Watkins Glen … right after, I think the championship was done for us, because the gap to the Porsche was too much. Then they got penalized and, oh, there’s some hope. And then the No. 31 — they were doing a really good job, but then it just tricked them.

“It’s impressive how it swings back to one side from the other, so I think (it’s) just a good lesson as well — whoever is behind, it’s still possible to go for the front. So we just need to be staying away from problems. I think the team did an amazing job. Don’t get me wrong; I don’t want to jinx this this thing. But I think we covered our strategy in a way that we pitted the first moment that it was possible to (go to) the end. And then, yes, we were lucky that the yellow came on. But we were already there.”

There are three races left for the GTP competitors – Road America, Indianapolis and Petit Le Mans – and it’s still anyone’s fight. The spread between first and fourth in the championship is only 63 points, less than the difference between first and fourth in a single race. And that top four encompasses four different teams and four different manufacturers — a scenario that seemed most unlikely as the season began; almost as unlikely as Albuquerque and Taylor being in the battle with the season they’ve had so far.

Acura to double IMSA GTP program with WTR and Andretti

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. …

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.