WTRAndretti, Acura Win in Detroit
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Detroit 2024.
Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque win the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic. The win is the first of the year for the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti duo, and the second of the year for Acura in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Their WTRAndretti teammates, Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor, took their #40 Acura to victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, and finished fifth today.
In bright sunshine and summery temperatures of around 25 degrees Celsius, fans were treated to an action-packed race that was filled with fierce duels, multiple incidents, five cautions and a complete traffic jam on track. In the final 20 minutes alone, the race was neutralised twice.
Starting fourth, Albuquerque quickly moved the #10 car up to second with a bold pass up the inside on the opening lap. The team's single pit stop was for fuel and driver change only, with Taylor taking over driving duties. He then stalked race leader Mathieu Jaminet for several laps and, with less than 26 minutes remaining, did a deft move under braking for the tight Turn 3 hairpin to claim the lead of today's Chevrolet Sports Car Classic
Once in front, Taylor continued to hold off the GTP field, despite a pair of late-race caution flag restarts, to claim the victory by just over 1.1 seconds at the checkers.
Ricky Taylor (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Race winner: "We didn't know what to expect, this is such a challenging course. HRC has worked so hard with everyone at WTRAndretti, everyone has just worked so incredibly hard. It's been over a year [since the last win for the #10] and we're not used to that. Until now, I hadn't won a race since I've been married [last year]! But today, Filipe got an unbelievable start. Track position is so important here, and that start by Filipe [from fourth to second] put us in position to win the race. We used the one set of tires for the whole race, so thanks Michelin, the guys nailed the pit stop, and the driver change was flawless. I'm just so happy and so proud of the team. This is an awesome day."
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Race winner: "It's been hard for us. There were many races we could've won, but didn't. Today was a big fight from P4 [on the starting grid], but we did an amazing race. Ricky unstoppable this weekend, he had amazing pace all the time, and he just proved that with his amazing stint and overtake [for the lead]. He had to deal with so many cautions, so many restarts, and all these walls, he was perfect. We are the House of Acura, and we came here, to the House of Cadillac, and we won. I couldn't be more proud of that." Source: Acura
Another podium puts Porsche in the lead of the manufacturers’ standings
The #6 Porsche 963 was just 1.132 seconds shy of victory.
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Detroit 2024.
In the overall rankings, Porsche has now advanced to the top of the leaderboard in the manufacturers’ classification after two wins and podium finishes at all the other three races of the season so far. The Porsche Penske Motorsport works team ranks first in the team championship.
Mathieu Jaminet (Porsche 963 #6): “Everything went well, but during the safety car phases I found it really difficult keeping the front tyres up to temperature. That’s why the Acura could get past us. The competition is doing better, particularly when it comes to braking for tight turns. We can live with second place. But to be honest, I must admit that I didn’t perform at my best today. I’ll do better next time.” Source: Porsche
Hard-fought podium fo Cadillac
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA.
Sebastien Bourdais, who qualified third in the No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, pitted for fuel with 72 minutes left and gave way to Renger van der Zande, who stayed out of trouble in the chaotic closing minutes on the 1.654-mile, nine-turn temporary street circuit to cross the finish line third.
Sebastien Bourdais: “I had a pretty short stint. With a short format, you pit so early in the window to try and prevent yourself from getting caught out with yellows. We had a really, really late call and to get the cockpit ready for pitstop was almost impossible. Then, the earlier you pit the quicker you need the pitstop to be. So, it didn’t turn out the way we wanted but we salvaged a starting position at the end, which is not a bad day at all."
Renger van der Zande: "I think we should be very happy with P3. For the championship, it’s good points. I think we’re second in the championship now and closed the gap to the first ones. I would have liked a bit more speed in the car. We just lacked top speed to really attack him. It was four or five car lengths in the back straight. We were strong on the brakes, strong on the corners, but didn’t have the top speed to attack. So, third was maximum possible and I think it’s so exciting here and so exciting to be racing in front of General Motors. There was new street track learning; how to get fast here. It was good fun. I’m really enjoyed that." Source: Cadillac
#7 Porsche 963 fourth
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Detroit 2024.
Felipe Nasr had also led the race for several laps at the wheel of the No. 7 sister car only to have a puncture relegate the crew to fourth place.
Daytona winners Nasr and Cameron have further extended their lead in the drivers’ championship.
Felipe Nasr (Porsche 963 #7): “Fourth is pretty good. This race offered everything a motor racing fan could wish for. It was a huge challenge for us drivers. At times we were looking good in the race and we definitely had a shot at another podium finish – but then a rival hit me during a yellow phase, which damaged my right rear wheel. I had to come into the pits and that cost me a lot of time. Still, after that, I went full attack, managed to overtake a couple of cars and finished in fourth.” Source: Porsche
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 #40 fifth
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Detroit 2024.
WTRAndretti teammates, Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor, took their #40 Acura to victory at the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring in March, and finished fifth.
Whelen Cadillac 6th
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Detroit 2024.
Pipo Derani and Jack Aitken combined to gain four positions from qualifying to place sixth in the No. 31 Whelen. Cadillac V-Series.R. Derani, the reigning GTP champion who has recorded three pole starts, had his two quickest laps in qualifying nullified because of bringing out a red flag.
Pipo Derani: "It’s a day that was damage limitation for us. When we knew how qualifying went, we said we had to do something different to try to fight for the win. We did it but it wasn’t enough because we were then depending on a yellow to come out on top. We finished P6 and during the race I thought we were going to be last because of how the strategy worked and the yellow didn’t come our way. With a little chaotic race here and there, we finished P6, so we’ll take it. Obviously, not a fantastic weekend for us, but when you talk about a long championship when you take P6 when you most likely would have finished 10th, it’s a good day.”
Jack Aitken: "With the nature of these sprint races, if you want to be competitive and everyone today was being super aggressive. I think, generally, to come in P6 after qualifying P10 we’ll take that because it’s some decent points in the bank and we’ll move forward to the next race where hopefully we’ll have a better week.” Source: Cadillac
Disappointing race for BMW M Team RLL
After strong performances in practice, BMW M Team RLL had bad luck in qualifying on Friday. A red flag shortly before the end of the session prevented Eng and Yelloly from completing their fastest laps. Starting from sixth and eighth on the grid, it was very difficult to make up ground in the race on the tight circuit. After an early drive-through penalty, the #24 car could do no better than seventh place. In the #25 BMW M Hybrid V8, which was doing well in the race until the pit stop, De Phillippi initially slid straight into the tyre barriers while fighting for the lead and then retired a lap later after another impact into the track barrier with a broken rear suspension.
📷 © Courtesy of IMSA at Detroit 2024.
Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M Hybrid V8, 7th place): “Unfortunately, we were never able to show the true pace of our BMW M Hybrid V8. On a street circuit like this, track position is the key to success. Unfortunately, the red flag in qualifying set us back. Then there was the drive-through penalty after the start. From the back of the GTP field, we then tried an aggressive strategy that helped a bit, but ultimately, it was not enough for more than seventh place. The improvements to the car are still visible, though. I am convinced that we will soon be getting the corresponding results.” Source: BMW Group
Related Info
📷 © Courtesy of Porsche. Front row for the Penske team at Detroit
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona and Sebring 2023. Start of IMSA sprint season at Long Beach
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Sebring 2023. Louis Delétraz charges to victory at Sebring
📷 © Luc Warnotte at Daytona 2023. Porsche wins Rolex 24
