- Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque win the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, Acura's second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win of 2024
- #10 Acura ARX-06 duo takes command, then leads final third of 100-minute contest
- Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor bring their #40 WTRAndretti Acura home fourth
With a deft move under braking for the tight Turn 3 hairpin, Ricky Taylor claimed the lead of today's Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, then went on to claim victory with starting co-driver Filipe Albuquerque today on the streets of Detroit, Michigan.
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, moved to the inside and successfully out-braked his rival.
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.
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. 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 fourth today.
The third driver in the winning #40 Acura at Sebring, Colton Herta, qualified on the pole for Sunday's Indy car contest, completing a sweep of today's activities in Detroit for Honda Racing Corporation USA [HRC US].
Detroit Grand Prix Acura Race Results
- Finished 1st - #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06
- Finished 5th - #40 Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor; WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06
Quotes
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."
Lee Niffenegger (IMSA program manager, HRC US) on today's win in Detroit: "This is a fantastic result by Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti and HRC. The weekend demonstrated a constant progression in performance from everyone involved throughout the event. In the race, we enjoyed perfect execution right from the green flag to the checkered. Congratulations to everyone at HRC and WTRAndretti on a job well done."
Fast Facts
- This is Acura's fifth win in Detroit, and the first in IMSA's inaugural run on the downtown streets. The series previously race at Belle Isle Park, where Acura Motorsports recorded four victories, including the 2019 event, won by Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya aboard their Acura ARX-05 prototype; consecutive GTD triumphs for the Acura NSX GT3 in 2017-18; and another overall win for the Acura ARX-01b prototype in 2008.
- The production-based GTD class does not race at Detroit. The Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Tatiana Calderon, Stevan McAleer and Sheena Monk will return to IMSA competition at the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, June 21-23 at Watkins Glen International Raceway in upstate New York.
Next
The 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next travels to upstate New York for the third endurance round on the schedule, the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, June 23 at the historic Waktins Glen International Raceway.
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