Brownsburg, Ind. (March 15, 2022) — The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team and co-drivers Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Will Stevens head back to Florida this week for the 70th Annual Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts. After an exciting Acura 1-2 finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, the team currently sits in second position in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi standings with 355 points, placing them a slim 23 points behind the championship leader.
The No. 10 Konica Minolta team has a strong history of success at the legendary 17-turn, 3.74-mile Sebring circuit with five podiums—four second-place finishes and a win with 250 total laps lead—in the six IMSA events held at Sebring between 2015 and 2020. The win, which occurred in 2017, came at the hands of current driver Ricky Taylor, who is keenly aware of the opportunity this year’s event presents.
“It feels like such a long time since being in Daytona,” mentioned Ricky Taylor. “But we have all been spending time talking and prepping for Sebring ever since the checkered flag in Daytona. It was a good start to the year. Sebring has been high on our list of races since winning last in 2017 and it has eluded us. Everyone is super motivated to reverse that and get to victory lane again.”
Co-driver Filipe Albuquerque, who is vying for a maiden win at Sebring, is looking to improve on the team’s second-place finish at Daytona in January. Filipe and co-endurance driver Will Stevens will be working overtime this weekend as they will also be competing on different teams in the WEC series for the 1000 Miles of Sebring event taking place on Friday, March 18th.
“I’m really looking forward to Sebring. I’ve never won at Sebring and it’s missing on my notebook of wins in my career. Last year at Sebring, we were really strong, but we had a little issue in the final stages. I think we had a car to win. Every year is different. We were testing there recently and happy with the car balance, but we need to see how it goes, especially with the extra rubber with it being a double weekend with the WEC there. It should help us on track for the balance. I look forward to every IMSA race, but Sebring is a very special one and coming from a second place at Daytona is always positive, so we’ll try to get one step higher.”
On the heels of a stellar IMSA debut in the opening round at Daytona, endurance driver Will Stevens is confident and looking to achieve his first IMSA win.
“Can’t wait to get to Sebring,” said Will Stevens. “It’s a track I know well and like to drive a lot. I have had good success before having won there in WEC in 2019 so let’s hope we can repeat that success this time. We had a good test here a few weeks ago and learned a lot. We are confident heading into the weekend that we can have a strong result.”
Wayne Taylor has won the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring twice, once as a driver in 1996 and as a team owner in 2017. Taylor was officially inducted into the Sebring International Hall of Fame in 2014 and will support the 2022 Hall of Fame inductees at various events throughout the race weekend.
“I’m very excited to go to Sebring,” said Team Owner Wayne Taylor. “It’s where I was inducted into my very first Hall of Fame. It’s a track that is so international and so well known. We won it back in 2017, but since then we haven’t won it so we need to win this year for many reasons. I feel good about it because we have the best team, drivers, crew, and partners. We’re all excited to go to this one and I think it’ll be a fun one.”
Practice for the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring Presented by Advance Auto Parts begins this Thursday, March 17, at 10:15 a.m. ET. Qualifying for Saturday’s 12-hour endurance race begins at 9:20 a.m. ET on Friday. Green flag for the main event will wave at 10:10 a.m. ET with full coverage streaming at 10:00 a.m. ET on Peacock and network coverage on USA beginning at 3:30 p.m. ET.
ABOUT KONICA MINOLTA
Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the Workplace of the Future. The company guides and supports its clients’ digital transformation through its expansive office technology portfolio, including IT Services (All Covered), intelligent information management, managed print services and industrial and commercial print solutions. Konica Minolta has been included on CRN’s MSP 500 list nine times and The World Technology Awards recently named the company a finalist in the IT Software category. Konica Minolta has been recognized as the #1 Brand for Customer Loyalty in the MFP Office Copier Market by Brand Keys for fourteen consecutive years, and received Keypoint Intelligence’s BLI 2021 A3 Line of The Year Award and BLI 2021-2023 Most Color Consistent A3 Brand Award for its bizhub i-Series. Konica Minolta, Inc. has been named to the Dow Jones Sustainability World Index for nine consecutive years and has spent four years on the Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World list. Konica Minolta partners with its clients to give shape to ideas and works to bring value to our society. For more information, please visit us online and follow Konica Minolta on Facebook, YouTube, LinkedIn and Twitter. The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 effort and Wayne Taylor Racing is supported by an outstanding lineup of partners including Harrison Contracting, Acura Motorsports, Hammer Nutrition and CIT.
