Brownsburg, Ind. (May 31, 2022) — The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 will roll off the hauler on Belle Isle in Detroit, Michigan with a lot of momentum, having won the last two IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship races. However, with the Championship lead at stake, co-drivers Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and the entire team are focused on maximizing their result at the urban island park’s unforgiving circuit—the venue’s last street race before the event moves to downtown Detroit in 2023.
Belle Isle’s 14-turn, 2.35-mile street course is home to the second 100-minute sprint on the IMSA calendar—a race in which the team scored a podium last year. The blue and black Konica Minolta crew has four wins in the Motor City throughout their history, and Ricky Taylor has driven on three of those occasions.
“It’s always an exciting weekend in Detroit and it is one of the more unpredictable race weekends on the calendar,” said Ricky Taylor. “Last year we learned some important lessons on the car setup side, so I think we are all excited to go to Detroit and execute a strong performance. The race is short but intense so, while we want to take risks to maximize points, Detroit is unforgiving. We want to come away still leading the points going into Watkins Glen.”
While Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque stood third on the podium last year, Albuquerque has yet to win in Detroit. He’s positive about the team’s prospects this weekend.
“We are coming from good momentum with two wins in a row,” said Filipe Albuquerque. “Obviously, it’s great and we knew that those tracks were suitable for our car. Detroit is a track that I really like and would like to win at. It’s one of the most challenging tracks that I’ve raced in my career. It’s long, a street course, it’s bumpy, sometimes it’s narrow and other times it’s wide with slow and fast corners. It’s a very complete track. It has a special place in my heart. I know that it will be a really hard race for the Acuras. It’s not our perfect match, but we know that going in, so we’ll go there to do our best. A podium would make us very happy and we know that it’s possible. Let’s keep eyeing that and make the best of the championship.”
Four-time winner as a team owner, Wayne Taylor is confident in his organization as they push for the overall IMSA championship title.
“I’m looking forward to Detroit, I think it’s a great event,” said team owner, Wayne Taylor. “We’re coming into the weekend with the championship points lead, so we’ll have a good pit stop position which will be good. The Detroit circuit isn’t the best for the Acura chassis, but last year we ended up on the podium and we know we have a better chance to do much better than the streets of Long Beach. We might make some crazy strategy calls to keep ourselves in the lead. It’s only a 100-minute race, so strategy is going to play an important role and track position is everything. With our stall being in the front of the pits, we’ll be able to see the other cars coming in for a pit stop. The car, team and Ricky and Filipe are good, so I’m happy.”
Practice for the Detroit Grand Prix begins this Friday, June 3rd at 8:00 a.m. ET. Qualifying is set for Saturday at 5:30 p.m. ET. Green flag for the main event will wave at 3:10 p.m. ET on Sunday, June 4th with full coverage streaming on Peacock and television coverage on the USA Network beginning at 3:00 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.
