Brownsburg, Ind. (Sept. 27, 2022) — The stage is set for a dramatic 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship title decider, with the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05 team leading their sister Acura car by just 19 points entering the 25th Anniversary MOTUL Petit Le Mans race weekend. It’s a race-winner-take-all scenario between two Acuras and a fitting sendoff for the DPi era in IMSA.
Full-season teammates and championship leaders Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque are joined by world class endurance racer Brendon Hartley, completing the team’s driver lineup for the 10-hour day-to-night battle around the 2.54-mile, 12-turn Braselton, Georgia road course.
Winner of the inaugural race in 1998, team owner Wayne Taylor and his co-drivers, Eric van de Poele and Emmanuel Collard, will be honored as Grand Marshals for the anniversary event. Wayne Taylor will be chasing his fifth win as a driver/team owner at the storied track.
Two-time IMSA champion and past Petit winner, Ricky Taylor, is anticipating a close contest.
“We’ve had a couple of seasons now where the championship has come down to a winner-take-all final race,” said Ricky Taylor. “Our approach is to go win the race as we always plan to, that way it doesn’t matter what the others do. The team has done a wonderful job all year. Filipe, Brendon and I are extremely motivated to finish the season off with a victory.”
Chasing his first overall IMSA title, Filipe Albuquerque is ready for the task at hand.
“It’s going to be a special race for a number of reasons,” said Albuquerque. “It’s going to be the end of the DPi era—a platform that was so successful for IMSA – and it leads into new regulations with GTP. It’s going to be interesting and nostalgic for that reason. We are leading the championship by 19 points so qualifying is going to be very important. The way the points work out, if we can qualify ahead of the No. 60 car, we can actually finish behind them in the race if they are not winning. There are a lot of mathematical permutations, but the car is strong there with race pace. It’s going to be fight between the two Acuras and a hell of a race.”
Brendon Hartley, winner of Le Mans this year and winner of Petit in the past, is looking to add another Petit Le Mans win to his resume.
“I’m very excited to meet the team and be back at Petit Le Mans. Ricky, Filipe and the engineers have already been providing me with notes and info to help me get up to speed as quickly as possible. I’m very aware that I am being thrown into a championship fight and am motivated to do the best job I can for the team. I have raced at Road Atlanta a few times in the past and love the challenges the circuit brings.”
2022 Petit Le Mans Grand Marshal, three-time winner as a team owner and winner as a driver, Wayne Taylor, is focused on the championship fight while appreciating the special nature of the event.
“I’m honored to be Grand Marshal,” said Wayne Taylor. “It’s something I never would have expected. I wish Eric and Emmanuel could be here, but they sent messages and regards. It’s like Dan Gurney once said to me when we were racing the original GTP cars together—he told me to never look back, always look forward and that’s the way I’ve been. But now I can look back in a very happy way. If I put my team owner hat on, I don’t think about the fact I’ve driven the race, but if I put my racing driver helmet on, it’s like it was yesterday.
“It’s such a big event and a win-or-lose situation. It’s great to be leading the championship, but we haven’t clinched it yet. Nobody besides us and the No. 60 can win. The team are working hard, the car looks really good, and we had a productive test at Road Atlanta the other day. I’m looking forward to being on track. You never know. The nighttime at Petit Le Mans is tough with tons of traffic, but one thing I am confident about is that I have a fantastic team. Our driver lineup with Ricky, Filipe and Brendon, who just won Le Mans from pole and won in Fuji a matter of days ago, is coming in with momentum. They’re all in the simulator now and there’s no stone unturned heading into the championship decider.”
Practice for the final race of the season starts at 9:50 a.m. ET on Thursday, Sept. 29th. Green flag for the 25th Anniversary of MOTUL Petit Le Mans waves at 12:10 p.m. ET on Saturday, Oct. 1 with full 10-hour coverage streaming on Peacock, and partial television coverage on NBC from 12:00-3:00 p.m. ET. The night stints will be covered on USA Network between 7:00-10:30 p.m. ET. Follow Wayne Taylor Racing’s official social channels for updates throughout.
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.
