(Elkhart Lake, Wis.) Aug. 6, 2023 — Following a third-place finish at Road America, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team now retake the lead of the championship with two races remaining in the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. After qualifying in fourth for the IMSA SportsCar Weekend, Filipe Albuquerque had control of the blue and black machine as the field came to the green flag for the two-hour, 40-minute race; however, the clock officially began under caution after fellow a GTP competitor went off track. Albuquerque drove a solid stint inside the cockpit to stay within the top five of the field before coming into pit lane to swap driver positions with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti) co-driver Ricky Taylor.
Taylor took the reins of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 into the second half of the sprint event and began chipping away at the gap to the GTP competitors ahead. Just under the one-hour to go mark, Taylor made a pass around the No. 01 Cadillac, placing the WTRAndretti team into podium position. The remainder of the race ran caution-free, with WTRAndretti officially securing their podium spot and the lead of the points standings by 14 points.
“I think we should be really happy with today,” said Ricky Taylor. “We’re continuing our momentum. We’ve got Acura back in the lead of the championship and it’s really nice to be in the championship lead. We had an issue with the car today about halfway through the race, so happy that we could survive with such good points and still maintain such good pace, I kind of let the 60 go up and fight for the lead. It’s really good to have this momentum back after the first half of the year was so difficult. I feel like we are back in our rhythm. Now, we can go to Indy with the lead and have that first pit stall on pit lane and start to control things for the last two races of the year.”
“A solid result for us,” said Filipe Albuquerque. “I struggled a little bit in the beginning with cold tires, but then the car was really alive and that was demonstrated as I had the fastest lap of the race and Ricky was very quick as well. Unfortunately, those initial laps were a bit tricky for us. Again, it was about managing the championship as well and all the contenders were behind us, so it was a solid day for us. We are now the championship leaders, so it’s exactly where we want to be and it’s hard to not think about it going into the closing races of the championship.”
“A podium is always good,” said Wayne Taylor. “Even though it was only third, you always want to win. We’ve had such an up and down year and really the focus over the last two races is on the championship – and if we can win, we can win, but the championship is far more valuable than winning one race. Unfortunately, Ricky had a mechanical problem on his last stint, but he was purple laps all the time, but the gap was just too big. I’m really happy with today.”
WTRAndretti now heads to the penultimate race on the 2023 schedule, and the final sprint race, at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on September 17th. The TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks marks the return of sportscar racing to the Indianapolis Motor Speedway and the first “home race” for WTRAndretti since 2014.
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Konica Minolta Business Solutions U.S.A., Inc. is reshaping and revolutionizing the workplace to achieve true connectivity through the Intelligent Connected Workplace. 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 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 fifteen consecutive years, and is proud to be ranked on the Forbes 2021 America’s Best-in-State employers list. The company 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. The company recognizes 150 years in global business in 2023. 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-06 effort and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport is supported by an outstanding lineup of partners including Harrison Contracting Company, Acura Motorsports, Honda Performance Development and Hammer Nutrition .
