(Elkhart Lake, Wis.) Aug. 3, 2023 — As the halfway point of the season was reached with the Road America doubleheader, the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti) Lamborghini Super Trofeo stable saw an incredibly successful weekend, collecting seven trophies across both races featuring two overall wins, two class wins and three additional podiums.
Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal continued their perfect record in the 2023 LST season to date with a sweep of the doubleheader weekend at Road America. In Saturday’s Race 1, caution flags plagued a majority of the race and a timely pit stop in the pit window ahead of a caution slotted the No. 1 team into the lead ahead of WTRAndretti teammate Ryan Norman. In a teammate battle in the final minutes of the race, Formal ended up holding the position to take the win. Sunday’s Race 2 saw a similar but different story where Formal pitted after teammate Norman and Marcelli exited the pit lane ahead of the No. 84 driver. As back-to-back cautions led to a finish under caution in Sunday’s race, Marcelli piloted the No. 1 straight to victory lane.
Ryan Norman showed impressive speed across his LST debut at Road America, capturing pole position for both races of the doubleheader. Starting on pole in Race 1 on Saturday, Norman looked poised to capture his first LST victory before battling against his teammate Danny Formal in the final five minutes of the race after a late restart saw the Ohio-native finish second on the overall podium. On pole position again for Race 2, Norman appeared to have control of the field before teammates in the No. 1 car ultimately held position out of the pits ahead of the No. 84. Norman was charging forward to regain the lead, Norman unfortunately made contact and was forced into the Turn 12 runoff, ending a promising day early for Norman.
Nate Stacy and Nick Persing entered their second weekend as a co-driver pairing and the experience as teammates quickly paid off. Through multiple and lengthy caution periods in Race 1 mixed with a penalty to the driver pairing who finished ahead of the No. 8 drivers, Stacy and Persing captured their first PRO|AM LST victory of the season. Sunday’s Race 2 saw Persing start from class pole position, and it looked likely for a second win of the weekend before two consecutive cautions didn’t allow enough time for Stacy to pilot the No. 8 up from second to first, but the pair ultimately captured a second podium of the weekend.
Success reigned prevalent for rookie Graham Doyle as the 17-year-old captured his first LB Cup victory in Saturday’s Race 1. Saturday’s victory also marked Doyle’s first victory across his motorsports career. Race 2 showed Doyle’s learning expertise across his rookie season. Despite driving off course in the opening laps of the race, Doyle was able to stay clean and work his way back up to the podium to finish in third place.
The WTRAndretti stable will be back in action for the fourth weekend of Lamborghini Super Trofeo action at VIRginia International Raceway on August 25-27th.
Kyle Marcelli, No. 1 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“Big thank you to Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport and my teammate Danny. I think I did like six hot laps combined between both races, so it is what it is. It’s Road America and it’s a repave that’s thrown everybody for a loop. I feel bad for Ryan, our teammate, in the 84 car. He had shown so much speed all weekend. We leaped him the pits and I saw him behind me and I was just kind of managing the gap then we came up on some traffic. I was up the inside one of the slower cars and then I see him, either drop a wheel or on the inside of me – I’m not sure, I just feel bad that it got away from him and it ended like that. A great day for the team, for the No. 1 car and Harrison Contracting.”
Danny Formal, No. 1 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“The car has been incredible all year long. This Lamborghini’s just been incredible in race pace. Seriously, it’s just been phenomenal. Six wins in six races, that’s just fantastic! I’m just super thankful to the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport team and now we go get ready for VIR.”
Ryan Norman, No. 84 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“I’m really disappointed with the result today. We were right on the tail of the 1 car, even with that three second longer pit stop since I’m a single driver. I was pushing really hard, we ran up on traffic and one of the cars I was expecting to let us go by, but he kind of darted into block and so Marcelli and I got checked up and I hit the brakes really hard, and I was offline too, so I had a big bobble and it was either completely take out my teammate or put it into the wall. Sorry to the team, that’s probably one of the biggest mistakes I’ve made in a long time so I’m looking for VIR to turnaround. Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport gave me such a great car. We put on pole for both races, a new track record and I think we maybe would have won yesterday if it wasn’t for so many yellows.”
Nate Stacy, No. 8 WTRAndretti (PRO|AM)
“A huge shoutout to Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport. Thank you for all the support this weekend, the team gave us outstanding race cars all weekend and an awesome crew to get everything done for this event. It was a really good weekend. I didn’t really feel like I drove much in the first race, it was probably like three laps green then came in on the fourth lap. Overall, it was a productive weekend. Nick brought it home for the win in the first race then led the entire second race and we came out of the pits a little behind, but we needed another lap or two to get the leader, but it is what it is and next time we will be better. I’m excited for the next one.”
Nick Persing, No. 8 WTRAndretti (PRO|AM)
“A solid weekend. First ever Lamborghini Super Trofeo win yesterday and a podium today. It was just an amazing drive by Nate and I. Nate just did an amazing job wheeling the car in the first stint yesterday and I took over then we got very lucky with some yellows and we were able to make up a couple of positions because of that. Today, I did my job until my in-lap, I went off a little bit – overcooked the corner – and it put us behind the P1 car so Nate had to got out in second then it went yellow and really never got a chance to get by them.”
Graham Doyle, No. 10 DEX Imaging with WTRAndretti (LB Cup)
“Road America was incredible. I had luck on my side this weekend for sure. Yesterday was amazing, my first win ever in motorsports, so that was incredible and something I won’t forget. Today was also great. I learned to climb back up. I was in last place at the beginning of the race after an incident in the final turn, but in the end, we finished P3 and we’re back on the podium. It feels great!”
ABOUT WTRANDRETTI’S DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM.
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wayne Taylor Racing, now with Andretti Autosport (#WTRAndretti), is a leader in sportscar racing, recognized worldwide for fielding championship winning racing efforts since 2007. WTRAndretti has run a stable of championship winning cars and drivers in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series for over half a decade, forming the basis of their Driver Development Program. Since its inception in 2015, the team has clinched eight North American PRO Driver, Team and Dealer Championship titles, fielded the first woman World Finals race winner and became the overall 2017 Champions at the World Finals in Imola, Italy. WTRAndretti’s Driver Development program has grown into interim classes and series as it evolves to encompass a greater variety of skill and experience levels. WTRAndretti currently fields a GTP program with it Championship winning No 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 effort as well as GT3 programs in both the IMSA Michelin Endurance Championship and Fanatec GT World Challenge with Harrison Contracting Company, Acura, Honda Performance Development (HPD) and Racers Edge Motorsports.
For more information on Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport’s Driver Development Program and how to get involved, contact Travis Houge at info@waynetaylorracing.com.
