(Alton, Vir.) Aug. 27, 2023 — The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti) team leave VIRginia International Raceway complete with a haul of podium hardware across the Lamborghini Super Trofeo (LST) Rounds 7 and 8 of the 2023 season. The weekend was highlighted by a historical podium result for the WTRAndretti team with an overall podium sweep for the first time in the WTRAndretti team’s history in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo series. Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal captured the win while fellow teammates Ryan Norman and Nate Stacy rounded out the second and third positions on the overall podium, respectively.
An undefeated streak for Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal continued as the pair started the weekend capturing pole positions for the doubleheader weekend. As Danny Formal brought the field to the green flag in Saturday’s Race 1, it was smooth sailing for the pair when Kyle Marcelli took control of the driver’s seat, leading the No. 1 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 to the checkered flag by over 19 seconds. Once Sunday’s green flag flew, Marcelli started behind the wheel and was quickly challenged for the lead by the No. 88. A patient, but aggressive, Marcelli kept the No. 88 in his sights and made a decisive move that regained the lead for the No. 1 team. Formal returned behind the wheel with the second half left to go and it was straight to the checkered flag as the pair captured their eighth win for the season.
Ryan Norman entered the Lamborghini Super Trofeo weekend at VIRginia International Raceway (VIR) with redemption on his mind. In his first appearance behind the wheel of his No. 84 Lamborghini Huracán Super Trofeo EVO2 at VIR, Norman quickly got up to speed and went to battle in Race 1 on Saturday, chipping away at the competitors ahead of him after starting fifth on the grid. Norman’s powerful drive moved the PRO driver into the second position overall and earned his fifth podium on the season. Starting from third in Sunday’s Race 2, Norman remained on the heels of the front running PRO class entries, before an unfortunate pit speed violation forced the No. 84 driver to serve a drive through penalty. Norman proved to have speed in his black and orange No. 84 as he was able to work his way back up to third position for a sixth LST podium to end the weekend.
Running in the PRO class for the weekend at VIR as co-driver Nick Persing had a schedule conflict, Nate Stacy was determined come away with the best result possible. With an impressive second-place PRO class qualifying position for Race 1, Stacy started the weekend on a high note and ready to contend for the lead. As the field shuffled around through the mandatory pit window, Stacy found himself on the outside looking in of the podium. As Stacy was running in the fourth position, the No.30 PRO entry received a 10-second time penalty to which that propelled the No. 8 onto the podium – completing the historic all WTRAndretti podium on Saturday. Sunday’s mission remained the same for Stacy starting from fifth in class and all looked promising, even posting the fastest lap of the race, until a mechanical issue forced the No. 8 team to retire early from the second race.
Graham Doyle entered the weekend at VIR as another new track for the 17-year-old, but that didn’t stop Doyle from challenging for position in his No. 10 DEX Imaging machine. Saturday’s Race 1 proved to be a learning race for Doyle as he continued to get familiar with the track and earned a top-five result in the LB Cup class. In Race 2, Doyle was able to take what was learned from Race 1 and apply to Sunday’s race. Starting second in class, Doyle battled alongside fellow LB Cup competitors all race long in attempt to keep his position on the podium. With a late race incident between Doyle and the No. 50 on track, Doyle was served a time penalty responsibility on track; however, the gap Doyle had created on track kept the driver of the No. 10 on the podium to finish second on the day.
With Rounds 9 and 10 up next on the Lamborghini Super Trofeo calendar, the WTRAndretti stable will head to the team’s home race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course on September 15-17th.
Kyle Marcelli, No. 1 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“Two poles and two wins here at VIR. The win streak remains alive! Each race saw different conditions and challenges. Race 1 was extremely hot and the tires didn’t like the heat so much. The car became more challenging to drive, but everybody on the grid actually did a fantastic job it was a green flag race the whole time. Race 2, I was a little bit conservative at the start and the left mirror getting knocked in and had no visibility on left side. I lost a spot but then kept the pressure on and forced the No. 88 into a mistake and re-took the lead. Danny’s confidence around this place was evident, he was quick late in the race and opened a nice 3-4 second gap before the end. Thanks to WTRAndretti, Harrison Contracting and Lamborghini Palm Beach for the support. We’ve got such a great group of people on this program; it’s been a lot of fun and successful. Looking forward to Indy!”
Danny Formal, No. 1 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“What can I say, what a weekend. Eight for eight, seven for seven yesterday. Broken our record of wins for a season, it’s just been a season to remember. History making for the WTRAndretti No. 1 Lamborghini Palm Beach Harrison Contracting. Kyle and felt super confident this weekend since the car rolled off the trailer and the team just gave us a rocket ship. Everyone in the team had incredible speed. We took care of the podium in the PRO class yesterday, 1-2-3, and today with Ryan finishing in third place and we won then Graham Doyle finished second (in LB Cup). Super excited for the Brickyard next in three weeks’ time and hopefully we can lock up the championship before heading to Europe for the World Finals.”
Ryan Norman, No. 84 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“Overall, a great weekend at VIR. We struggled to get a clean lap in Qualifying 1 and started sixth and stayed consistent to battle our way up to P2 in Race 1. For Race 2, we started third and moved up to P2 before the pit stops and I had an issue with my pit lane speed limiter for my pit stop, which resulted in a drive through. Luckily a yellow flag bunched the field up for the last few minutes of the race and the No. 84 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Super Trofeo was on rails. We had a great restart and moved all the way back to P3 overall and had an intense battle for P2 the last lap. Thank you to the whole team for a great car and a great weekend and can’t wait to push on to Indianapolis race in a few weeks!”
Nate Stacy, No. 8 WTRAndretti (PRO)
“First of all, huge shoutout to WTRAndretti for doing such an amazing job this weekend, it was a fun weekend. The first race went well finishing P3 in the PRO class. The second race was a bit tougher with a mechanical issue retiring us from the race early. Despite this we still went fastest overall and will take that into the next round of Indy!”
Graham Doyle, No. 10 DEX Imaging with WTRAndretti (LB Cup)
“As a team this was an awesome weekend. Yesterday in Race 1, we were able to sweep the PRO class with a 1-2-3 finish and today, we finished first and third in the PRO class and I finished second in my class after a very good race with a lot of battles and lot of fun. I really think it was a great weekend, I learned a lot. This is a very complicated, hard track and it’s even harder to pass, so I think I really showed up today and was able to start passing and working on my skills. Altogether, it was a great weekend.”
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.
