LONG BEACH, California (April 20, 2024) – The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team took on the challenge of the 100-minute sprint race on the streets of Long Beach. Starting the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach from fifth in a competitive 17-car GTD class, Danny Formal gained two positions on the opening lap to move into podium contention. Formal was able to maintain the third position throughout the remainder of his 35-minute stint before coming into the pits.
A well-executed pitstop by the No. 45 DEX Imaging crew and a driver change to Kyle Marcelli entered the second stint looking to continue the momentum that co-driver Formal had to open the race. Marcelli was able to hold the strong pace shown earlier in the race within the top ten of the GTD class. A late incident in Turn 11 saw Marcelli trapped behind a multi-car blockage with minimal room proceed forward, resulting in the loss of four places. Marcelli was able to regain two of those positions awarding the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team their best result of the season, finishing in eighth.
“It was a good outing for the GTD program, and I am really proud of these guys,” said Wayne Taylor, Team Principal, WTRAndretti. “They were quick all through practice, and in the race, they were running in third before their luck changed. Nevertheless, this team is continually improving and pushing. We are happy with their first top-ten finish.”
The No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team will continue a stretch in California heading to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the traditional two-hour, 40-minute sprint race on May 10-12, 2024.
No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2
Kyle Marcelli: “Gutted for the team. All weekend we’ve just been checking the boxes through practice and qualifying. Everything has been going well and mistake free. The DEX Imaging GTD has been fast. We had high hopes for today’s race, certainly thought a podium was doable, starting P5. Danny had a great start, and we were up to P3 before the pitstop. We executed a flawless stop, and I thought we were in good shape, but we ended up losing two spots after the cycle went through. Then we were chugging along, and what hurt us the most was Turn 11. There was an ambitious move up ahead that turned a car around, and it became a traffic jam. I was blocked in the middle and lost four or five spots to cars that were able to drive around the outside. That sort of summed up our race. We got a few spots back, just through attrition and finished P8. I know we’re all deflated because we hoped for more. We are making small gains forward if you look at results from Daytona to Sebring to here, so we’ll take that as a positive and move on.”
Danny Formal: “Started off extremely well, but that’s racing at Long Beach. We went from fifth to third in my stint. We had great pace, one of the faster cars on the racetrack. I guess we burned a little bit more fuel than everyone else, so our pitstop was just a little bit longer. We went back to fifth leaving the pit lane, and Kyle was in a bad position at a bad time, kind of got shoved around. We went all the way back to eleventh, then came back to ninth, and Kyle got somebody near the end and went up to eighth. Extremely happy with the pace we had in the first stint. It really showed how hard the team has been working and how hard this championship is and how competitive it is. Extremely grateful for the partners: DEX Imaging, WTRAndretti, Lamborghini Squadra Corse and everyone involved in this team. Laguna Seca is in three weeks and we’ll show what we got there.”
ABOUT WTRANDRETTI
Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing announced a new, long-term partnership in 2023 that combines the resources of the two championship-caliber teams to compete in IMSA’s top classes. In 2024, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has expanded to a two-car GTP program as well as competes in the GTD class. Coming off its 2023 championship winning effort, WTRAndretti continues its Driver Development Program competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with a full stable.
WTRAndretti’s global motorsports enterprise boasts two IMSA driver championships (2013 and 2017), and back-to-back IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships (2020, 2021) which contributed to nine IMSA manufacturer championships for Acura, Pontiac, Corvette and Cadillac. In its brief 17-year history, WTRAndretti has accumulated multiple victories in sportscar racing’s most iconic events: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Mid-Ohio, Road America and the Six Hours of The Glen. With its back-to-back PRO Class Championship wins (2022, 2023), WTR also has ten North America Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship titles and a Lamborghini World Finals title.
Andretti Global, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, competes in additional racing categories worldwide, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E, Australian Supercars and the Mexico SuperCopa Championship. Additionally, the racing enterprise commits to driver development through competition in INDY NXT by Firestone and through support of Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon’s racing careers.
WTRAndretti’s long term partnerships include Lamborghini Squadra Corse, DEX Imaging, Harrison Contracting Company and Gainbridge.
