MONTEREY, California (May 7, 2024) – The West Coast swing continues for the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) pair of Acura ARX-06 GTP teams as they head to WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca for the MOTUL Course de Monterey. WTRAndretti’s success runs deep at Laguna Seca as the team has four victories (2006, 2013, 2021, 2022) around the iconic 2.238-mile road course. Along with the team’s success, all four full-season Acura ARX-06 drivers have previously won at Laguna Seca.
On the note of victory at Laguna Seca, the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team is searching for victory once again after back-to-back wins in 2021 and 2022. Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque notched a top-five result last year and the pair is looking to repeat their prior success come this weekend. Taylor and Albuquerque also have a combined five pole positions, two of which their victories in 2021 and 2022 were scored from.
Although the result may not have ended the Long Beach weekend as anticipated for the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 team, Jordan Taylor and Louis Delétraz are eager to reset as the they hit the track at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. In the field of 34 cars, Taylor is tied with his brother, Ricky, for the record number of pole positions with four at the 11-turn road course. Despite 2024 being his first full season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTP Championship, Delétraz returns to a track familiar to his resume and has collected a LMP2 class victory in 2022.
The WTRAndretti team will begin on-track preparations at 4:15 p.m. ET (1:15 p.m. PT) with practice on Friday, May 10 and followed by 15-minute qualifying on Saturday, May 11, at 8 p.m. ET (5 p.m. PT) to set the field. Sunday, May 12, will showcase the traditional 2-hour, 40-minute sprint format see the clock countdown begin at the drop of the green flag at 3:10 p.m. ET (12:10 p.m. PT) with full race coverage on NBC.
Wayne Taylor, Team Principal, WTRAndretti: “After a tough weekend at Long Beach, the team went testing at Laguna Seca and we got our speed back. The test for the two GTP cars went extremely well. The drivers were very excited. The track’s just been resurfaced, high grip levels. I think we can go now to Laguna knowing that we will have a competitive car. We’ve had a lot of success at Laguna, but last year for some reason we were off the pace and don’t know why. Having said that, we were competitive at the test. Now we have two cars, so that always help us because we can try different setups. We can also strategize over the course of the race to maximize the result for both cars. I’m excited for the guys, both GTP and GTD. Unfortunately, this is the one race this year I’m going to miss as I’ll be at the Monte Carlo historics race, racing my F1 car. It’s been a lifelong dream of mine. Of course, I’ll be very anxious while being there to know what’s going during the course of the Laguna Seca weekend.”
No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers
Ricky Taylor: “We are now in the meat of the season and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 team has had a tough start to the year. Laguna has been a strong track for the team historically, and with the new pavement, we will see a whole new race dynamic. The test a few weeks ago went very well and I am looking forward to applying what we learned to the race weekend. The track had become very polished and slippery over Laguna Seca’s long history, the new pavement completely revitalized the track. The corners are all much higher commitment, and the cars are now going much faster in every portion of the racetrack. Because of how much the track changed, we learned things about the car that would’ve been very difficult to anticipate without a test, so coming into the race we can have a bit of extra confidence that we have that under our belt along with our competitors.”
Filipe Albuquerque: “Things have been tough for the No. 10 car this season, but when things like this happen, we just want the next race. We were testing at Laguna Seca a few weeks ago; which went pretty well. At the end of the day, it’s not what you think you have, it’s down to how competitive you’re going to be against your rivals. The track’s very different than before – it’s a completely different track in fact – much nicer to drive with a lot more grip. But again, we will only be happy if we win, so let’s go! Second sprint race of year in more normal conditions, 2-hours and 40-minutes, so I can’t wait to go there with Ricky, we’ve won there in the past, so we want to keep that streak going.”
No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers
Louis Delétraz: “I’m looking forward to being back in the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 at Laguna Seca! It’s a track I really enjoy, with a lot of elevation changes and now a brand-new tarmac with a lot of grip which will make things interesting. We have tested on the new pavement few weeks ago and learned a lot. Since then, everyone at WTRAndretti has been hard at work to get ready for this event.”
Jordan Taylor: “I’ve always enjoyed racing at Laguna. This year is going to be much different to years past with the new pavement they have. We did a two-day test after our Long Beach race and learned a lot as a team. From a driver’s perspective it’s a completely different track. The grip level is much higher and it’s a very narrow margin for error with how high commitment it is. I think with this new track, it’s really going to help our learning curve as a team to be able to gather twice the data once we hit the track on race weekend and explore the different setup options with our two cars. The race itself will be interesting to see how it plays out differently with tire degradation and traffic, but everyone will be in the same boat. Hopefully we can get things sorted out quickly and be battling right up front.”
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 Acura, Honda Racing Corporation US (HRC), Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, DEX Imaging, Harrison Contracting Company and Gainbridge.
