MONTEREY (May 12, 2024) — Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) leaves the WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca with two podiums and win in hand after the third and fourth rounds of the 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo (LST) North America season. The team’s stable of four cars managed to secure a strong haul of points at the historic California road course.
In the No. 1 WTRAndretti LST PRO, Ryan Norman and Danny Formal looked to step onto the podium after two fourth place finishes at Sebring International Raceway to open the season. In the first race of the weekend, the driver duo started in second position, showing promising pace. After a strong showing of experience and control from both drivers around WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, the pair secured second place and their first podium of the 2024 season. Race 2 for the No. 1 car was hampered by difficulties during qualifying which left the team starting in eighth position in class. After a chaotic race, Formal and Norman had made up positions through the field, but ultimately finished in eighth position after receiving a penalty on the final restart.
Piloting the No. 8 WTRAndretti LST PRO|AM, Nate Stacy and Nick Persing depart Laguna Seca after a rollercoaster weekend. After qualifying in seventh position for PRO|AM for Race 1, the No. 8 car was involved in a racing incident early on that left it unable to finish. After working through the night to repair the damage, the car was able to start in fourth position for Race 2. Persing was able to stay out of trouble and rally through a hectic start to the race in order to set up Stacy well after the driver change. With multiple caution periods near the end of the race, Stacy’s control throughout the closing minutes placed the No. 8 WTRAndretti back on the top step of the podium for their second PRO|AM win of the year.
In a similar fashion to the No. 8 car, the No. 69 Global Power Components LST AM car saw a difficult first race followed by a trip to the podium. The driver duo started the weekend strong, securing a pole and second in qualifying for Race 1 and 2, respectively. For Race 1, despite a strong starting position, an issue with the steering wheel shortened the driver pair’s race, nullifying their starting position. For Race 2, the driver duo lined up second in class. McIntosh was able to navigate a troublesome start and hold position before the driver change. Once McGee took over, he was able to regain positions lost during the pitstop, and as McGee continued to charge through the field, the checkered flag marked the No. 69 Global Power Components team’s third AM podium of the season.
Ashton Harrison joined Graham Doyle to pilot the No. 10 DEX Imaging LST AM for their first race as a driver pairing in LST. The duo focused on learning and improvement throughout the weekend as they navigated their first entry together. Doyle and Harrison qualified in seventh and eleventh in Race 1 and 2 respectively. In Race 1, both drivers were able to maintain consistent pace and secure seventh place in class. Race 2 saw both drivers navigate tricky conditions to move up the field, finishing once again in seventh place in the AM class.
The WTRAndretti Lamborghini Super Trofeo stable will continue the season at Watkins Glen International on June 21-23, 2024, for Rounds 5 and 6 of the LST North America Championship.
Ryan Norman, No. 1 WTRAndretti LST (PRO): “It was definitely an up and down weekend for us. We were able to get second place yesterday, which was great. Today, I’m still a little confused about how everything played out. I think it was just too many yellows. We moved up to fifth place and were looking good. I think we pitted just one lap too early, but that’s nothing we could have planned for, so a bunch of people got a free pitstop in front of us. I believe we also had a pit lane penalty as well, which put us back pretty far. All we can do is keep on pushing forward. We know we have the crew and the car behind us, so we’ll just look to get to the top step of the podium next time.”
Danny Formal, No. 1 WTRAndretti LST (PRO): “Rounds three and four of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America championship are over. Not the best weekend, not the worst weekend. Today, Race 2, was a complete disaster race wise. It wasn’t the car or the team; the race was just very weird. A lot of yellows resulted in a jumbled pit window, and we came out a lap down. I received a jump start penalty for me on the last restart. As the leader went, I went too, and they all missed the last corner, so I took advantage. Yesterday’s second place finish was a good salvage of points. I’m proud of the team, but we’re not where we want to be yet like last year. We’ll keep on working, everyone at WTRAndretti, and we’ll get there for Watkins Glen. But I’m grateful for the team and all the sponsors and partners and my teammate Ryan, and we’ll see how we do in Watkins Glen.”
Nate Stacy, No. 8 WTRAndretti LST (PRO|AM): “The first race was quite a doozy, not the ending we wanted, but we came back in the second race and really rallied to get a good finish. We survived the melee out there. I felt like I was at Lime Rock out there with how tight it was. There were a lot of cars on track, a lot of competition. Nick did a great job and drove well above where his experience level would say he would. He kept it clean and brought in a clean race car, and we just executed. Pit stop was great. Everyone on the crew did a fantastic job. They stayed late last night getting the car put back together for us, so I hope this win does them some justice.”
Nick Persing, No. 8 WTRAndretti LST (PRO|AM): “It’s an amazing way to cap off the weekend with a win! Yesterday was a little bit of a disappointment because there was some unavoidable contact, just a racing incident. The team stayed up all night to fix the car, and to be able to come out here today and deliver a result like this is an amazing feeling for us as well as the WTRAndretti team.”
Graham Doyle, No. 10 DEX Imaging WTRAndretti LST (AM): “Second weekend of the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America Championship. Really great one here at Laguna Seca. I had a lot of fun. First weekend with me Ashton and me working together, so a lot of learning this weekend. We definitely made improvements and learned a lot working together. Not exactly the finishes we wanted; we finished seventh in both races. But the potential is there, and we can feel it. So going into Watkins Glen, I think we’ll be a good duo that’s going to fight for podiums.”
Ashton Harrison, No. 10 DEX Imaging WTRAndretti LST (AM): “Good wrap up to the Laguna Seca race here for Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America. I’m thrilled to be working with Graham and being able to help represent DEX Imaging with him in this tight Super Trofeo field. I’m really happy with our progression over the weekend, and it’s very clear that the No. 10 car is a force to be reckoned with in this AM class. I’m proud of Graham and everybody for the effort that they put in this weekend and looking forward to heading to a track that I know Graham and I are going to be very strong at. Again, just pushing forward and pushing for podiums and wins.”
Glenn McGee, No. 69 Global Power Components WTRAndretti LST (AM): “My teammate Tony McIntosh and I came here thinking this would be our toughest race, as this is a tough track for us, but our baseline came out really well with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti. I think we had a strong average pace to start off with, and we just kept getting quicker throughout the weekend. Race 1 was difficult because our cable was broken on the steering wheel, so we couldn’t select gears. That hampered our race, so we were very lucky do well, but it ended our race in Race 1. In Race 2, my teammate kept it out of trouble at the start. I got the car, but I got tripped up by the PROs on the out lap which lost us the lead in the transition and pits. I fell back to third and made some passes up to second. I ran down the leader, but it was yellow flags to the finish. Congrats to the guys who won; they did a good job this weekend.”
Anthony McIntosh, No. 69 Global Power Components WTRAndretti LST (AM): “The weekend was good. It started off rocky when we had a short in a wire in our steering wheel for Race 1. Every time I would turn right, the steering wheel would turn off, and when I would turn left, the steering wheel would turn on, so I lost the ability to shift. But the team quickly fixed that and got the set up dialed in. For Race 2, it was mostly yellow. I only got a couple of laps and turned it over to Glenn. But it was really just about surviving this whole weekend.”
ABOUT WTRANDRETTI’S DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM
Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wayne Taylor Racing, now with Andretti Global (#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 its 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. In addition to its Lamborghini Super Trofeo stable, WTRAndretti fields a two-car GTP program with it Championship winning No 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 and No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 effort as well as GTD program with the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.
