INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (September 22, 2024) – Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti)’s Acura ARX-06 GTPs made their return to endurance racing as they took on the inaugural Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. With an already competitively right field of 56 cars across all four classes, weather became an integral factor throughout the six-hour race.

Starting on the front row, Louis Delétraz and the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 settled in quickly running within the leader at the drop of the green flag. Shortly into the six-hour race, a light rain began to fall and the GTP leaders began to catch lap traffic as Delétraz encountered contact from another car, sliding the No. 40 off track and back to the rear of the GTP field. As the light rain turned steady, the No. 40 crew went to work on pit lane shifting to rain tires. Near the one hour in mark, the field saw the yellow flag fly and ran under caution conditions due to standing water across the 2.439-mile road course for almost an hour.

Once the rain stopped, it was full steam ahead to finish the over four hours of racing action. Strategy and lap traffic played a pivotal role throughout the middle hours as co-driver, Jordan Taylor, navigated a drying surface. With just over two hours remaining, Taylor found himself insight of the GTP leaders before handing the reins back to Delétraz.

Looking to finish out in the No. 40, Delétraz and the team were in prime stance of the running order – even leading 24 laps – and poised for a podium result, but unfortunately, contact in the final hour with GT lap traffic saw Delétraz serve a drive-through penalty and lose track position. The No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 finished fifth on the day, continuing its streak of top five finishes in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup races this season.

Ricky Taylor started strong, finding impressive pace in the opening minutes of the new six-hour event. However, rainfall curtailed the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06’s progression after a series of cautions ground the racing to a halt due to standing water on track for nearly an hour. Taylor managed to keep the car out of trouble for the opening stint as he navigated heavy traffic and changing course conditions. In the closing stages of his first stint Taylor was running in the podium positions before pitting from second for a driver change at about halfway. Filipe Albuquerque took over for the middle stint of the race with a focus on making forward progress. He found strong pace as the track began to dry with the rain receding. This momentum allowed Albuquerque to cut through the field as he once again brought the No. 10 car to the front of the field.

Albuquerque ran in the lead for a number of laps as the No. 10 looked to challenge an alternate strategy to the end. Taylor resumed control at the wheel for the closing stint as he looked to capitalize on the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06’s strong pace. However, limited yellows and loads of lap traffic interrupted Taylor from challenging towards the front and ultimately brought home a sixth-place result.

Up next for the WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 GTP teams is the season finale from Road Atlanta with the 10-hour endurance classic: Petit Le Mans. The team will close out the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship on October 10-12, 2024.
Wayne Taylor, Team Principal, WTRAndretti: “It was a tough race for everybody, with starting in the dry, going to the wet and finishing in the dry. We led a lot of laps. At the end, we had a fifth and sixth place car, but the way the yellows worked out, it wasn’t the best for us, it was better for the BMWs. One more race this year at Petit Le Mans and it will be an exciting one. Everyone will be going there to try to win.”

No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers
Ricky Taylor: “We had a bit of everything today. Hats off first to Acura, HRC and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti. Compared to last year, the cars were way more competitive throughout the weekend. In the race we had a bit everything, switching from dry, to rain, to damp and back to dry. The first half of the race was about survival and protecting the car to get to the end. Toward the end, we just couldn’t quite put ourselves in a position to win. We’re always just slightly out of reach. It wasn’t for lack of pace; I think the car was fast. The positive thing is that we’ve improved the car from last year, and we can go to Petit Le Mans on full attack.”

Filipe Albuquerque: “I think it’s a little bit reflective of our year. We looked good at one point. When I had the lead, I took off. I had one of the fastest laps, so I think I was good. When we were behind other people, it was a bit more difficult, but the pace was still there. But in the end, Ricky had an issue with the car which didn’t enable us to push for fourth or further. And that’s what it is; it was a long one.”

No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 GTP Drivers
Louis Delétraz: “The positive today is that we had strong pace. We came back to the front and to the lead a few times. Jordan and I had a good fight to come back to the front. Unfortunately, the drive through penalty prevented us from competing for the win at the end. Overall positive pace, sad result. Let’s go to Petit Le Mans and try to win.”

Jordan Taylor: “There were moments where a win was definitely in the cards. We did what we needed to do early on, and in the changing conditions we stayed out of trouble. We definitely didn’t have a good car in the wet; we weren’t super competitive. We were focused on just surviving to get back to the dry conditions. We had a good car in clean air, and we were able to make some passes when we needed to. But a tough way to end the day. I think we go to Atlanta focused on trying to get one more big win this year and finish the year off on a high.”

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.

Garcia’s late charge sends him, Sims to P3; AWA wins second straight Akin Award in GTD

INDIANAPOLIS (September 22, 2024) – Corvette factory drivers Antonio Garcia and Alexander Sims climbed back on the podium in GTD PRO on Sunday in the six-hour Battle on the Bricks at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course to lead the contingent of three Corvette Z06 GT3.Rs in the next-to-last race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Garcia drove the final three hours in the No. 3 Corvette from Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and went from fifth to third in the final two laps to secure third place. It was the first podium for the Garcia/Sims duo since their victory in July at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

Rain dominated the first half of the race, which saw three separate full-course yellow periods in the first 100 minutes. Sims and the No. 3 Corvette went toward the head of the class as the first GTD PRO car to take wet tires during the first yellow. A steady rain settled in not long after, with Sims taking the lead following a short pit stop during another full-course yellow.

A third caution period, this one for almost an hour, kept Sims out front until the rain stopped for good in the third hour. The No. 3 Corvette did lose some time having to make two stops 30 minutes apart to switch to slick tires just before the halfway mark.

Garcia drove the rest of the way in the No. 3 Z06 GT3.R, including a hard-fought battle during the final hour with the No. 14 Lexus and No. 23 Aston Martin for the final podium position. A restart with 55 minutes remaining set the stage for the finish with Garcia falling from fourth to fifth inside the final half-hour. He fought to regain the spot with five minutes left and gained another to third and the podium with two laps to go.

The GTD PRO pole-winning No. 4 Corvette of Tommy Milner and Nicky Catsburg finished 11th in class after losing four laps due to contact and subsequent repair with 75 minutes to go.

Catsburg led the first 15 laps from pole before making the team’s first stop during the initial full-course yellow. The No. 4 Z06 GT3.R was assessed an avoidable contact penalty near the one-hour mark before Milner was hit from behind by a prototype, which necessitated a lengthy stop to repair damage to the right-rear of the Corvette.

In GTD, the No. 13 AWA Corvette moved closer to securing an automatic invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans with a sixth-place class finish and winning the Bob Akin Award competition for the Indianapolis round. Both Orey Fidani and Lars Kern kept their Z06 GT3.R on the lead lap throughout the 90-minute stints, allowing Matt Bell to drive from 14th in class and into the top-five late in class.

It was the third Akin race win for the AWA Corvette and second in a row. The award goes to the highest-finishing GTD entry featuring a Bronze-rated driver for each race as well as the full-season championship with Le Mans as the ultimate prize.

Both Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports and AWA close the IMSA season with the 10-hour Petit Le Mans on Saturday, October 12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta.

CORVETTE RACING BY PRATT MILLER MOTORSPORTS POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

ANTONIO GARCIA, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “Those last laps were tough. We had a good call to pit before a yellow, but the way things unfolded it kind of helped the ones that stayed out. So we lost a little track position to some of the cars that were ahead of me when we got to the last restart. The restarts with these guys and being so close is not easy. I made up a few places but with how hard the race was for everyone, there were times where I got caught in traffic and lost some spots. I thought we were done when the (No. 23) Aston Martin passed me, but somehow I regrouped and put everything together to get back up there to them. Maybe I had a little more than them with the tires or made some good choices. With two or three laps left, that’s it. It’s time to go! It was either a podium, fourth or fifth. I went for it, and it worked. It would have been nice to win, but I’m happy with where we finished.”

ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I was very happy that Antonio was in the car! He did a really, really good job. I really enjoyed the wet laps at the start of the race, so it was probably the right way around for the both of us. Antonio did a great job to keep in the fight. From the outside, I thought once Antonio got held up and passed by the Aston, I thought it would be hard for him to get back past with the pace situation as it was. Thankfully he stayed with them and kept fighting with them to the end… quite literally! It was great to watch.”

TOMMY MILNER, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I think parts of the race we did things really well. Nicky did a great job at the start to keep us in the lead. There were some tricky conditions that were tough for both of us. The class interactions with the prototype cars weren’t ideal for us. He had an incident, and so did I with a P2 car. I don’t know what happened there. It’s one of those days where you feel like sometimes things are going your way. The cautions were getting us back into it, but there were just too many ups and down for us today. It’s unfortunate. It was a good little fight for the 3 guys to get on the podium there at the end. So now we’ll go to Petit Le Mans and try again.”

AWA POST-RACE DRIVER QUOTES

MATT BELL, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “I have absolutely no idea what happened in my three hours! I got updates every now and again from the guys on the pitbox, so I was trying to get by every GT car I could. We had a really, really good car especially early in the stints. I was able to be pretty aggressive, attack and go forward early in the stints. That put us in a great place for the team to be able to call some great strategy, and they called this race perfectly again. There’s been such good teamwork all year in the pitlane. There’s been so much hard work that’s gone into that. My two teammates did a great job in the first part of the race. An insane race! I absolutely love IMSA racing and GTD. It’s always so hard. I had some great fights out there and won more than we lost. We made great progress, and I’m really happy with the result.”

OREY FIDANI, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “That was the first time I’ve driven the Corvette in wet race conditions. We did a little bit of wet-weather testing earlier this year at Carolina Motorsports Park. It actually handles pretty well in the rain. It was awesome, and I think we’re in a good spot. At the start, there were a couple of cars in front of me that as the track came in, they were a little in the way a little and holding me and the cars behind me up. I needed to find my way around those guys but didn’t get to do that with the rain. But it’s fine. I’m pretty happy with things.”

LARS KERN, NO. 13 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R: “At the end of the day, we can be happy with the result. The team did a mega job. In my stint, I was struggling a lot when there was still a lot of water on the track. Once it dried, the car was rapid but we couldn’t really recover from this loss. So we could have finished better but I couldn’t activate the tires in my middle stint. I’m super-happy with what Matt did at the end. At one point I don’t think we really believed we could win the Akin Award today. Orey did great at the beginning and kept it clean. This was a big step toward our target of getting to Le Mans next year.”

About Chevrolet

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INDIANAPOLIS, Indiana (September 22, 2024) – The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team earned its first top ten finish at an endurance event after a hectic six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway (IMS).

Danny Formal started the six-hour race in sixth after a strong qualifying session placed the team toward the front of the 22-car GTD grid. He quickly made positions on track, maneuvering the car into third before steady rain caused continuous cautions, preventing progress for a large part of his double stint. The cautions also disrupted the team’s strategy, changing driver order and forcing the team onto the back foot in the early stages of the race. However, Formal kept the car out of trouble and ran in the podium positions before handing the car over to Kyle Marcelli from second position.

Marcelli continued to battle with adverse weather and cautions before the rain eventually cleared, and the black and red team was once again able to make progress through the field. Marcelli’s pace and strategy allowed the team to run at the front of the GTD field despite a plethora of yellow flags. Marcelli continued his strong pace and handed over the driver’s seat to Graham Doyle to take over for his first IWSC racing laps at IMS.

Doyle drove an impressive stint in changing conditions as he navigated the difficult field and lap traffic. He drove with impressive pace, managing to keep the No. 45 car on the lead lap throughout his stint before returning the car to Marcelli for the final hour of the race. However, an issue during the pitstop hindered the team’s further forward momentum. Marcelli still quickly found blistering pace, putting up similar lap times to the race leaders. He brought the car home in tenth after a challenging six hours for the WTRAndretti GTD team’s best endurance finish of 2024.

“It was an up-and-down day, but all-in-all, the car is getting better,” said Wayne Taylor, Team Principal of WTRAndretti. “Kyle and Danny drove really well and I am equally proud of Graham. For his first time here driving this GTD car on a racetrack with varying conditions, I just told him to keep it on the track, and that will be good enough, and everyone on the team told me how awesome he drove. I’m very happy for DEX Imaging, the drivers and the WTRAndretti team.”

Next up, the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 team will take on Road Atlanta for the iconic Petit Le Mans on October 10-12, 2024.

No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 Drivers:
Kyle Marcelli: “We need to be really happy with the result today. We finished in tenth and on the lead lap. We got on our back foot early in terms of strategy, and driving line up if you will. We didn’t get Graham until just over two hours remaining, and he finished his drive time with just an hour left. So, all things considered, we had things happen to us early that hurt our strategy, but also a couple that helped us out toward the end. On our final pit stop, there was some kind of an issue, some kind of fuel rig problem. That really took us out of contention from trying to move forward in the last hour, but the pace was good. We were able to match the pace of the leaders. In the wet today we were quick. The No. 45 car passed a lot of cars today and we led multiple times but had to drop back for various reasons. I think a really good day for the team’s spirit, and I think the car is in good shape for Petit Le Mans.”

Danny Formal: “It was a great weekend. We got our best endurance qualifying in sixth. The race pace was very good for us three. I had a really interesting stint. I got taken out in Turn 7, went back to eighth and worked my way back up to third. There were some really good passes, and the car felt awesome. It started raining, and that disrupted our strategy because we couldn’t pit for Graham to do his drive time. When we did pit, we went back to last. I made my way back to ninth in the rain, and the car felt amazing in the rain. Kyle and Graham both had great stints. It was definitely Graham’s best endurance stint of the season. He drove fantastically, and so did Kyle. Tenth at the end and our first endurance finish on the lead lap for the team. Graham is a very new driver in the IMSA paddock, so for him to finish in the top ten at this six-hour event just shows how much our team has grown, and the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán was just fantastic this weekend. I’m very grateful to be a part of this team, and we’re ready for Petit Le Mans next month.”

Graham Doyle: “It was a pretty crazy race from start to finish. It started out dry but quickly went wet in the first stint. Danny did a great job throughout that; he did a double through the majority of the rain. Then Kyle hopped in for a bit when the rain started to fade out. He was able to run the car from wet to dry. That’s when I was able to get in, do a double and keep us on the lead lap, and Kyle finished it out for our first top ten finish in an endurance event this year. Altogether, great weekend, great work by the team, and I’m super happy for everybody and excited for the team.”

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.