Double Podium for Acura at Watkins Glen

June 28, 2021 by Acura

• Acura, Meyer Shank Racing dominate, leading five of six hours, but finishes second
• Wayne Taylor Racing brings their Acura ARX-05 home third
• Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo perseveres for 12th place finish in GTD

A late-race caution, combined with differing fuel and tire strategies for the sprint to the finish, saw the Acura ARX-05 of Meyer Shank Racing's Dane Cameron and Olivier Pla finish second in Sunday's Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen at Watkins Glen International Raceway.

Starting from the outside of the front row – alongside fellow Acura team Wayne Taylor Racing – Dane Cameron soon moved the MSR Acura prototype into the lead as he and co-driver Pla went on to dominate much of the first five hours of the six-hour endurance contest, often leading by 10 seconds or more. Using a three-driver lineup of Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque and Alexander Rossi, the Wayne Taylor crew held down second for most of the day.

But a late-race caution flag in the final hour closed the field. With all of the prototypes making final pit stops, Multimatic Mazda leapfrogged into the lead by only changing one tire, while both Acuras changed two tires. In the frantic run to the finish, closing MSR driver Pla was unable to find a way past Mazda pilot Harry Ticknell in heavy GT traffic, and was forced to settle for a second-place result. In similarly dramatic fashion, Albuquerque managed his tires and fuel to take the checkers in third.

Acura NSX GT3 Evo

In the production-based GTD division, the Magnus with Archangel's NSX GT3 Evo driven by Andy Lally, John Potter and Spencer Pumpelly had a steady run through the first half of the contest, but 30 minutes later made an unscheduled pit stop with an apparent cut tire. Shortly after returning to the circuit, a problem with the power steering unit developed, and the car went behind the wall for repairs, returning to finish 12th in GTD.

Acura Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen Results

• 2nd overall - #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi Drivers Dane Cameron, Olivier Pla
• 3rd overall - #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPiDrivers Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Alexander Rossi
• 12th GTD - Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo Drivers Andy Lally, John Potter, Spencer Pumpelly

DPi Manufacturers' Championship Drivers' Championship (after 5 of 10 rounds)

1. Cadillac	1,807	1. Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor	1,733
2. Acura	1,799	2. Oliver Jarvis, Harry Tincknell	1,702
3. Mazda	1,729	3. Pipo Derani, Felipe Nasr	1,576
		4. Dane Cameron, Olivier Pla	1,511

Michelin Endurance Championship Cup (after 3 of 4 endurance races)

1. Acura	38	1. Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, Alexander Rossi	33
2. Cadillac	36	2. Oliver Jarvis, Harry Tincknell, Jonathan Bomarito	30
3. Mazda	34	3. Dane Cameron, Olivier Pla	25

Quotes

Olivier Pla (#60 Meyer Shank Racing ARX-05) finished 2nd with co-driver Dane Cameron: 'At the end, they were asking me to save more fuel, so I could push for the last two laps. But unfortunately, on the second to the last lap we caught a lot of GT class traffic and I lost a lot of time there. We made a lot of it up on the last lap, but not enough. Our pace was there to win but unfortunately the final yellow decided the race for us.'

Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05) finished fourth with co-drivers Ricky Taylor and Alexander Rossi: 'It was a real fight to the end, while trying to hit our fuel targets while keeping our position. Eventually I was able to pass the Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac, so that gave us more points for the championship and another podium finish for the team and Acura. We know we're not going to win all the races, but we were close to the #60 'sister' Meyer Shank Racing Acura. So we can't be frustrated. We just need to put our heads down and work for next weekend.'

Jon Ikeda (Acura Brand Officer) on today's race at Watkins Glen: 'Well, you can't win every race. We had a great 2-3 double podium finish today, and that's good for our Manufacturers' Championship points. It was a fantastic race, and great entertainment for a lot of people here today. And our teams are the best. These men and women at Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing are real go-getters; and you can see they're already ready for next week's race here.'

Acura Watkins Glen 6 Hour Fast Facts

• After three of four long-distance rounds that make up the Michelin Endurance Championship Cup series-within-a-series, Acura leads the Manufacturers' title chase over Cadillac and Mazda, while Wayne Taylor Racing drivers Albuquerque, Taylor and Rossi lead the drivers' championship. The last endurance event is also the season finale, the 10-hour Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on November 13.
• The 10-race IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship reached its mid-point today at Watkins Glen, with Acura teams and drivers have finished on the podium in every race this season, with best results at each round including two wins, a second and a pair of third-place results.

Next

With the usual following round at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park postponed for 2021, due to the ongoing COVID pandemic, the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship remains in place at Watkins Glen International Raceway for a standard distance two-hour, 40-minute race here on Friday, July 2.