Fourth for Acura, WTRAndretti at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca

• #40 Acura ARX-06 climbs from eighth to fourth in Motul Course de Monterey event

•Sister #10 Acura fights back from one lap deficit to finish sixth at fourth round of 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship

It was a sunny day in central California where the #40 Acura ARX-06 from Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Global marched forward from eighth on the grid to fourth at the line in today's Motul Course de Monterey IMSA run at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.

Starting eighth in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTP field, Deletraz expertly negotiated traffic while managing his fuel and tires to crack into the top five prior to handing the #40 machine over to teammate Jordan Taylor. Taylor would continue Deletraz's charge, working through the GTD traffic and tussling with the rival #01 car to take fourth at the line.

The sister #10 Acura ARX-06 was in recovery mode after an early penalty put Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque a lap down to the rest of the field, the penalty also necessitated an off-sequence early pit stop, leaving Albuquerque needing to save fuel in order to make the finish with just one more stop. Albuquerque would stretch the middle stint of the race to one hour, 12 minutes and continue making progress through the field once he got back on the lead lap to come home sixth.

In the production based GTD category, the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 team took a strategy gamble after an early-race yellow put them a lap down. However, the late-race yellow the team needed for their strategy to succeed never materialized and that, coupled with a late-race penalty for contact, would see Sheena Monk and Stevan McAleer finish 12th.

•Finished 4th overall - #40 Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06

•Finished 6th overall - #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06

•Finished 12th in GTD - #66 Stevan McAleer and Sheena Monk; Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22

Quotes

Jordan Taylor (#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Finished 4th: 'I think it was a good race for us! We went from eighth to fourth, so good progress. We were lacking a little bit of pace all weekend, but we executed very well in the race to go up the grid a little bit. We had some good fights on track—and I think we had the car to fight for P3—but it was all down to getting the traffic in the right spots. I think taking two tires was a good strategy call to make up some ground on the out lap to be able to fight. It is frustrating not to battle for the win, but we're heading in the right direction.'

Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Finished 6th: 'It was a hard day for us! I don't think the strategy was perfect how it turned out. It was just elbows out and fight, which I did. It was good fun. I think our car was fast, but unfortunately the position where I was, there wasn't much I could do. Twice I was last and I just needed to come back. To be P6 was good in terms of minimizing the damage we were in. I just kept going and catching the next guy and passing him—and that's all I was doing!'

Stevan McAleer (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 12th in GTD: 'A little bit disappointing today. We got trapped a lap down by the early caution and that kind of put us on the back foot. So we decided to go off strategy a little bit to see if we could get lucky with a caution at the end to get back in the fight—but that caution never came. We had good pace. I think on one-lap pace we were great. Long-run pace, I think we need a little bit of work in there, we lost the tire a little more I would have liked. I'm bummed for the team, we had pace, but we just tried to go on strategy and there weren't enough cautions today to keep us in the mix.'

Fast Facts

•The Acura ARX-06 is the first hybrid-powered racing car designed, developed and built by Honda Racing Corporation USA, the North American racing arm for both Honda and Acura, in partnership with chassis supplier ORECA ORganisation Exploitation Competition Automobiles.

•The Acura ARX-06 features a 2.4-liter twin-turbocharged V6 internal combustion engine, mated to a hybrid systems consisting of a Bosch MGU and electronics providing energy stored in a battery pack developed by Williams Advanced Engineering. Power for the hybrid system is taken from the rear axle and brakes, and modulated by software specifically developed by HRC US for the Acura ARX-06.

•The Acura Styling Studio worked directly with HRC's aerodynamicists and CFD aero engineers to develop the shape and maximize the aerodynamic performance envelope of the ARX-06, while incorporating current Acura production vehicle styling cues.

Next

The 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship next travels east to Michigan, for the second and final temporary street circuit on the schedule, the June 1 Detroit Grand Prix.

Photo credit: Acura
posted on conceptcarz.com

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