IMSA: Wayne Taylor Racing Victorious at Road America

A daring late-race pass, while negotiating slower GT traffic, secured the win today for Acura, Wayne Taylor Racing, and drivers Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor. Acura’s fifth WeatherTech SportsCar Championship win of the year has unofficially secured a sweep of the 2022 IMSA Manufacturers’, Drivers’ and Teams’ titles for the manufacturer and its partner teams.

Battling fellow Acura team Meyer Shank Racing with drivers Tom Blomqvist and Oliver Jarvis for the race win and championship lead, Albuquerque in the #10 WTR ARX-05 pulled off a daring, two-wheels-in-the-grass pass on Jarvis in the #60 MSR Acura as both prototypes weaved their way through GTD traffic on the downhill run from Turn 3 to Turn 5.

The two Acuras, and a competing prototype from Chip Ganassi Racing, continued to battle for the race win into the closing laps of the two-hour, 40-minute contest – which was marked by frequently changing weather conditions. With just a few minutes remaining, Jarvis lost control exiting the high-speed Road America “Kink” and made heavy contact with the inside wall.

With the caution flag waving for the final two laps, Albuquerque and co-driver Taylor went on to record their fourth victory of the season, while Jarvis was able to nurse his damaged MSR Acura home in fourth, despite heavy front end damage and a deflating left front tire.

With just one race remaining, Acura has unofficially clinched the 2022 IMSA DPi Manufacturers’ Championship, and will formally claim the title when the field takes the green flag for the season finale at Road Atlanta in October. Meanwhile, the drivers’ and teams’ titles will be decided between Meyer Shank Racing and Wayne Taylor Racing, with all other contenders also mathematically eliminated with the start at Road Atlanta.

Quotes

Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05) Race winner: “What a crazy race. We started in first place and we led the first stint, and then the drizzle came. Ricky had a really tough time with a slick track and new, cold, slick tires. He did a hell of a job keeping the car on the track. We were almost last and were nearly lapped by the guys that took a gamble on rain tires, which was the right choice. At that point, our championship was completely over, but the beauty of IMSA and endurance racing is exactly this: it can shuffle unpredictably. I went back in the car even though I would’ve trusted Ricky to go to the end. I had driven in qualifying so I was confident, and it was dry again. We pushed again—maximum attack—dragging the championship fight to the last race. It came off perfectly for us. Another win, our fourth of the season is just brilliant. We set the goal to win. So far, so good.”

Ricky Taylor (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05) Race winner: “My job was to survive the conditions during my stint today. We were looking on for an Acura 1-2 towards the end, which was great and the strategy was strong. It’s the first win for the #10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX- 05 at Road America. Finally, crew member Bill Mullen got a [Road America] win after 36 years of coming here, so congratulations to him. On top of everything, that feels the best—Bill Mullen got his win. I can’t say enough about Filipe’s drive. Acura’s been a force since coming into the DPi category. Winning the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship DPi Manufacturers title today is huge. They do such an amazing job. You can see it in the standings over the years.
Looking at it from the outside, if you’re going to join the championship, you should get an Acura. They give us such reliable cars and the car has been lightning fast for five years. We’re proud to represent the brand, and to effectively clinch that championship today—hats off to everyone at Acura, HPD and American Honda.”

Lee Niffenegger (HPD IMSA Program Manager) On today’s Acura win at Road America: “Congratulations to everyone at HPD and our Acura Motorsports teams on a great day. Wayne Taylor Racing won for the very first time at Road America—the last of the current IMSA tracks for them to take a victory at. With a start at Petit Le Mans, Acura will win the Manufacturers’ Championship in 2022. It’s a massive achievement that everyone has worked so hard for. And, additionally, our Wayne Taylor and Meyer Shank Racing teams will have the chance to battle it out for the Team and Driver titles.”

Dalziel Delivers Decisively for LMP2 Win in No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA

Ryan Dalziel has developed quite the love affair for Road America. The Scotsman pulled off the decisive pass for the lead with 11 minutes left in Sunday’s race and went on to claim the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) win with co-driver Dwight Merriman in the No. 18 Era Motorsport ORECA LMP2 07.

It gave the duo their second straight LMP2 win at the Wisconsin circuit, the 13th IMSA career top-tier series victory for Dalziel and the third for Merriman.

“Since I kind of moved to the States back in 2003, this has always been one of those tracks that always seemed to have clicked with me,” Dalziel said.

Dalziel hounded LMP2 leader Louis Deletraz in the No. 8 Tower Motorsport ORECA after a race restart from full-course caution with 36 minutes to go. Both were in fuel-save mode but Dalziel still found his chance to overtake Deletraz in the Canada Corner section of the 4.048-mile track. Two laps later, another yellow flag waved when the No. 60 Acura made contact with the wall in Turn 11 and the race ended under caution.

“We were trying to save fuel and it seemed like we were able to save a little easier than (Deletraz) was,” Dalziel explained. “The team were somewhat telling me to hang tight and try to pass him in the pits, but I just saw an opportunity and it happened.

“He had a bad run out of the Carousel and I had a pretty good run on him. He chose the middle and I chose the right, then he moved a little bit and then I moved him.”

With all cars starting the race on dry-condition tires but rain making an early appearance, conditions became quickly dicey. But Merriman held strong in the opening stint, moving up three positions to second before making a pit stop and turning the car over to Dalziel 40 minutes into the race.

“It was a little tricky,” Merriman said. “We were on slick tires and trying to get a feel for it. Managed to get up to P2 by the end of the stint, which was great. I tried not to make any mistakes and find some pace.”

Deletraz dominated the middle of the race, leading 37 laps until Dalziel pulled off the late pass for the win. By finishing second, the No. 8 and co-driver John Farano retained the LMP2 points lead, though it was trimmed to 33 points over Dalziel, Merriman and the No. 18 with only the Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta remaining.

Robinson and Fraga Rock in LMP3

It looked routine for Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson. It most certainly was not.

Fraga and Robinson held it together through changing weather conditions to win the Le Mans Prototype 3 (LMP3) class, the first at the 14-turn, 4,048-mile circuit and the third at the track for Riley Motorsports.

“That was more stressful than the (Rolex 24),” Robinson said. “Ever since I’ve come up here, you test and you’re fast in qualifying, and then it rains. And if you’re not fast, the weather will be perfect. Or it’ll be perfect, and you’ll be fast, and some crazy yellow will come out. This is one of hardest races I’ve ever tried to win.”

Fraga’s stint in the rain put the No. 74 Riley Motorsports Ligier JS P320 in the lead, and he kept it there for the team’s third win of the season.

“It wasn’t smooth, but the team always called the right strategy,” Fraga said. “The car was perfect – very good to drive in the rain and very good to drive in the dry. I just brought it home. It wasn’t easy. It was tense.”

The No. 13 AWA co-driven by Orey Fidani and Matthew Bell finished second, with the No. 54 CORE Autosport co-driven by Jon Bennett and Colin Braun in third.

Hawksworth, Barnicoat Take First GTD PRO Win Together in No. 14 Lexus

Weather conditions varied throughout the IMSA Fastlane SportsCar Weekend at Road America. But the GTD PRO class of the two-hour, 40-minute race Sunday featured one constant – domination by the No. 14 Lexus RC F GT3 driven by Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat.

The pair of British drivers teamed up to lead 51 of the 62 laps completed of the classic 4.048-mile Wisconsin road course to claim their first victory together of the 2022 season. They won by 0.760 second over GTD PRO championship leaders Matt Campbell and Mathieu Jaminet in the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3R, with Antonio Garcia and Jordan Taylor taking third place in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C8.R.

Hawksworth earned the Motul Pole Award Saturday at a track where the Lexus has traditionally excelled. He led the opening stint of the race, handing off to Barnicoat after 40 minutes when the first of four full course cautions flew.

Switching to Michelin rain tires from slicks, Barnicoat briefly lost the lead to Jaminet in the Pfaff Porsche. But the shower was brief, requiring a switch back to dry tires at the next round of yellow flag pit stops.

Barnicoat took the lead soon after the subsequent restart, with one hour and eight minutes remaining in the timed race. Jaminet was able to keep the Lexus within a second, but never seriously challenged as Barnicoat scored his second career IMSA win, and his first in GTD PRO.

Hawksworth now owns eight career WeatherTech Championship race wins.

“That was definitely I’d say the toughest race I’ve ever done,” said Barnicoat. “I’d never really done a lot of driving in this car in the wet before, and I made a mistake and the No. 9 got past me. I was really determined not to let that get that better of us.

“The fuel number I had to hit for the strategy was just crazy,” he added. “We knew it was going to be an extreme challenge, and to keep him behind while doing that was the toughest thing I’ve ever done. The yellow at the end fell for us and I was able to hold him off.”

Jaminet said he was disappointed to see the caution fly with less than 10 minutes remaining, but he admitted that he was unlikely to be able to pass Barnicoat unless the Lexus ran into a problem.

“It seemed like they found the right switch at the end to get some extra top speed they didn’t have at the beginning,” Jaminet commented. “We’ve been sometimes lucky this year and today was maybe a bit against us.

“All in all, it was a good race, and P2 is quite good for our championship with only two rounds to go.”

With the Road America victory, Barnicoat, who ranks second in the GTD PRO standings to Campbell and Jaminet, closed the gap slightly. But the Porsche duo still hold a comfortable 227-point cushion as the season winds down.

Ward, Ellis Seal the Deal for No. 57 Mercedes Team in GTD

Russell Ward and Philip Ellis played the stealth game to nab the GTD class victory at Road America in the No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT GT3.

Ward ran the first 40 minutes of the two-hour, 40-minute WeatherTech Championship clash before handing the car off to Ellis. But the team elected to keep Ellis on slick tires at a time when the track was damp and most of his competitors were on Michelin rain tires.

Ellis completed a treacherous stint without making an unplanned pit stop to change tires, assisted by a timely full course caution.

“That’s when it started to turn for us,” Ward remarked. “We still had to overtake a couple cars and jump guys in pit lane, so it wasn’t an easy battle. The strategy was good, and the pit stops were great.”

Ellis took the lead on the 46th of the 60 laps the GTD class completed and was comfortably in front when a late accident caused the race to end under yellow.

Robert Megennis and Jeff Westphal finished second in the No. 39 CarBahn with Peregrine Racing Lamborghini Huracán GT3, while Frankie Montecalvo and Aaron Telitz capped a great day for Lexus by taking the final podium finish in the No. 12 RC F GT3.

“We were still on slicks when everybody else was on rain tires and immediately fell to the back of the field,” said Ellis. “I just tried to stay alive on slicks, so we didn’t have to make an extra pit stop. Then we gambled for the second full course yellow, and that kind of saved us at the end.”

“Philip was the star,” added Ward. “This has been coming, and it feels good.”

GTD points leader Steven McAleer finished eighth in the No. 32 Team Korthoff Motorsports Mercedes, immediately behind his closest pursuers, Ryan Hardwick and Jan Heylen in the No. 16 Wright Motorsports Porsche. McAleer has a 36-point advantage with two races remaining in the 2022 campaign; three other teams remain within 100 points.

Race Results

Pos	Pic	No.	Class	Drivers*	Team	Vehicle	Laps	Behind/Gap
1	1	10	DPi	R. Taylor / F. Albuquerque	Konica Minolta Acura ARX-05	Acura DPi	64	– –
2	2	02	DPi	E. Bamber / A. Lynn	Cadillac Racing	Cadillac DPi	64	1.463 1.463
3	3	01	DPi	R. van der Zande / S. Bourdais	Cadillac Racing	Cadillac DPi	64	1.981 0.518
4	4	60	DPi	O. Jarvis / T. Blomqvist	Meyer Shank Racing W/Curb-Agajanian	Acura DPi	64	3.819 1.838
5	5	5	DPi	T. Vautier / R. Westbrook	JDC Miller MotorSports	Cadillac DPi	64	7.003 3.184
6	6	31	DPi	O. Pla / P. Derani	Whelen Engineering Racing	Cadillac DPi	64	7.189 0.186
7	1	18	LMP2	D. Merriman / R. Dalziel	Era Motorsport	ORECA LMP2 07	64	19.642 12.453
8	2	8	LMP2	J. Farano / L. Deletraz	Tower Motorsport	ORECA LMP2 07	64	20.358 0.716
9	3	20	LMP2	D. Andersen / F. Scherer	High Class Racing	ORECA LMP2 07	64	21.147 0.789
10	4	11	LMP2	S. Thomas / T. Nunez	PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	ORECA LMP2 07	64	21.944 0.797
11	5	52	LMP2	P. Kelly / J. Pierson	PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports	ORECA LMP2 07	64	24.339 2.395
12	6	81	LMP2	H. Hedman / J. Montoya	DragonSpeed USA	ORECA LMP2 07	64	35.124 10.785
13	1	74	LMP3	G. Robinson / F. Fraga	Riley Motorsports	Ligier JS P320	62	2 Laps 2 Laps
14	2	13	LMP3	M. Bell / O. Fidani	AWA	Duqueine D08	62	2 Laps 1.786
15	3	54	LMP3	J. Bennett / C. Braun	CORE Autosport	Ligier JS P320	62	2 Laps 0.260
16	4	30	LMP3	A. Balogh / G. Grist	Jr III Racing	Ligier JS P320	62	2 Laps 1.027
17	5	58	LMP3	D. Dickerson / J. Sarchet	MLT Motorsports	Ligier JS P320	62	2 Laps 0.261
18	6	38	LMP3	J. French / C. Shields	Performance Tech Motorsports	Ligier JS P320	62	2 Laps 7.663
19	7	90	LMP3	G. Kraut / S. Andrews	JDC-Miller MotorSports	Duqueine D08	61	3 Laps 1 Lap
20	1	14	GTDPRO	J. Hawksworth / B. Barnicoat	VasserSullivan	Lexus RC F GT3	61	3 Laps 30.351
21	2	9	GTDPRO	M. Campbell / M. Jaminet	Pfaff Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3R	61	3 Laps 0.760
22	3	3	GTDPRO	A. Garcia / J. Taylor	Corvette Racing	Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD	61	3 Laps 1.581
23	4	23	GTDPRO	R. Gunn / A. Riberas	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	61	3 Laps 5.184
24	8	36	LMP3	J. Andretti / G. Chaves	Andretti Autosport	Ligier JS P320	61	3 Laps 1.614
25	1	57	GTD	R. Ward / P. Ellis	Winward Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3	60	4 Laps 1 Lap
26	2	39	GTD	R. Megennis / J. Westphal	CarBahn with Peregrine Racing	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	60	4 Laps 1.576
27	3	12	GTD	F. Montecalvo / A. Telitz	VasserSullivan	Lexus RC F GT3	60	4 Laps 1.858
28	4	1	GTD	B. Sellers / M. Snow	Paul Miller Racing	BMW M4 GT3	60	4 Laps 3.759
29	5	42	GTD	J. Conwright / M. Holzer	NTE/SSR	Lamborghini Huracan GT3	60	4 Laps 1.148
30	6	27	GTD	R. De Angelis / M. Martin	Heart of Racing Team	Aston Martin Vantage GT3	60	4 Laps 1.256

31	7	16	GTD	R. Hardwick / J. Heylen	Wright Motorsports	Porsche 911 GT3R	60	4 Laps	5.118
32	8	32	GTD	M. Skeen / S. McAleer	Team Korthoff Motorsports	Mercedes-AMG GT3	59	5 Laps	1 Lap
33	9	51	GTD	R. Eversley / A. Read	Rick Ware Racing	Acura NSX GT3	59	5 Laps	2.615
34	10	96	GTD	R. Foley / B. Auberlen	Turner Motorsport	BMW M4 GT3	59	5 Laps	7.661
35	11	79	GTD	C. MacNeil / D. Juncadella	WeatherTech Racing	Mercedes-AMG GT3	59	5 Laps	15.333
36	5	25	GTDPRO	C. De Phillippi / J. Edwards	BMW M Team RLL	BMW M4 GT3	56	8 Laps	3 Laps