IMSA News: Acura Sweeps Front Row in Road America Qualifying
Acura dominated IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship qualifying today at Road America, with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti claiming its second consecutive pole of 2024, and first front-row sweep.
It’s the sixth pole for the hybrid Acura ARX-06 since the electrified prototype made its IMSA debut at the start of 2023.
Filipe Albuquerque took his #10 Acura to the pole in today’s 15-minute session with a time of 1:48.601; while teammate Jordan Taylor piloted his ARX-06 to the outside front row starting position with a time of 1:48.863 around the challenging four-mile Road America circuit.
Cadillac Racing continued its run of strong Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) qualifying in the IMSA SportsCar Weekend at Road America.
The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, with Renger van der Zande behind the wheel in the 15-minute session for the second consecutive event, recorded a best lap of 1 minute, 48.920 seconds on the sweeping 4.048-mile, 14-turn circuit to qualify third.
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In summer conditions and air temperatures of 29 degrees Celsius, a heated 15-minute qualifying session unfolded for the best starting positions. The two Porsche 963 from the works team immediately hit the 6.515 kilometer Road America track after the green light for the session start. While Briton Nick Tandy in car number 6 patiently built up speed with each lap, his teammate Dane Cameron attacked early. This had consequences: the American slipped off the track in the spectacular “Carousel” right-hander during his fourth lap, damaging the rear of his Porsche 963. Cameron was unable to significantly move up the ranks, while Tandy improved to seventh place.
Even faster in the end was the 514 kW (699 PS) LMDh car from Proton Competition. Gianmaria “Gimmi” Bruni made maximum use of the remaining grip of his Michelin tires on his final flying lap to jump to fourth position.
Catsburg Leads Corvette 1-2 in GTD Pro
Nicky Catsburg led a 1-2 effort in GTD PRO qualifying Saturday for Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports at Road America with the team going for its second straight victory in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
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Catsburg qualified the No. 4 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R on pole position and bested teammate Alexander Sims as the pair of first-year cars swept the front row for the second race in a row. It’s the season’s second pole position for Catsburg, who will team with Tommy Milner in Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute sprint race.
Five GTD PRO cars, including both Corvettes, went under the previous class track record as Catsburg posted a best lap of 2:02.198 (119.255 mph). He was 0.194 seconds quicker than the No. 3 Corvette and Sims, who claimed pole position and the race win with teammate Antonio Garcia the last time out at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park three weeks ago.
It’s the fourth pole position of the IMSA season for the Corvette Z06 GT3.R and its eighth globally in its debut season. Catsburg previously was on pole at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, where he and Milner finished third in class.
A victory Sunday would be Corvette Racing’s ninth class victory at Road America and would come in the program’s 300th all-time start – 255 of them coming in IMSA.
Quotes
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Pole qualifier: “A great day for Acura and Wayne Taylor Racing for a lock on the front row! The car felt great. We took some chances about what to do and it paid off. It felt a lot like when I got pole in 2022 with the Acura ARX-05 DPi. The balance was the same. The first laps it just felt like that and I thought ‘now I just can’t make a mistake’ and putting together a lap here is hard with so many corners! It’s not easy! When I did the lap, I felt really really happy because I could not have gone faster. In the end, I tried again and I was two tenths off. That was it. Most important I’m glad it’s an Acura 1-2. It’s good for the ego, especially in such a hard season. Tomorrow, we try and go for the win for Acura and let’s see how it goes.”
Jordan Taylor (#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) qualified 2nd: “It’s great to have a 1-2 for the team. We did a test here a couple weeks ago, and I think we have a pretty strong car here as a result. The race is always another story, though. This year, it’s been so hard to pass that track position has been pretty crucial, so we’re pretty happy with qualifying up front and now we just need to make sure we have a strong race car over the long runs for tomorrow.”
NICKY CATSBURG, NO. 4 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – GTD PRO POLE-WINNER: “That was all I had! I have Sims as a teammate and the guy is crazy quick! So I really have to push hard. I feel
like we really nailed the setup. Tyler (Neff) my engineer did a great job and made some suggestions right before qualifying. The car was mega. I only had to drive it around here, and it was a good lap. We got everything together and I’m super, super glad.
“Road America is super challenging. I haven’t raced here but I did test here. So I know the track. It’s awesome and very old-school… one of the best in America. I’m super-happy to learn from my teammates. They are bringing me up to speed, so I’m very happy to be on pole.
“I hope it’s our turn for a win! It was an awesome lap. The Corvette was really dialed in perfectly. Our team did a great job with the setup. This was a very nice lap and I’m very pleased. It’s super-cool that we have a 1-2 again. We had a 1-2 finish in Canada a couple of weeks ago, so it’s great to build on that and hopefully we can do it again here. It’s been a new car for us and we are continuing to learn. It’s getting better and better. We found something in Canada that is working well for us, so we’ve brought it here and it’s gone very well.”
ALEXANDER SIMS, NO. 3 CHEVROLET CORVETTE Z06 GT3.R – QUALIFIED SECOND IN GTD PRO: “I’m very happy. The session was good fun and the car was working really, really well. I made a mistake on my first proper push lap and went wide coming out of the Carousel. The tires were dirty starting the next lap so that compromised me a little bit. The lap after that was my best, but Nicky’s lap was absolutely brilliant. That’s a special lap from him. Well done to the whole team. It’s great to be alongside our teammates on the front row. It’s a perfect way to start the race, and I think we have sensible race pace as well.”