Acura Teams Show Speed in Long Beach
Long Beach Street CircuitAcura teams and drivers in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship proved their speed today on the streets of Long Beach – setting the fastest laps in both GTP and GTD. But delays and incidents for all three Acura teams prevented them from reaching victory circle at Saturday’s race.
Acura ARX-06 GTP
Starting from the pole, the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06 pulled away to an early lead in the hands of starting driver Filipe Albuquerque. Albuquerque continued to lead for the first 40 minutes of the 100-minute race, but issues during the single scheduled pit stop led to a delay of more than 10 seconds before second driver Ricky Taylor could resume, costing them the lead.
Taylor fought his way back into contention, but a passing attempt with just a handful of laps remaining saw Taylor slide into the Turn One barriers, ending the day for the WTRAndretti Acura.
The #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 of Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun had an equally fraught day. Starting driver Blomqvist was tapped into a spin at the start of the race, losing a lap to the leaders as a result. Without a mid-race caution period to allow MSR to get back on the lead lap, the duo was consigned to sixth-place finish, although Blomqvist was credited with the fastest GTP race lap.
“A bitter day, to be honest. We had great pace all weekend. Everyone at MSR, Acura and HPD did a heck of a job, and gave a car capable of winning today. I’m just super proud of the effort from all the guys and girls involved with this program. Unfortunately, luck did not go our way at the start, and [starting driver] Tom [Blomqvist] got hit from behind. That really put us on the back foot. We needed a yellow [caution flag] to put us in position to win. But we never got the yellow – as crazy as that seems – and that was sort of that for us.”
“I’m very sorry for Acura, HPD and the WTRAndretti team. With the [previous] Acura ARX-05, this was always the track where we had the most performance deficit to the field. It just says so much about Acura, HPD, ORECA and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport to turn our weakest track into our strongest track [with the new Acura ARX-06]. Unfortunately, we got behind with a little issue mid race, but we had such a strong car while fighting back. It came down so close in the end, if we had more time maybe I would have been more patient, but we just wanted to win this for Acura. Everyone at Acura, HPD and Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport deserved to win this today and it’s just disappointing, but I’m just so proud to drive an Acura and be part of this team.”
