Acura sweeps front row in Road America IMSA quali.

IMSA

Aug 4

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. Acura also recorded a total of four IMSA poles in 2023, the debut season for the hybrid GTP category.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #10: Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Filipe Albuquerque, Motul Pole Award, Ricky Taylor, Birthday, team, crew

Filipe Albuquerque took his #10 Acura to the pole in today's 15-minute session with a time of 1:48.601

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #10: Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque

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 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. Last month at Watkins Glen International, it was Louis Deletraz claiming the pole for Acura and WTRAndretti in the #40 ARX-06.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #40: Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz.

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." Source: Acura

Cadillac V_Series.R third and fifth

The #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. Van der Zande missed securing the team's fifth front-row spot by .057 of a second.The No. 01 Cadillac V-Series.R, with van der Zande sharing driving duties with Sebastien Bourdais in the 2-hour, 40-minute race Sunday, has not qualified lower than third in each of the six IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #01: Cadillac Racing, Cadillac V-Series.R, GTP: Renger van der Zande, Sebastien Bourdais

Renger van der Zande, #01 Cadillac V-Series.R (qualified third; 1:48.920 on lap 6 of 7): “I think the car was fantastic, the lap was really good and the team nailed the setup. Altogether, we should be happy where we are to start the race. P3 is better than P2 on the grid because you’re on the inside and can follow the lead car into the tight Turn 1. I think tomorrow is going to be a tough day in terms of raceability. You’ll have to be very clever and hang in there. So far, so good and proud to make a lap happen in qualifying.”

Pipo Derani drove the #31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R to fifth in the 10-car GTP field with a best of 1:49.408 of his eight laps. Derani earned the pole in the 2023 race at Road America.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #31: Whelen Cadillac Racing, Cadillac V-Series.R, GTP: Pipo Derani, Jack Aitken

Pipo Derani, No.. 31 Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R (qualified fifth; 1:49.408 on lap 5 of 6): “I think we have improved the car over the weekend. We were struggling a bit to get the tires to work properly. Overall, I thought it was a clean qualifying and thought my lap was pretty good. I didn’t leave much out there, but unfortunately it was not enough to be in the top three at least. We’ll take the positives that we improved over the weekend and keep improving in the race.” Source: Cadillac Racing

Gianmaria Bruni in fourth place in the Porsche 963 from Proton Competition

The Proton Competition Porsche 963 will start from the second row into round eight of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Italian Porsche works driver Gianmaria Bruni achieved the fourth fastest lap in qualifying at Road America. Gianmaria "Gimmi" Bruni made maximum use of the remaining grip of his Michelin tyres on his final flying lap to jump to fourth position.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #5: Proton Competition, Porsche 963, GTP: Gianmaria Bruni, Bent Viscaal.

Gianmaria Bruni (Porsche 963 #5): “We started our adventure with the Porsche 963 exactly one year ago at Road America. This is the first time we are returning to a track with our car and can build on our experiences. This is clearly evident. I very much hope that we will see this not just today but consistently until the end of the season.” Source: Porsche

BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 sixth

Connor De Phillippi with his lap of 1:51.500 (130.697 mph) in the #25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 he co-drives with Nick Yelloly was sixth.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #25: BMW M Team RLL, BMW M Hybrid V8, GTP: Connor De Phillippi, Nick Yelloly

Both Porsche Penske Motorsport works team secured seventh and ninth positions.

Nick Tandy in car #6 patiently built up speed with each lap, improving to seventh place.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #6: Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Mathieu Jaminet, Nick Tandy

Nick Tandy (Porsche 963 #6): “We are unhappy with our starting positions. There were numerous cars within a narrow time corridor. This highlights how fiercely contested the GTP class is. That's great because we all want a close competition. We are only in seventh place. Nevertheless, the 963 drives really well. We made noticeable progress since practice. Our Porsche should be more competitive in the race than over a single fast lap in qualifying. This gives us a positive and hopeful outlook for Sunday.”

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 ending ninth.

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #7: Porsche Penske Motorsports, Porsche 963, GTP: Felipe Nasr, Dane Cameron

JDC-Miller MotorSports #85 eight

📷 © Courtesy of IMSA. #85: JDC-Miller Motorsports, Porsche 963: Richard Westbrook

Richard Westbrook (Porsche 963 #85): “I haven't competed in a qualifying for a very long time – if I recall correctly, it was with JDC-Miller MotorSports in 2022. Unfortunately, I got caught in the slipstream of Gimmi Bruni's 963. No blame on him. It cost some time, but that's how it is. The disappointing result shows that the Porsche may not be the fastest car this weekend. We have to deal with that and make the best of it.” Source: Porsche

Corvette Racing front row in GTD PRO

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.

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GALSTAD-IMSA-ROADAMERICA-0824-219214 3 5.jpg

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.” Source: Corvette Racing

Schedule

IMSA SportsCar Race: 3:10 PM to 5:50 PM ET

Broadcast: Peacock will stream the race live at 3 p.m. ET Sunday for U.S. viewers, while IMSA.tv and the IMSA YouTube Channel (youtube.com/IMSAOfficial) will stream the race live for the global audience. The race will be broadcast on IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and SiriusXM (XM 206, Web/App 996).