Four Teams – One from Each Marque – Lodged within 63 Points atop StandingsJuly 11, 2023By Jeff OlsonIMSA Wire Service DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – The theme of the weekend in Canada for Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport was direct and simple: Just be normal.The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 had finished on the lead lap just twice in the first five IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races this season and had fallen to fifth in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) standings.Not a typical performance for a team that has finished among the top three in the final standings nine times in the past 12 years. So, WTRAndretti returned to basics for the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Pull it together, hit your marks, land on the podium. Normal, like old times.“We needed to put together a weekend like we’re used to doing – just get back to normal,” said Ricky Taylor, co-driver of the No. 10 with Filipe Albuquerque. “It’s been such a wild season for us, only finishing two races. It’s unheard of.”Normal worked. The team’s runner-up finish Sunday behind the No. 60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 driven by Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun carried significance in the GTP championship battle, moving the No. 10 Acura from fifth to third in the standings and creating an all-inclusive showdown for the championship. With three races left, all four manufacturers in the GTP class – Cadillac, BMW, Acura and Porsche – have a team in the top four in the standings, separated by just 63 points. For the No. 10 team, a tight championship battle was one of the perks of acting normal.“The game was just no risk, bring home some points,” Taylor said. “The points have come in our favor massively. I think we’re happy with that. We’re happy to get back on a roll.”The roll pushed WTR to within 29 points of the leaders – Pipo Derani and Alexander Sims in the No. 31 Whelen Engineering Cadillac Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.Nick Yelloly and Connor De Phillippi are second in the standings in their No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8, just 10 points behind Derani and Sims. Mathieu Jaminet and Nick Tandy in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport Porsche 963 are fourth, 63 points off the lead.The No. 31 Cadillac was competitive throughout Sunday’s race but slipped to a seventh-place finish, caught by untimely yellows and trouble on the final restart. Still, Derani and Sims remain in the lead heading into the IMSA SportsCar Weekend Aug. 3-6 at Road America in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.“We just weren’t lucky with the yellows today,” Derani said after Sunday’s race. “We proved we had the pace, were quick in every sector of the track, but after being pushed wide on the final restart we weren’t able to recover in time to challenge for the podium. Tough hit on championship points, but we’re still in the lead and we’ll move on to Road America to try to increase the lead.”They aren’t alone in their focus on Road America. All four teams in contention for the GTP championship quickly turned their attention from Canada to Wisconsin. Especially Taylor and Albuquerque, who won last year at Road America in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class.“It’s positive,” Taylor said. “We’re going to take a second place very happily and hopefully build on that for Road America. It’s nice to get back to a normal weekend without drama.”Somehow, no drama created plenty of it for the final three races. All part of the “normal” plan.“We need to be humble,” Albuquerque said. “Let’s turn around events. We need to start somewhere with good results, bring the momentum and go on from there. This was super important.” Live coverage of the IMSA SportsCar Weekend race on Sunday, Aug. 6 begins at 11 a.m. ET on USA Network. Tickets for the race weekend are available at roadamerica.com. |
