Ricky Taylor believes Acura stays within the IMSA SportsCar Championship title hunt after he and team-mate Filipe Albuquerque ended their win drought final trip on the streets of Detroit.
Because of their victory, Taylor and Albuquerque’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 has risen to sixth in factors, 239 off the main Porsche of Dane Cameron and Felipe Nasr – which has been high of the pile since profitable the season-opening Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona.
They head into this weekend’s six-hour race at Watkins Glen eager to keep up momentum, and Taylor reckons his epic late-race move on Porsche’s Mathieu Jaminet to seize victory in Detroit could be a turning level.
#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque
Picture by: Brett Farmer / Motorsport Photos
“It was a tough begin to the 12 months, and it was good to show it round at Detroit,” mentioned Taylor. “Traditionally, our workforce has been a robust starter, and kinda holds on to the end, so there’s no purpose why we will’t make up what we’ve misplaced till Detroit. If we’ve misplaced that a lot, hopefully we will acquire it again.
“There are nonetheless a variety of automobiles on the high of the charts, and distinctive to this season these automobiles are fairly shut. However there are nonetheless fairly a number of races to go – with a variety of [stormy] climate anticipated this weekend, so loads can nonetheless occur.
“I feel like in 2020 [when he won the title in a Penske-run Acura DPi with Helio Castroneves], going out and profitable a variety of races is all we will do.”
Ricky Taylor & Helio Castroneves received 2020 DPi title in Penske-run Acura
Picture by: Artwork Fleischmann
Taylor revealed that post-race investigation by his workforce confirmed that its Detroit victory shouldn’t have occurred: “The ironic factor was that on our evaluation of Detroit, we had been really the slowest automobile – so the slowest automobile ended up profitable the race!
“I feel that confirmed simply how wild it was, and the way a lot chaos that race produced.”
Taylor boasts 25 wins spanning 10 years in IMSA’s high class however the shedding streak since Highway America in 2022 has been one in every of his longest win droughts of his profession.
“There’s loads we will acquire,” he added. “Popping out of a drought of not profitable, I feel we had been kinda making an attempt to drive it slightly bit, after not profitable for therefore lengthy. I feel that provides to the stress and compounds it. Then you definitely begin to assume nothing can go proper.
“Now we’ve acquired that win, the stress is kinda off now – and we will let issues come to us extra naturally now. We are able to do what we do, and hopefully our outcomes will communicate for themselves.
“The workforce has been actually sturdy, particularly with our two automobiles working very well collectively, there’s been a variety of alternatives for good outcomes that simply didn’t materialize for us.
“If the chance is there, I feel we will make slightly cost right here. We positively nonetheless have our sights set on the championship, although it’s an enormous factors unfold. We’re coming off a excessive, and hopefully we will carry that momentum.”
#10: Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz
Picture by: Artwork Fleischmann
One curveball forward of the Six Hours of The Glen is a climate forecast that guarantees a heady mixture of heatwave and thunderstorms at one in every of America’s biggest highway programs. A 56-car entry for the four-class endurance occasion will pack Watkins Glen’s 3.4-mile format, making it an enormous problem to beat.
“The humorous factor concerning the rain we’re anticipating is that three of our 4 drivers haven’t pushed the automobile within the rain but,” admitted Taylor. “So Louis [Deletraz, who shares the sister No. 40 car with Ricky’s brother Jordan Taylor] is the one one who’s pushed this automobile within the moist. He certified on pole for Petit final 12 months, within the damp, and it didn’t look unhealthy.
“The blokes getting back from Le Mans are able to go along with loads of contemporary rain expertise! Seems like rain virtually each single session this weekend, so all of us wish to drive as a lot as doable to get a really feel for it – I’ll actually be placing my hand up.”
#10: Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, Acura ARX-06, GTP: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Louis Deletraz
Picture by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Photos
Watkins Glen is a observe that the workforce has focused improved efficiency and has examined just lately at a circuit that’s had some vital adjustments when it comes to contemporary curbs being added on the Bus Cease since final 12 months’s occasion right here.
“The primary part is OK for us, however the massive curb [at the left-hand elements] is off limits for us,” he defined. “There’s a little bit of a candy spot behind the ‘scorching canine’ the place if you will get your entrance wheel in the suitable spot, it’s kinda clean, however the possibilities of lacking that, it’s fairly an enormous consequence for us.
“I’ll be fascinating to see how the completely different automobiles deal with it, and we’re positively going to work on our automobile to see if we will get it to be extra compliant over these. However I don’t assume all of [the curb] goes to be useable.”
Taylor is hoping that the observe will play to the ORECA-chassised Acura’s energy of dealing with the low ride-height required right here, which Porsche fell foul of final 12 months when its profitable automobile was disqualified for extreme plank put on – handing victory to BMW.
“One standout of the Acura is that it’s actually environment friendly, you may run it actually low, and Watkins Glen is such a clean observe,” he mentioned. “It’s additionally one of many higher-energy tracks that we go to, so we’re utilizing the laborious tire, which will probably be laborious to warm-up as common. It’s going to be within the 90[F]s when it’s dry, so I feel that caters to us slightly bit.
“Despite the fact that Acura has received two races this 12 months, the motivation is actually excessive that we nonetheless want to enhance. Watkins isn’t traditionally an excellent observe for us, we had some reliability points final 12 months, however we had been actually fast.”
