Acura achieved a podium on its debut in the 2024 season of the IMSA SportsCar Championship at the end of a 24h of Daytona which proved to be a sort of Calvary for the ARX-06.
After the success obtained in Florida on their debut last season, this time the LMDh of the Japanese-American brand suffered much more, both due to a decidedly negative Balance of Performance for them, but also due to technical problems that one of the two cars entered by Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti was out of action.
The Acura #40 driven by Louis Delétraz, Jordan Taylor, Colton Herta and Jenson Button managed to rejoin the leading group by taking advantage of the neutralizations, especially the last one which occurred at the end with a restart 33' from the end.
Delétraz didn't think twice about aggressively attacking the Porsche #6, giving it one of the most classic touches to make it go wide in turn 1, taking the third step of the podium, but it is undeniable that without the many Full Course Yellows and with a race this result would never have been possible more linearly.
The average times clearly said that the ARX-06s were too heavy and at least half a second from what was the pace of the best, so it could not be thought that in the long run they would undermine Cadillac and Porsche.
Well done to Delétraz for taking advantage of the situation with determination to give a minimum satisfaction to HRC, also considering the KO of 'twin' #10.
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta, Jenson Button
“I think that as a team we should be very satisfied with the result, these last 10 days have not been easy. Acura, HRC and the whole WTR Andretti have worked in an extraordinary way,” underlines the 26-year-old Swiss.
“We made the best of the situation, Cadillac #31 and Porsche #7 were obviously faster than us, but we never gave up. We lost a few laps, but we always came back to fight until the last minute, so it was fantastic “.
“I'm very grateful for everyone's hard work and this is a great start to the championship, scoring important points. We're aiming to win the title and hopefully get some wins along the way.”
J.Taylor adds: “If you would have told us we would be on the podium at the start of the Roar or even earlier this week, we would have been extremely happy. So, we can leave here satisfied with a good day finishing in the points.”
“We overcame a lot of adversity over the course of the week, with a general lack of pace, but the whole team did an amazing job and the drivers performed well in the race, with no real mistakes.”
“The strategy was also perfect, as was the car. We had a small technical problem in the middle of the night, losing only one lap and recovering it until we were back in the lead for the whole race. We can be very satisfied with this result , will come in handy in the title fight when we get to Petit Le Mans.”
Glass half full for Herta too: “It's a great start to the year and an incredible opportunity for me to be able to participate in this race driving an extraordinary car. I'm very grateful and happy to have had the opportunity to do so. The team has did an extraordinary job in preparing the car and in the race strategy. I'm satisfied with this weekend.”
Button concludes: “It was a great experience! I've done some endurance racing before, but I hadn't experienced anything like this. I had a lot of fun driving among 60 cars and on the banking, and I had the privilege of doing it with the guys from WTR Andretti, who did an amazing job.”
“I am a small part of all this, but it was a great experience and the credit goes to the whole team, so congratulations to them for the podium. We didn't have the pace to win here, but with this team you always know they will get the most out of the car. And this weekend was just like that. Congratulations to everyone.”
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque, Brendon Hartley, Marcus Ericsson
Less satisfactory was the race of the #10 Acura driven by Filipe Albuquerque, Ricky Taylor, Marcus Ericsson and Brendon Hartley.
After an overall good start for what the possibilities of the ARX-06 were, the night brought a lot of problems: first an electrical problem due to a wiring fault which required a 90' pit stop, then also the brake repair just before mid-race.
All this prevented the quartet from being in the running for the positions that mattered in the GTP Class, raising the white flag definitively at the 23rd hour, but still being classified in 9th place in the category.
“It was a long two days, as was the week. I think WTR Andretti has grown a lot as a team, not only in terms of people, but also in terms of experiences and relationships. Everyone was able to work together for the first time with a schedule two cars”, recognizes R.Taylor.
“Even though we had a bad day, it was nice to see the #40 get a podium finish and be in the mix on the final restart. It was a really good day for Acura and HRC US looked great.”
“As for us, we usually start the season on the right foot and continue like this, but this year we started with more difficulty and we can only try to recover. Let's hope this is good for the championship, it's a positive way to see the things”.
Albuquerque also shared the same opinion: “It was a difficult race for all of us, for the #10 it was obviously not meant to be. At a certain point, we had some hope and we thought we could fight; just when we started to believe in it, it was like taking away the floor from under our feet because we had an electrical problem, which had never occurred in the past.”
“But we have to be satisfied with the #40. That's the advantage of having two cars, because we can still aim for the maximum and show that we are an exceptional team.”
“We continue to place cars on the podium, year after year: it's impressive. So, congratulations to the #40 who just joined the team, I'm happy for them. Now we just have to go to Sebring and see what happens.”
Hartley comments: “Although it was disappointing not to finish, the team showed an incredible fight. Everyone went for every second to get the car back on track after the problem and I really enjoyed working with them again.” .
“It was a complete team effort to get the #40 to the podium, and even though I wasn't in the car, I felt part of this first successful weekend for WTR Andretti as a two-car team. There was a great atmosphere with all the team members and drivers, I've really enjoyed the last few weeks.”
Ericsson concludes: “Congratulations to my teammates in the #40, it's fantastic to get a podium in such a difficult race. Obviously we always want to win, but a podium is a great success for the whole team. I think for us in the #10 the The race was very positive from a certain point of view, the car was running very well and the power of the Acura was excellent.”
“It seemed like we were making progress, but then unfortunately we had the electrical problem which put us out of contention for the win. The team did a great job getting the car back on track and I had the chance to do quite a bit rounds, which was a lot of fun.”
Photo by: Michael L. Levitt / Motorsport Images
#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta, Jenson Button
David Salters, President of HRC US: “It was a great debut for HRC-US with a podium at Daytona. I believe that, all in all, this 3rd place was the best we could achieve today. So thanks to the brilliant men and women of HRC, WTR Andretti, Oreca and all those who make our races possible. They do the real, hard work and our compliments go to them. We made the most of what we had available and will move forward with the lessons learned.”
Wayne Taylor, Team Principal of WTR Andretti: “It was an extremely difficult event to deal with, I don't know if I told anyone how worried I was because in a new two-car team, with new mechanics, engineers and drivers, everything happened “.
“They changed our car for the race weekend, we knew we didn't have a car capable of competing with Cadillac, BMW and Porsche. We told ourselves that if we worked correctly and if the drivers did their job well without making mistakes , we could have gotten a podium.”
“Unfortunately the #10 had to retire, but the fact that the #40 got on the podium is a big thing. So, we're really happy and I thank everyone, we can't wait to focus on Sebring.”
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