Late-Race Penalty Hobbles Acura Effort at Indianapolis

September 23, 2024 - SPEEDWAY, IN

• Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor contend for victory at the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks until a late-race penalty for contact results in a fifth-place finish
• Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque pilot their #10 Acura to sixth in IMSA endurance event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway
• Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 soldiers on to 16th in GTD after early mechanical issue

A late race penalty for contact with a GTD PRO entry ended Acura's challenge for victory today in IMSA's TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks WeatherTech SportsCar Championship run on the road course at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.

The penalty, a drive-through for incident responsibility in the final-hour, dropped Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor to an unrepresentative fifth-place finish. Prior to the call to drive through pit lane, Deletraz and Taylor had their #40 Acura ARX-06 at or near the front of the field throughout the closing hours of the six-hour endurance contest.

The sister #10 Acura ARX-06 of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor also was very quick at times, with Albuquerque setting fastest race lap, but lost speed in the closing hours to finish sixth.

In the production based GTD category, the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 of Sheena Monk, Stevan McAleer and Tatiana Calderon ran in the top-10 for the first 40 minutes. But a mechanical issue sent the #66 to the garage area for repairs, costing the team multiple laps. They rejoined and soldiered on to finish 16th in GTD.

IMSA TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks Acura Race Results

• Finished 5th - #40 Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06
• Finished 6th - #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor; Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06
• Finished 16th in GTD - #66 Stevan McAleer, Sheena Monk and Tatiana Calderon; Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22

Quotes
Jordan Taylor (#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Finished 5th: "Not a good day. There were moments when a win was definitely in the cards. We didn't have a very good car in the wet, but once conditions dried out we had a really good car, especially in clean air. We were able to make some passes when we needed to, but a tough way to end the day."

Louis Deletraz (#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Finished 5th: "The positive today is that we had strong pace, we came from the back to the front a few times. As for the penalty, I think that is discussable with IMSA because I feel like I did nothing wrong and the GTD car ran into me. But overall, positive pace but a sad result. Let's go to Petit Le Mans and try to win."

Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Finished 6th: "It's just the way this year has gone for us. We looked good at one point, I took off and had the race's fastest lap, so the car was good. Definitely the pace was there. But then at the end Ricky [Taylor] had an issue with the car that kept us from pushing for P4. And that's how it was for us. It was a long day."

Stevan McAleer (#66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) 16th in GTD: "Tough day. We broke early on [an ignition wire] and that takes a lot of fun out of it. After we repaired the car, we were just driving to the finish, the goal was to make up a few positions as the race went on, and we did that. We certainly had a fast car over a handful of laps, but I was out there running 15 laps down, so was just trying to be careful and not end the race for someone else."

David Salters (President, Honda Racing Corporation USA) on today's IMSA race at Indianapolis: "Thanks to the efforts of the men and women at HRC, we seemed to have some decently fast race cars. However, the racing gods were not with us today."

Next
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship now heads south to the 2024 season ending 10-hour Motul Petit Le Mans endurance contest, Oct. 10-12 at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia.

Acura and HRC US social media content and video links can be found on:

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