The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) tackled qualifying at the team’s home track – the Indianapolis Motor Speedway - for Sunday’s Battle on the Bricks. With the penultimate event on the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship set as a new six-hour endurance race at IMS, the full GTP field is separated by just barely over one second. Louis Delétraz hustled the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 around the 14-turn road course to earn a front row starting position with a fast lap time of 01:14.817. For Ricky Taylor and the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06, Taylor tallied a best lap time of 01:15.008 to earn sixth on the grid.

The inaugural Battle on the Bricks from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course will go green at 11:40 a.m. ET with all six hours of endurance racing broadcast on Peacock along with NBC on air at 3 p.m. ET.

TOP FIVE GTP STARTING GRID
1. No. 01 Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-Series.R) R. van der Zande, S. Bourdais (117,712 mph)
2. No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 (Acura ARX-06) J. Taylor, L. Delétraz (117.358 mph)
3. No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsport (Porsche 963) M. Jaminet, N. Tandy (117.309 mph)
4. No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-Series.R) P. Derani, J. Aitken, T. Blomqvist (117.171 mph)
5. No. 25 BMW M Team RLL Cadillac Racing (BMW M Hybrid V8) P. Derani, J. Aitken, T. Blomqvist (117.077 mph)
6. No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 (Acura ARX-06) R. Taylor, F. Albuquerque (117.059 mph)

Louis Delétraz, No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06: “Front start is a very good position for tomorrow. It definitely was a lot of work. We were a bit behind in first practice and everyone worked super hard overnight. This morning was better and in qualifying we got a front row start. The No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 feels great. Most importantly, it feels like a good race car. We can race from here. Six hours with a lot of traffic will be crazy.”

Ricky Taylor, No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06: “When you look up and see sixth, you’re quite upset, but in the grand scheme of things it’s a long race. I, honestly, didn’t put together the lap very well, so I’m kicking myself for that. The No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 is good. Just have to take our hats off to Acura, HRC and WTRAndretti for the job. The BOP is the same as last year and we were miles off, so the fact we are fighting with the front of the field is a testament to all of their hard work. We’ve got six hours to prove that it works in the race and I’m looking forward to making up some spots. These races are always so physical, even taking the weather out of it, just the intensity is already physical then you throw the heat we’ve had so far this weekend on top of it, it makes it a tough six hour with two drivers. With the weather, it shifts from a physical challenge to a mental challenge because the level of focus you need for six hours in the wet is very high. Either way, I’m looking forward to it!”

ABOUT WTRANDRETTI
Andretti Global and Wayne Taylor Racing announced a new, long-term partnership in 2023 that combines the resources of the two championship-caliber teams to compete in IMSA’s top classes. In 2024, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) has expanded to a two-car GTP program as well as competes in the GTD class. Coming off its 2023 championship winning effort, WTRAndretti continues its Driver Development Program competing in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series with a full stable.

WTRAndretti’s global motorsports enterprise boasts two IMSA driver championships (2013 and 2017), and back-to-back IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup Championships (2020, 2021) which contributed to nine IMSA manufacturer championships for Acura, Pontiac, Corvette and Cadillac. In its brief 17-year history, WTRAndretti has accumulated multiple victories in sportscar racing’s most iconic events: Rolex 24 At Daytona, Twelve Hours of Sebring, Petit Le Mans, Mid-Ohio, Road America and the Six Hours of The Glen. With its back-to-back PRO Class Championship wins (2022, 2023), WTR also has ten North America Lamborghini Super Trofeo Championship titles and a Lamborghini World Finals title.

Andretti Global, a Championship-winning motorsports organization, competes in additional racing categories worldwide, including the NTT INDYCAR SERIES, ABB FIA Formula E World Championship, Extreme E, Australian Supercars and the Mexico SuperCopa Championship. Additionally, the racing enterprise commits to driver development through competition in INDY NXT by Firestone and through support of Sebastian and Oliver Wheldon’s racing careers.

WTRAndretti’s long term partnerships include Acura, Honda Racing Corporation (HRC), Konica Minolta Business Solutions USA, DEX Imaging, Harrison Contracting Company and Gainbridge.