Friday afternoon marked the final qualifying session of the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season for the Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) pair of Acura ARX-06 GTP Teams. The 11-car GTP field tackled the 2.54-mile Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta as they set the field for the MOTUL Petit Le Mans.

Filipe Albuquerque piloted the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 to earn fifth on the grid for Saturday’s 10-hour endurance classic with a best lap time of 01:09.995 – separated from the top of the time charts by .356 of a second.

Jordan Taylor navigated the 12-turn road course in the No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 to post a lap time of 01:10.103 for a seventh place starting position.

The WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 GTP teams, one final time in partnership with Acura and Honda Racing US, will tackle the MOTUL Petit Le Mans on Saturday, October 12, with the drop of the green flag at 12:10 p.m. ET, live on NBC and Peacock.

TOP FIVE GTP STARTING GRID
1. No. 31 Whelen Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-Series.R) P. Derani, J. Aitken, T. Blomqvist (131.301 mph)
2. No. 7 Porsche Penske Motorsport (Porsche 963) M. Campbell, D. Cameron, F. Nasr (131.173 mph)
3. No. 25 BMW M Team RLL Cadillac Racing (BMW M Hybrid V8) C. De Phillippi, N. Yelloly, M. Martin (130.760 mph)
4. No. 01 Cadillac Racing (Cadillac V-Series.R) R. van der Zande, S. Bourdais, S. Dixon (130.695 mph)
5. No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 (Acura ARX-06) R. Taylor, F. Albuquerque, B. Hartley (130.637 mph)
7. No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 (Acura ARX-06) J. Taylor, L. Delétraz, C. Herta (130.436 mph)

Filipe Albuquerque, No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06:

“Last qualifying of the year; I was expecting to do a little bit better. Fifth position in the end. Unfortunately, I didn't have the pace for pole position in the end although the car felt very good. I was a bit frustrated with traffic which ruined my rhythm of push laps, especially on the best laps for the tire. It is what it is. Again, it's important to say that qualifying is just for the ego of the drivers, it means nothing for the race. So, starting fifth, we'll look to have a clean start, and we'll build from there.”

Jordan Taylor, No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06:

“I think it's kind of where we thought we'd be, looking at practice times. It was always hard to get clear laps, so you never knew what anyone had, but I think we're probably where we thought we'd be. We had a little bit of balance issues, but I think our race pace should be a little better than our qualifying pace. At this point, I'm not too concerned; a lot is going to happen over ten hours, especially with this many cars. I think it'll be a fun day!"

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.