WTR with Andretti No. 10 End Nearly Two Year Win-Less Streak in Detroit
Words by Matthew Boyce
Cover Image by Phillip Abbott/LAT Images
After almost two years without capturing the checkered flag, the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque won the Chevrolet Detroit Sports Car Classic on Saturday afternoon. The was secured with less than 30 minutes remaining in the race as Taylor made a aggressive pass on the No. 6 Penske Porsche 963 of Mathieu Jaminet into the hairpin. Taylor was then able to hold off Jaminet through two separate late race restarts to secure the victory. Jaminet finished in second with teammate Nick Tandy.
“The Porsche was really strong on short runs on restarts. So the longer it went, we could kind of claw our way back," stated Taylor after their win. "The Acura guys and the whole team has made a really strong car in the braking and that was really where we were able to do it. I think had it not been for that one GT car, if we had had all those restarts after and the way the race went, that was probably my last shot to get him and I’m really relieved that that we took advantage of it because it was still quite a long ways to go. You would have thought there would have been more opportunities, but with how good they were on restarts, I don’t think I would have had another chance.”
Finishing in third was the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais and Renger van der Zande. Under the first pit stop, Bourdais brought the car in early but a mistake during the driver change cost them numerous positions. Even with the mistake, van der Zande was able to claw back to the final step on the podium. After a scrape with the wall and a flat right rear tire, Felipe Nasr was able to rally back in his No. 7 Porsche Penske 963 to finish in fourth. Rounding out the top five in GTP was the No. 40 Acura, the teammate to the winning No. 10.
AO Racing Doubles Up, Claims GTD-Pro Class Win
Kevin Dejewski - ShutterSpeed Action Photography
AO Racing backed up their class win at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca by claiming the GTD-Pro class win in Detroit Saturday. After contact between the then leading No. 4 Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports Chevrolet Corvette Z06 GT3.R of Nicky Catsburg and the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 of Ben Barnicoat damaged both lead cars, Seb Priaulx held on until the checkered flag for their second straight win of the season. Priaulx drove to the win with teammate Laurin Heinrich who now hold a firm grip on the GTD-Pro class championship heading into Watkins Glen in a few weeks.
Even with heavy front end cosmetic damage after the incident with the No. 4 Corvette, Barnicoat was able to finish second behind the No. 77 AO Racing Porsche. The No. 23 Heart of Racing Team Aston Martin Vantage GT3 Evo of Alex Riberas and Ross Gunn took the final step on the podium after late race contact sent the No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports McLaren 720S GT3 Evo of Marvin Kirchhofer into the tire barriers at the hairpin. Finishing in fourth was the second of two Vasser Sullivan Lexus entries as Parker Thompson and Frankie Montecalvo drove the No. 15 to a top five finish. Rounding out the top five was the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow who started last in class and clawed their way to a top five finish.
