Front Row Start for Acura in Indianapolis - Speedway Digest

Louis Deletraz led the way for Acura today on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, qualifying second for Sunday’s six-hour TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks, the eighth round in the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

Deletraz piloted his #40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 hybrid to a best lap of 1:14.817 around the 2.439-mile Indy road course, just 22 hundredths of a second off the pole time set by Sebastien Bourdais.

In the #10 WTRAndretti Acura, Ricky Taylor’s best lap of 1:15.008 will see him line up sixth in the large, multi-class, 56-car starting field.

In the production-based GTD class, the Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 will be starting 10^th after a strong effort from Sheena Monk. Monk posted the 11^th-fastest time in GTD, but will move up one position after a penalty to a competitor. Her co-drivers in tomorrow’s race will be Tatiana Calderon and Stevan McAleer.

TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks Acura Qualifying Results

Qualified 2^nd – #40 Louis Deletraz, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06. Co-driver will be Jordan Taylor.
Qualified 6^th – #10 Ricky Taylor, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06. Co-driver will be Filipe Albuquerque
Qualified 11^th in GTD – #66 Sheena Monk, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22. Co-drivers will be Stevan McAleer and Tatiana Calderon.

Quotes

Louis Deletraz (#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Qualified 2^nd: “ Yeah, it’s good! I mean, the front row is always very positive. It was definitely a lot of work. You know, we were a bit behind everyone in FP1. Everyone worked super hard overnight and this morning was definitely better and we qualified front row! The car felt great. I think most importantly, it feels like a good race car and we can race from there. Six hours, a lot of traffic. It will be crazy. Let’s see tomorrow night.”

Ricky Taylor (#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06) Qualified 6^th: “When you look up and you see sixth, then you’re quite upset. But, in the grand scheme of things, it’s a long race. I honestly didn’t put the lap together very well, so I’m kicking myself for that. But the car is good! I just have to take our hats off to HRC and Wayne Taylor Racing for the job. I mean, the BOP is the same as last year and last year we were miles off. So this year, the fact that we’re fighting with the field is a testament to all their hard work. We’ve got six hours to improve, prove that it works in the race. And I’m looking forward to it. I’m looking

forward to making up some spots. These races are always so physical. You take the weather out of it, just the intensity is already physical. And when you throw the heat that we’ve had so far this weekend on top of it, it makes it a tough six hour with two drivers. But, with the weather we’re expecting tomorrow, it shifts it from a physical challenge to a mental challenge because the level of focus you need for six hours in the wet is very high. So either way, I’m looking forward to it.”

Fast Facts

This will be Acura’s second official appearance in an IMSA event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway. In last year’s return to Indianapolis, both Acura ARX-06s were caught up in a multi-car, opening-lap crash. The Acura’s continued with damage until receiving repairs during the first round of pit stops, and ultimately finished fifth and sixth.

Honda Performance Development (now Honda Racing Corporation USA) supported customer team Extreme Speed Motorsports in the 2014, when ESM campaigned a pair of Honda-powered ARX-03b chassis in IMSA’s Tudor United Sports Car Championship, including the Brickyard Grand Prix at IMS.

ESM swept the front row in qualifying, with Ryan Dalziel and Scott Sharp starting from the pole; while teammates Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek started second. Race day was not as successful, however, as ESM finished fifth and seventh in the two-hour, 45-minute event.

Where to Watch the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks

Live, flag-to-flag coverage from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be available on NBC Peacock starting at 11:30 a.m. ET Sunday, with live broadcast on NBC starting at 3 p.m. ET.

Fans can listen to audio commentary viaIMSA.com,RadioLeMans.comand XM Radio; and follow the race live via in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring available worldwide onIMSA.comand the IMSA mobile device App.

Honda Racing PR