IMSA Road America results: Wayne Taylor Racing wins from pole, seizes points lead

By Aug 7, 2022, 6:00 PM EDT
0 Comments

IMSA results, points: Wayne Taylor Racing won from the pole position Sunday at Road America and took over the points lead in the DPi category with one race left in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

Filipe Albuquerque started on the pole and won in the No. 10 Acura after teammate Ricky Taylor had a tricky middle stint when rain began with his car in the lead but on slick tires.

After limping back to the pits in eighth, Taylor told the team to hand the car over to Albuquerque.

RESULTS: Click here for overall finishing order l Click here for the class breakdown

POINTS: Standings after Road America l Sprint Cup standings

“I was just trying to survive,” Taylor said. “Honestly, I didn’t know if I was doing a very good job. I just saw that the guys on wets were gone. They asked what we wanted to do on the next stop and I said, ‘Put Filipe in.’ ”

Albuquerque weaved through traffic to take the lead with 24 minutes left from Oliver Jarvis, who crashed the Meyer Shank Racing No. 60 Acura with 10 minutes left.

The race ended under yellow with Albuquerque and Taylor moving into the championship lead by 19 points over Jarvis and co-driver Tom Blomqvist with their fourth victory this season and 49th career victory.

The DPi category will conclude its season Oct. 1 with the Petit Le Mans at Michelin Road Atlanta.

Chip Ganassi Racing’s Cadillacs finished second and third overall at Road America.

In other categories:

GTD Pro: Jack Hawksworth and Ben Barnicoat won in the No. 14 Lexus, earning the ninth career victory for Vasser Sullivan. The team’s first win this season is its second at Road America.

GTD: Philip Ellis and Russell Ward won in the No. 57 Mercedes-AMG GT3 for Winward Racing, its second career victory and first at Road America.

LMP2: Ryan Dalziel and Dwight Merriman won in the No. 18 for Era Motorsports, the team’s first win of the season and third of its career.

LMP3: Felipe Fraga and Gar Robinson won in the No. 74 for Riley Motorsports, the team’s 22nd career victory.

STATS PACKAGE FOR IMSA FASTLANE SPORTSCAR WEEKEND AT ROAD AMERICA

Fastest laps by driver

Fastest laps by driver after race (over the weekend)

Fastest laps by driver and class after race

Fastest lap sequence

Leader sequence

Lap chart

Race analysis by lap

Time cards

Pit stop time cards

Average distance and speed

Best sector times

NEXT: The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship’s GT classes will head to Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Virginia, for a GTD Pro/GTD race Aug. 28. The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR will be televised on USA at 2 p.m. ET.

Read more about Motorsports

Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle...
Watch Motocross Thunder Valley
Saturday’s Motocross Round 3 at Thunder Valley: How to watch, start times,...
Detroit Grand Prix drivers
With fierce racing, IndyCar found redemption and rebirth on the streets of...

Ford unveils a new Mustang for 2024 Le Mans in motorsports ‘lifestyle brand’ retooling

Associated PressJun 9, 2023, 7:00 PM EDT
Ford Mustang Le Mans
Ford Performance
2 Comments

LE MANS, France — Ford has planned a return to the 24 Hours of Le Mans with its iconic Mustang muscle car next year under a massive rebranding of Ford Performance aimed at bringing the automotive manufacturer “into the racing business.”

The Friday unveil of the new Mustang Dark Horse-based race car follows Ford’s announcement in February (and a ballyhooed test at Sebring in March) that it will return to Formula One in 2026 in partnership with reigning world champion Red Bull.

The Mustang will enter the GT3 category next year with at least two cars in both IMSA and the World Endurance Championship, and is hopeful to earn an invitation to next year’s 24 Hours of Le Mans. The IMSA entries will be a factory Ford Performance program run by Multimatic, and a customer program in WEC with Proton Competition.

Ford CEO Jim Farley, also an amateur sports car racer, told The Associated Press the Mustang will be available to compete in various GT3 series across the globe to customer teams. But more important, Farley said, is the overall rebranding of Ford Performance – done by renowned motorsports designer Troy Lee – that is aimed at making Ford a lifestyle brand with a sporting mindset.

“It’s kind of like the company finding its own, and rediscovering its icons, and doubling down on them,” Farley told the AP. “And then this motorsports activity is getting serious about connecting enthusiast customers with those rediscovered icons. It’s a big switch for the company – this is really about building strong, iconic vehicles with enthusiasts at the center of our marketing.”

Ford last competed in sports car racing in 2019 as part of a three-year program with Chip Ganassi Racing. The team scored the class win at Le Mans in 2016 in a targeted performance aimed to celebrate the 50th anniversary of Ford snapping Ferrari’s six-year winning streak.

Ford on Friday displayed a Mustang with a Lee-designed livery that showcased the cleaner, simplified look that will soon be featured on all its racing vehicles. The traditional blue oval with Ford Performance in white lettering underneath will now be branded simply FP.

The new mark will be used across car liveries, merchandise and apparel, display assets, parts and accessories and in advertising.

Farley cited Porsche as an automaker that has successfully figured out how to sell cars to consumers and race cars in various series around the world while creating a culture of brand enthusiasts. He believes Ford’s new direction will help the company sell street cars, race cars, boost interest in driving schools, and create a merchandise line that convinces consumers that a stalwart of American automakers is a hip, cool brand.

“We’re going to build a global motorsports business off road and on road,” Farley told the AP, adding that the design of the Mustang is “unapologetically American.”

He lauded the work of Lee, who is considered the top helmet designer among race car drivers.

“We’re in the first inning of a nine inning game, and going to Le Mans is really important,” Farley said. “But for customer cars, getting the graphics right, designing race cars that win at all different levels, and then designing a racing brand for Ford Performance that gets rebranded and elevated is super important.”

He said he’s kept a close eye on how Porsche and Aston Martin have built their motorsports businesses and said Ford will be better.

“We’re going in the exact same direction. We just want to be better than them, that’s all,” Farley said. “Second is the first loser.”

Farley, an avid amateur racer himself, did not travel to Le Mans for the announcement. The race that begins Saturday features an entry from NASCAR, and Ford is the reigning Cup Series champion with Joey Logano and Team Penske.

The NASCAR “Garage 56” entry is a collaboration between Hendrick Motorsports, Chevrolet and Goodyear, and is being widely celebrated throughout the industry. Farley did feel left out of the party in France – a sentiment NASCAR tried to avoid by inviting many of its partners to attend the race so that it wouldn’t seem like a Chevrolet-only celebration.

“They’re going right and I’m going left – that NASCAR thing is a one-year deal, right? It’s Garage 56 and they can have their NASCAR party, but that’s a one-year party,” Farley said. “We won Le Mans outright four times, we won in the GT class, and we’re coming back with Mustang and it’s not a one-year deal.

“So they can get all excited about Garage 56. I almost see that as a marketing exercise for NASCAR, but for me, that’s a science project,” Farley continued. “I don’t live in a world of science projects. I live in the world of building a vital company that everyone is excited about. To do that, we’re not going to do a Garage 56 – I’ve got to beat Porsche and Aston Martin and Ferrari year after year after year.”

Ford’s announcement comes on the heels of General Motors changing its GT3 strategy next season and ending its factory Corvette program. GM, which unlike Ford competes in the IMSA Grand Touring Prototype division (with its Cadillac brand), will shift fully to a customer model for Corvettes in 2024 (with some factory support in the IMSA GTD Pro category).