WTR, Andretti Autosport Join Forces in New Partnership

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

Wayne Taylor Racing and Andretti Autosport have announced a new, long-term partnership that will see the two championship-winning teams combine resources to compete in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The new entity, known as Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport, will field the No. 10 Acura ARX-06 for Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the GTP class next year, with the same organization behind the joint partnership with Racers Edge Motorsports and the GTD class Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 for Ashton Harrison and Kyle Marcelli.

WTR with Andretti Autosport will also compete in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, while Andretti Autosport will continue to operate an LMP3 entry under its own banner in the WeatherTech Championship.

According to a release, WTR’s day-to-day operations and team leadership will remain unchanged for 2023, although it has stated the “long-term” goal of moving the programs into Andretti Global’s recently announced 575,000-square-foot headquarters in Fishers, Ind. that’s set to launch in 2025.

WTR is currently based in nearby Brownsburg, Ind.

Andretti had been evaluating multiple options for a return to top-class sports car racing, including having held talks with Alpine on its LMDh project and previously with Audi prior to the cancelation of the German manufacturer’s program.

It previously was active in the American Le Mans Series with Acura’s LMP2 program from 2006-08 under the Andretti Green Racing banner.

The team’s new partnership with WTR will officially kick off with next month’s WeatherTech Championship season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona.

“This is an exciting time for us,” said Andretti Autosport chairman and CEO Michael Andretti.

“We’re proud to be returning to the IMSA paddock in this way and the opportunity to be part of the launch of the GTP program alongside Wayne Taylor Racing and our friends at Honda Performance Development.

“Re-entering IMSA full time, and at this level, has been a goal of mine. I wanted it to be the right opportunity and at the right time – and we’ve found that.

“I’m looking forward to working closer with the team at WTR and meeting all the team’s strong supporters. I want to personally thank Wayne [Taylor] and Travis [Houge] for already being such great partners as we plan for a successful future.”

Wayne Taylor characterized the new partnership with Andretti as an “honor” for his legendary sports car racing squad.

Taylor previously stated ambitions of expanding into a two-car Acura GTP class operation in 2024, which could be more feasible under this new partnership.

“I was approached by Michael a year ago and, as we all know, timing is everything, especially as our GTP and GTD programs continue to grow with Acura/HPD,” he said.

“Having worked with Michael on this for nearly a year, I’m very excited to see it come together.

“While our 2023 program won’t look much different, there is a lot that Andretti Autosport can offer to us as we continue to build and expand.

‘I’m looking forward to working closer with Michael, J-F [Thormann], Rob [Edwards] and the entire Andretti team.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John