Road America Saturday Notebook

Photo: Rick Dole/IMSA

***Acura swept the front row for tomorrow’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race at Road America, led by the No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06 of Filipe Albuquerque, who banked a series of flyers to take his second pole at the Wisconsin circuit in the last three years.

***Albuquerque said the balance of his ORECA-chassied Acura felt similar to his previous pole run in the DPi ranks in 2022. “The first laps it just felt like that and I thought ‘Now I just can’t make a mistake’ and putting together a lap here is hard with so many corners. It’s not easy. When I did the lap, I felt really really happy because I could not have gone faster.”

***PJ Hyett claimed his fourth consecutive LMP2 pole, coming in his and AO Racing’s home race, which has seen a large turnout of supporters this weekend for the Chicago-area based squad. The team, sporting ‘Spike’ and ‘Roxy’ liveries on its Oreca 07 Gibson and Porsche 911 GT3 R, respectively, held a special performance during the autograph session on Saturday afternoon.

***Hyett said: “This is the first track I ever drove a P2 car, 12 months ago. It’s special on a number of levels. My grandfather taught me how to drive about 100 miles from here in the rolling hills of Wisconsin. So everything is special about what’s happening today. For me to be able to put the car on pole here really is a dream come true.”

***Corvette Racing by Pratt Miller Motorsports collected its fourth GTD Pro class pole in the last five races, including Nicky Catsburg’s second after scoring his maiden WeatherTech Championship pole at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca in May. Mikael Grenier, meanwhile, claimed his first career WeatherTech Championship pole in GTD.

***The No. 24 Team RLL BMW M Hybrid V8 missed qualifying as it underwent a rear-end change, including the car’s spec hybrid system, following issues that developed during the morning’s final practice session when Jesse Krohn drove off-course.

***United Autosports, meanwhile, rebuilt its No. 2 Oreca following Ben Keating’s accident in the session, which resulted in significant left-side damage to the LMP2 car. The Bronze-rated Texan qualified second in class for Sunday’s race, behind Hyett.

***Saturday’s Michelin Pilot Challenge TCR class win for KMW Motorsports with TMR Engineering’s Alfa Romeo Giulietta Veloce TCR means that 15 of IMSA’s 18 manufacturers have visited victory lane this season. Only BMW, Honda and Toyota have not won at least one race in an IMSA-sanctioned competition this year.

***Honda Racing Corporation USA President David Salters told Sportscar365 that it is evaluating the utilization of Evo jokers for the Acura LMDh car next year, although has not yet made a final decision on potential changes, which could be focused more on durability and cost-reduction measures instead of performance-related updates.

***He said: “We of course have to think about that. There’s areas where durability, cost, etc, we would like to think we may update the car. I’m sure every manufacturer are thinking about it, so it’s a natural progression. There’s some thoughts on that and we have to figure out what makes sense.”

***Salters praised the FIA, ACO and IMSA’s decision to extend the LMDh and LMH technical regulations through the end of the 2029 WeatherTech Championship and FIA World Endurance Championship seasons, adding that it gives “stability” for manufacturers involved. He said HRC continues to evaluate a WEC Hypercar program for the future but has not laid out the timeline for a decision.

***Salters indicated that the Acura NSX GT3 Evo22 will not likely feature on the WeatherTech Championship grid next year because of customer interest and not due to the fact that GTD Pro and GTD cars must be equipped with torque sensors, which requires development from each GT3 manufacturer. The NSX GT3 Evo22 is homologated by the FIA through the end of 2028.

***Sportscar365 understands that Gradient Racing, the lone Acura GTD entrant this year, is preparing to make the switch to a different GT3 brand next year. The Texas-based squad has been helping support Mustang Challenge entrant Southern Paley Motorsports this weekend.

***Conquest Racing is fielding its first-ever two-car GT effort this weekend, with the team having added a second Ferrari 296 GT3 for Daniel Serra and Giacomo Altoe as a GTD Pro entry alongside its full-season GTD effort for Manny Franco and Albert Costa Balboa. Team principal Eric Bachelart said it will be Conquest’s only two-car appearance this season.

***Bachelart told Sportscar365: “The decision came early in the year. Manny wanted to show some support towards Ferrari. He was intrigued to have more pro drivers and understand more himself, from being surrounded by more pro drivers. It was a good opportunity for us.”

***Matt Campbell is serving as Porsche Penske Motorsport’s designated reserve driver this weekend. The Australian, who is not on-site but within the continental U.S., won the race last year alongside Felipe Nasr in the No. 7 Porsche 963.

***IMSA will open the 2025 entry process for the WeatherTech Championship on Tuesday. The entry deadline for the Roar Before Rolex 24 and Rolex 24 at Daytona is Oct. 8, although IMSA holds the right to close entries early if they fill up prior to that date.

***The deadline for entry and driver confirmations, meanwhile, is set for Dec. 3.

***Coverage of the two-hour and 40-minute WeatherTech Championship race gets underway on Sunday at 3 p.m. EDT on Peacock. Brian Till is joined by Calvin Fish in the booth, with Georgia Henneberry and Chris Wilner on pit lane.

***IMSA Radio has its usual team of John Hindhaugh, Jeremy Shaw and Shea Adam for both radio and the international stream, which is available on IMSA’s YouTube channel.

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