Formal “Trying to Get Every Single Point” in Title Battle

Danny Formal believes Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti “found our mojo back” after he and co-driver Ryan Norman took their first Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America victory of the season at Watkins Glen and are looking to “get every single point” as the championship battle ramps up.

Formal and Norman currently sit third in the championship standings after six races, ten points down on Kiko Porto and Nico Jamin with half of the season remaining.

It means the Costa Rican heads into the second half of the campaign in a chasing position as he seeks to secure a third consecutive series title.

Speaking with Sportscar365, Formal admits his season ‘has not brought the best results’ for the No. 1 crew, but he remains bullish with regards to the chances in the remaining races.

“We’ve had just an up and down season,” said Formal.

“But really, we’ve tested quite a bit in COTA, we’ve tested in Indianapolis, and we were quite fast at Watkins Glen, winning race one, finishing second in race two.

“So I think we found our mojo back from what we had in 2023.

“We’re only ten points away from the championship lead right now, which is not that much. I know that the gaps in this championship from first to second is only about three points.

“Pole positions make a big difference here. I’ve gotten two poles this season out of three possible. So I’m excited.

“I’m really trying to get every single point. And I know myself and Ryan will be working extremely hard with the engineers and mechanics to try to get that done.”

While WTRAndretti won every single race in the Pro class last year with Formal, Norman and Kyle Marcelli, this season has seen ANSA Motorsports and TR3 Racing break through to secure race wins.

Formal pointed to his rivals’ greater understanding of the Hankook Ventus tire in the second season of use as a reason for the increased competitiveness in the field, saying other teams have “caught up.”

“I think a lot of other teams also have caught up to the setup of this tire,” he said.

“Remember, the 2023 season was the first year with the Hankook. We found a really good baseline setup as soon as the tires came out. I think people have caught up to that.

“But I feel we’re still superior in a lot of ways, [like] our team organization and a lot of other things that we do so good in this team.

“WTRAndretti has so much experience. It’s just insane to be part of this organization. I feel really confident about this weekend.

“We had a really, really positive test here about a month and a half ago. It wasn’t as warm as it is now, but it was still Texas, so it was still in the mid-80s. Now we’re in the mid-90s, so about 10 degrees warmer.”

On the WTRAndretti side, meanwhile, Formal believes he and Norman have been “meshing a lot better” compared to the start of the campaign after an adaptation period following the lineup change compared to 2023.

“To be honest, Ryan did a great job last year,” said Formal.

“He finished second in a lot of races and he actually won the only two races that Kyle and I lost in Indianapolis. So he’s definitely a heck of a driver.

“Of course, like any other teammate, you have to find a balance of what I like and what he likes. Kyle and I had three years of it and obviously we found a balance.

“[At the] beginning of the season, maybe I liked something in the car that Ryan didn’t or Ryan liked something in the car I didn’t.

“So we’ve been definitely working better on that and we’ve been meshing a lot better.

“At Watkins Glen, [Ryan] was a lot closer to the competitors in race pace. Which is something that we were working on extremely hard this season.

“So I think we found what we like. A happy medium, let’s say.”