Honda Racing

Acura Teams Ready for Season-Ending Petit Le Mans

Acura Teams Ready for Season-Ending Petit Le Mans

  • Ricky Taylor leads Acura Team Penske to fifth in prototype qualifying
  • Mario Farnbacher pilots his Acura NSX GT3 to sixth in GTD
  • Katherine Legge continues chase for GTD championship
  • Acura NSX GT3 Evo unveiled, on display, at Road Atlanta

 

BRASELTON, GA (October 12, 2018) – Acura Team Penske’s Ricky Taylor will start fifth in Saturday’s season-ending Petit Le Mans, while Katherine Legge’s #86 Acura NSX GT3 will start from sixth in the GTD class, as she and her Meyer Shank Racing team chase the GTD championship in the final round of the 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

 

In addition to the overall GTD title fight, Acura contends for both the Prototype and GTD manufacturers’ crowns in the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Championship. All will be decided in Saturday’s 10-hour race at Road Atlanta.

 

Earlier today, Acura unveiled an enhanced NSX GT3, designated the NSX GT3 Evo, which will compete on racetracks throughout the world in 2019, including the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Acura NSX GT3 Evo is on display in the Road Atlanta infield “Fan Zone” through this weekend’s Petit Le Mans.

 

Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3

Legge and the MSR team will start their Acura sixth, alongside their championship rivals, Lamborghini drivers Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, who qualified fifth today. Legge trails Sellers and Snow by six points, with up to 35 points on offer in the race. After qualifying sixth today, Alvaro Parente will start the #86 NSX GT3 in the car he shares with Legge and Trent Hindman.

 

In the #93 MSR Acura, Mario Farnbacher will start fourth in the car he shares with regular-season drivers Lawson Aschenbach and Justin Marks, as the trio seek to finish its 2018 season on a high note and support the championship efforts of their teammates.

 

Acura Team Penske Prototype

Acura Team Penske’s Taylor will start on the inside of the third row, fifth, in the #7 ARX-05 he shares with Helio Castroneves and Graham Rahal in search of the team’s second victory of 2018. Taylor and Castroneves led an Acura Team Penske 1-2 finish at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in May.

 

Driving the #6 Acura ARX-05, Juan Pablo Montoya will start eighth before handing over to regular co-driver Dane Cameron and endurance driver Simon Pagenaud.

 

Quotes

Alvaro Parente (driver, #86 Meyer Shank Racing Acura NSX GT3) qualified sixth in GTD: “We weren’t able to extract the same segment time in sector three [the final third of the lap] during qualifying as we did in practice. The car was fine everywhere else. But that little bit cost us grid positions. It’s a long race where anything can happen, so we just need to be smart. My goal is have a clean start and hand over a good car to [co-drivers] Katherine [Legge] and Trent [Hindman], so we are in the best spot possible for the championship. We’ll see what we can do tomorrow!”

 

 

Ricky Taylor (driver, #7 Acura Team Penske ARX-05) qualified fifth: “I mean, it’s good when you’re disappointed with a fifth-place [qualifying run]. We probably didn’t put together the perfect lap. If we had, then maybe we would’ve been fighting for a top three or so. Our Acura has been quick, especially at night. So, the goal for tomorrow is to get through the daylight hours without problems. Then, by about seven or eight o’clock, we should be in really good shape for the closing hours.”

 

Where to watch the Petit Le Mans

The 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season finale Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta starts at 11 a.m. EDT Saturday, October 13. Live television coverage begins on Fox Sports 1 at 10:30 a.m. EDT; then moves to Fox Sports 2 from 12-9:30 p.m.

 

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

 

Social media content and video links from this weekend’s Acura IMSA prototype and GTD racing action are available on HPD’s Facebook page (https://www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD) and on Twitter at (https://twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD).