Front Row Start for Acura at Mid-Ohio


Filipe Albuquerque, Wayne Taylor Racing qualifies second for Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio
Dane Cameron to start third in his Meyer Shank Racing ARX-05
Jeff Kingsley to start eighth in Acura NSX GT3 Evo for Compass Racing

LEXINGTON, Ohio (May 15, 2021) – Rolex 24 at Daytona winner Filipe Albuquerque secured a front-row start for Acura today at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course for Sunday’s Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio, Presented by the TLX Type S. Albuquerque qualified second fastest in the Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 he shares with Ricky Taylor.

The 15-minute session, to set the starting field for this weekend’s endurance classic, saw Dane Cameron also have a strong run, posting the third-fastest time in his Sirius XM Meyer Shank Racing Acura prototype. His co-driver in Sunday’s two-hour, 40-minute race will again be Olivier Pla.

In the production-based GTD category, Jeff Kingsley qualified his Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo eighth in the team’s IMSA debut with Acura, where he will partner with two-time defending series champion Mario Farnbacher. Another 2013 debutant, Till Bechtolscheimer, will start 10th in his Gradient Racing Acura, co-driven by Marc Miller; while John Potter qualified 13th in his Magnus with Archangel NSX he shares with Andy Lally.

Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio, Presented by the TLX Type S Qualifying Results
2nd overall – #10 Ricky Taylor & Filipe Albuquerque, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
3rd overall – #60 Olivier Pla & Dane Cameron, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
8th GTD – #76 Mario Farnbacher & Jeff Kingsley, Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
10th GTD – #66 Mark Miller & Till Bechtolscheimer, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo
13th GTD – #44 Andy Lally & John Potter, Magnus with Archangel Acura NSX GT3 Evo

Quotes
Filipe Albuquerque (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing ARX-05) qualified 2nd: “I’m not going to lie, I’d prefer to be on pole! But starting on the first row is great. Starting on the outside is not ideal here at Mid-Ohio, but we’ve seen that all the prototypes are very close on lap times. I was really happy with the car, it was super close, and shows how competitive this field is. It’s just a little bit wounding on my ego [to wind up second].”

Mario Farnbacher (#76 Compass Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo) on today’s GTD qualifying, the first for Compass Racing with Acura: “First of all, so happy to be back in the IMSA paddock with an Acura NSX. Considering that this program came together really, really quickly, its good. Obviously, we still have a lot of work to do, but we’re improving each session, so we’re definitely going in the right direction. I’m pretty happy with qualifying, now let’s see what we can do in the race tomorrow”

Fast Facts
Acura is undefeated at Mid-Ohio since returning to prototype competition in 2018. Helio Castroneves and Ricky Taylor won for Acura Team Penske in 2018 and 2020; teammates Dane Cameron and Juan Pablo Montoya won for Acura in 2019.

The new Acura TLX Type S is making its public debut in the Acura Fan Zone Display area. Building on a lineage of driver-focused refinement, the all-new TLX Type S is the most powerful Acura sedan ever. The TLX Type S features a dual-scroll turbo V-6 engine that delivers 355 horsepower, sent to all four wheels via rear-biased Super Handling All-Wheel Drive for blistering acceleration and confident handling. 

Two additional GTD teams join the Acura lineup at Mid-Ohio: Compass Racing and Gradient Racing. Gradient Racing returns for a second year of IMSA Sprint Cup competition with the #66 Unit Nutrition Acura NSX GT3 Evo for drivers Marc Miller and Till Bechtolscheimer. Already a successful Acura team in SRO World Challenge America competition, Compass Racing will now also field an NSX GT3 Evo in IMSA for drivers Mario Farnbacher and Jeff Kingsley.

American Honda operates a dozen corporate, manufacturing and R&D facilities in central Ohio, all within a short drive of Mid-Ohio and employing more than 10,000 associates. Many are expected to be on hand this weekend, as Acura teams and drivers seek to extend their string of success in DPi, and add another “double win” with a class victory in the production-based GTD category in the Acura NSX GT3 Evo.

Where to Watch The Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio
Race day television coverage from Mid-Ohio begins at 2:30 p.m. ET Sunday on the NBC Sports Network. Complete, flag-to-flag race coverage also will be available on the NBC Gold Track Pass and the NBC Sports App.

Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and XM Radio channel 392; 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.

Acura Motorsports social media content and video links from the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio can be found on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD). Additional features and long-form videos can be found on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).