Ricky Taylor Bangs Way to IMSA WeatherTech Win at Mid-Ohio

Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura DPi came out best in a tense door-banging clash with the Motul Pole Award-winning No. 01 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi driven by Renger van der Zande following a restart after the only full-course caution of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship's Lexus Grand Prix at Mid-Ohio.

The Sunday clash in Mid-Ohio’s famous esses just past the halfway point of the 2-hour, 40-minute contest left van der Zande spinning through Turn 6 across the path of eventual second place finisher Tom Blomqvist in the No. 60 Meyer-Shank with Curb Agajanian Acura DPi, while Taylor accelerated away to a lead he would not relinquish.

The son of Konica Minolta Racing team owner Wayne Taylor teamed with Felipe Albuquerque and crossed the finish line 2.098 seconds ahead of Blomqvist to claim his fourth Mid-Ohio victory in the last five years in the Daytona Prototype international (DPi) class of the WeatherTech Championship.

The Acura ARX-05 DPi prototype is an undefeated five-for-five at a track that Acura and parent company Honda consider a home course. Honda employs more than 16,000 women and men in the state of Ohio.

“It’s amazing to be in Acura’s backyard and Honda’s backyard and there were a lot of associates out here today,” said Taylor, who is a two-time DPi class champion (2017 and ’20). “It’s great to win and represent the brand, because you want to do them justice for how much support they give you.”

IMSA reviewed the contact between van der Zande and Taylor and declared no incident responsibility. Van der Zande and his teammate Sebastien Bourdais, who qualified the No. 01 Cadillac on pole and started the race, were philosophical after finishing fifth.

“I think Seb did a fantastic job putting it in the lead,” said van der Zande. “When I got in, I struggled with the tires on the restart. I tried to keep the position, but lost control of the car by a little touch. It’s tough to keep a fast car behind when dealing with low grip.

“It’s a shame,” he added. “I think we had a good shot at winning with a good car and a good strategy.”

Taylor offered his perspective on the key moment of the race. “I knew he was going to attack after the restart,” he said. “I made a strong move to the outside of Turn 4 and almost went off track. I think he might have lost it a bit in the middle and bumped me two wheels off. Then I did everything I could to carry speed into 5, but it went dead sideways.

“I tried to leave him a car width, but honestly, I couldn’t see whether he was at my door or not,” he continued. “So, I just raced as hard as I could down the hill and I saw him backwards before I turned in.”

Pipo Derani and Tristan Nunez finished third in the No. 31 Action Express Racing Cadillac DPi, followed by Alex Lynn and Earl Bamber in the No. 02 Cadillac Racing Cadillac DPi.

Montoya Bumps His Way to First LMP2 Victory

In Juan Pablo Montoya’s mind, if at first you don’t succeed, try, try again.