Albuquerque, Taylor, WTR Win Messy IMSA Enduro at Road America
Photo: Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
By Dennis Krause
Varying pit strategies, mechanical black flags, numerous drive-thru penalties and, of course, long, full-course caution periods for accidents. Sunday’s six-hour IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Motul Sports Car Endurance Grand Prix at Elkhart Lake’s Road America had them all - in spades.
In the end, it came down to a 10-minute sprint to the checkered flag that ended as soon as it began. When the green flag waved, Kevin Estre in the No. 6 Porsche Penske Motorsports Porsche 963 and Jack Aitken’s No. 31 Cadillac Whelen Cadillac V-Series.R tangled at the end of the front straight while battling for second place, sending both into the gravel and handing the win to the No.10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor - wait for it - behind the safety car.
It was the first win in more than two years for Wayne Taylor Racing, and the first since since the team switched back to Cadillac from Acura.
“I don't know any more this feeling, it's been a while,” exclaimed Albuquerque. “But winning is so special.
“It's more than a win. We've been winning more races, but this feels way more special than others, almost a like championship, because of how much we overcame and being together as a team and been working hard. When you come from the bottom to the top, prove yourself to everybody that you can still do is a great, great feeling.”
Taylor, his co-driver, agreed.
“Yeah, I think for all of us, it's a big relief. But nobody on the team, obviously like since changing manufacturers, we haven't performed at the level I think the expectations were. The results weren't coming. The confidence was dropping. Everybody starts doubting themselves.
“But I think the important thing is that the team never blamed each other. We just kept working harder and harder and harder, and the results weren't coming. So now to have a result, I feel like the way the race went, it wasn't a lucky one, the team did everything right. We were sort of in the race for the second half of the race, fighting for the win.
“I just think it's awesome that Filipe was in the car at the end,” Taylor added. “The relationship we've had since 2021, we work so well together on and off the track. I think to share it with him, obviously the team is tight-knit, it's more than a family team. Everybody on the team feels like family at this point. I think for everybody, it's a huge relief and nice testament to the work that everybody's doing.”
Photo: Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
Whatever it is, the way you tell your story online can make all the difference.
As the No. 10 Caddy was the only car in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class that wasn’t called into the pits for a penalty during the race, how much did that play into the win considering all the carnage towards the end?
“That's a good question because -- you tell me, because from what I was sitting, I think we deserved the win even if we didn't have any penalty,” Albuquerque said. “We were flawless in the penalties. I think when we look at the standings, so many DNF's, I think it's easy to see so many DNF's and obviously a win.
“I think we were controlling the race and the pace. It was elbows out, like when we see the Porsche, fighting hard with nothing to lose, that was hectic.
“For sure, IMSA is on the path of policing us. I think sometimes it was a bit too harsh for some other guys. In my opinion I think it was too harsh. For others I understand.
“A good example of that was my pass on Jack Aitken on the outside. In a normal situation, that was a good example to shove me off. He give me space to stay on the outside. That's good racing.
“It's just up to us to adapt to these new IMSA style. I think where we are going towards, it's positive. I think we still need to get the consistent there.”
Photo: Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
In Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2), it was the No. 43 Inter Europol Competition ORECA LMP2 07 driven by Tom Dillman, Bijoy Greg and Jeremy Clarke that came home the winners. The racing in LMP2 was chippy, as well, with a lot going on, according to Dillman.
“There was a lot going on,” Dillman acknowledged. “We really had good pace in the car. We worked really well last week. We were very strong on fuel, as well.
“So, to me out of the four wins we have [this] is the one I felt we are the most dominant. Let's say I felt like we had our hand on the field today. It was about executing. You never know. You need so many parameters to work well to win these kind of races.
“But yeah, when you have the pace, it helps.”
While there were some full course yellows that didn’t go the team’s way earlier in the race. But the last couple in the race worked out for team, Dillman conceded.
“Yeah, the work we did in the test paid dividend today. My two teammates did a great job. I think we had the best bronze [Clarke] and the best silver [Garg] in the field today. We were a bit unlucky at times. Especially with the yellow, we were leading by 20 seconds, got a bad yellow.
“In the end we had the race under control. It was not a gamble for us. We saw the chance of a yellow coming was higher than not. So yeah, I could control the race, a lot of restarts obviously with all the yellows. I think we had a lot of pace in the car to control it today.”
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
Sandy Mitchell and Andrea Calderelli scored the first win for the new Lamborghini Temerario GT3 in Grand Touring Daytona PRO (GTP PRO). While the first half of the race seemed to be dominated by the Porsche 911 GT3 R EVO of the No. 77 AO Racing and No. 911 Manthey teams, the Lambo was able to gain position by some great strategy calls by the Pfaff Motorsports team, and a bit of luck, Calderelli said.
“Yeah, I think the Porsches, they looked very fast, even yesterday in qualifying. At the beginning we were just holding position, then we got couple of good calls on the pit. There was one yellow, the last one, that we changed from Sandy to myself, which we pit and the yellow came just a couple of laps after. That gave us, like, another position.
“Then there was one yellow more than that actually I'm really proud with the team and the communication we had because I was out there, because we were off sync with the strategy. They told me in the beginning to save energy during the yellow, then the end they said push, push, push, because there were people in the pit lane.
“I found a Prototype in front of me which was going really slow. I push him hard to speed up, flashing (his lights), almost hitting him behind - not hitting him, but almost (smiling). That actually gave us the P1 that we kept until the end. We crossed the line and all the cars came out of the pit behind me.
“I think was a bit of luck, but the same time was a massive strategy job from the guys.”
Photo: Brandon Badraoui/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
Calderelli added it was absolutely massive for the team to get a win in the Temerario’s first year on track.
“Yeah, I'm coming into my 10th year in Lamborghini. I feel like I am a part of the wall back in Italy of the office (smiling).
“It feels really special because I saw where we were last year, literally one year ago, 12 months ago. To come here and win, it's insane to think about in 12 months what the guys in Italy have done because, yeah, we don't have to underestimate how hard is for a small group of people.
“At the end of the day,” Calderelli continued, “we are not as big as other manufacturers. To start the project from zero, knowing that anything can go wrong and good. You never know with a new car. To react all the time, when there is a problem, and this result really show how dynamic we are and how we really care about this project.”
Photo: Jake Galstad/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
It was the tried and true No. 57 Winward Racing Mercedes-AMG GT3, driven by Russell Ward, Philip Ellis and Indy Dontje that took top honers in Grand Touring Daytona (GTD). It was the third win of the year for the team and second straight. After an uncharacteristic lull for the team, it appears the pendulum is swinging back in their favor.
“The bad luck we've had throughout the year has been a result of other competitors' poor driving,” Russell said, “crashing early in these endurance races, taking us out. When we can have some semi-clean racing, this is what this team is capable of.”
Ellis admitted it wasn’t a perfect race for the Winward team.
“I think we struggled a bit with the car balance, a bit with just our pace today. A lot of people trying different things to get in front of us in pit stops. We usually beat everybody. A lot of people started gambling on full course yellows. Made it a lot more difficult today.
“The crew had perfect pit stops. Russell and Indy did a good job as well keeping the car in one piece but also making up the positions on track again and taking opportunities when it arrived.”
Photo: Michael L. Levitt/Lumen Digital Agency/IMSA
According to Russell, the key was just executing the fundamentals.
“I think it's just a combination of things. We kind of raced this like an endurance race, really focused on the final pit stop, making sure that we pushed the fuel all the way to the end as far as we could. Then at the end kind of jumped a couple of people.
“I think it's just a combination of how good the Mercedes AMG is around this place, and good strategy on our part.”
A six-hour race at Road America was something fans wanted to see for a long, long time. Now that they’ve had one, what more can be done to make it better?
Race runner-up, Laurin Heinrich, co-driving the No. 5 JDC-Miller Motorsports Porsche 963 had a suggestion.
“I think the first step would be to try to get a bit more green flag out of the six-hour because it was quite a lot of yellows.
“But it was cool. I said before, this place, it deserves an endurance race. It's so historic. I think we all love driving around here.
“People ask me if I like this track,” Heinrich coninued, “and I have, before coming here, only competed here in GT and the 911, it is not the strongest car around this place. Competing in a Porsche in GT was not easy for me. Now coming in, the Prototype is one of the best experiences you can have as a racing driver. It being an endurance, with so many cars on track, it asks a lot from us drivers and the teams to be on the podium.”
Albuquerque added, “I think if you want more action than this, this is crazy (smiling). Up to the last laps...
“I love it here. I mean, I think it makes sense to have a six-hour race here. The crowd is incredible coming around. Again, IMSA never fails to put a show on. I think it's spot on. Let's just enjoy the moment.”
IMSA’s GT classes will have the spotlight to themselves for the only time in 2026 at the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, set for August 21-23 at VIRginia International Raceway. The next round for all classes of the WeatherTech Championship is the TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks, September 18-20 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Dennis Krause has spent decades covering all forms of motorsports, including over 40 Indianapolis 500s, with stints at WIBA Radio, PIT PASS - Radio’s Premier Motorsports Magazine and Motorsports Minute.