HRC USA president David Salters, who is responsible for the ARX-06 program, told Autosport at the season-opening IndyCar round at St. Petersburg last weekend that the reduction of 17kg since the Daytona 24 Hours should give it a better fighting chance on raw pace at Sebring this weekend.
The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura driven by Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor, Colton Herta and Jenson Button finished a distant third at Daytona. Its cars could only qualify fifth and sixth in the 10-car GTP field, Acura having swept to pole position and won there in 2023 with Meyer Shank Racing.
Last season, Acura was right in the title fight with Cadillac in the final round at Petit Le Mans – and only lost out following a late-race clash between its star driver Filipe Albuquerque and Caddy’s Pipo Derani, the latter going on to win the title with Alexander Sims.
Since then, the Acura was slapped with significant extra ballast on IMSA’s BoP calculations, which have changed in ethos for this season to be reactive to recent races and past events at each track.
“We have a very heavy car,” Salters told Autosport at Daytona, who was at pains to point out he wasn’t complaining about the BoP. “I took [the weight penalty] as a compliment! We’ve done such a good job, so it’s a great compliment to our boys and girls.
“Heavy cars are not the kindest things on their tyres. Physics is physics, and weight affects all aspects of the car: tyres, braking, turning and accelerating.”
Source: Autosport