Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti (WTRAndretti) opened the 2024 Lamborghini Super Trofeo (LST) North America Championship at Sebring International Raceway. This was the first time competing at the 3.74-mile Sebring International Raceway for LST since 2020. With stable of five entries, across four classes, WTRAndretti came home with two class wins and two additional podiums.

 

For Ryan Norman and Danny Formal, it was the beginning of a new driver pairing as the two aimed to pick up where they both ended 2023. Starting on pole position in PRO for Race 1, it was all about managing and maintaining position in the intense Florida heat. Formal continued to run steady within the leaders of the PRO Class with keeping the front car in sight before handing the reins over. Norman held a podium contention position as the closing minutes neared, but unfortunately, ended the day in fourth of the PRO Class. Race 2 may have been another race day, but the heat conditions remained the same. Norman started in the No. 1 WTRAndretti LST on the outside of the front row. While battling to hold onto a podium position, Norman encountered a mechanical issue that ultimately affected the pace the pair had to compete with the leaders. Formal was able to gain a position in the second half of the 50-minute race to finish fourth in class.

 

Nate Stacy and Nick Persing returned behind the wheel of the No. 8 WTRAndretti LST PRO|AM to kick off their hunt for championship title in 2024. Starting third for Race 1, Stacy and Persing executed flawlessly throughout the first 50-minute race to earn top honors in the PRO|AM class. The pair returned to their 2023 form and captured victory for the season opening race of the year. Once again starting from the third position, Persing continued to showcase the impressive speed that they had in Race 1 working their way once again into the lead. After handing the driver’s seat over to Stacy, it was full focus to the end in hopes of repeating Thursday’s victory, but a mechanical issue brought their day to an early end after stopping on track in Turn 7. 

 

Newcomers to the WTRAndretti stable, Glenn McGee and Anthony McIntosh entered the 2024 LST season as the 2023 AM Champions with efforts to defend their title. Thursday’s Race 1 saw the pair start from pole position and despite the very hot track conditions and finding their groove in their first event of the season, McGee and McIntosh ran a clean race that propelled the duo into a second-place result. Qualifying for Race 2 proved a bit of a challenge for the No. 69 Global Power Components WTRAndretti LST team as they encountered traffic during qualifying to start further back on the grid in seventh. McGee piloted the No. 69 machine to the start and impressively passed several cars on the opening lap of Race 2 to place the team in a prime position for the second half of the race. Once at the wheel, McIntosh was able to navigate to the finish and capture a third-place finish on the day.

 

Moving up a class for 2024, Graham Doyle was eager to begin his debut in the AM Class for the 2024 LST season. Looking to work his way into podium contention early in Race 1, Doyle dropped a wheel and sent the No. 10 DEX Imaging WTRAndretti LST off track, making contact on the opening lap that ended the day for Doyle. Similar to his No. 69 AM teammates, traffic made qualifying for Race 2 difficult for a flying lap and forced Doyle to start ninth for Friday’s race. Starting Race 2, it was all about redemption and track time experience for Doyle and his No. 10 machine, finishing the day where he started in ninth position of the AM Class. 

 

Joining the WTRAndretti stable for the Sebring event, Naveen Rao piloted the No. 32 WTRAndretti LST in the LB Cup for the doubleheader opener. Rao displayed quick speed to earn the pole position in the LB Cup Class for Race 1 and start second in Race 2. Thursday’s Race 1 looked promising for Rao, but unfortunately, the driver of the No. 32 spun off track and dropped back in the field to finish the day in sixth of LB Cup. Rao entered Race 2 with the mission to reach the top step of the podium and with speed in the Florida heat, Rao brought home the LB Cup Class win.

 

The WTRAndretti Lamborghini Super Trofeo stable will continue the season at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca on May 10-12, 2024, for Rounds 3 and 4 of the LST North America Championship.

 

Ryan Norman, No. 1 WTRAndretti LST (PRO): “We had a good start but fell back a bit. Everyone at WTRAndretti is working really hard and I am totally confident that we will be back on track by Laguna Seca. We had a mechanical issue and seemed like we were off pace from the leaders. We will take a look at it and come back even stronger.”

 

Danny Formal, No. 1 WTRAndretti LST(PRO): “Double weekend, two races, two fourth-place finishes. Especially after our incredible 2023 season. But we have the best team in the business. So, we will go back to the drawing board and get the No. 1 WTRAndretti LST back to where it belongs. I love Sebring and it has been a super-hot weekend so far. We had great results apart from that in our program. Some wins yesterday, some wins today.”

 

Nate Stacy, No. 8 WTRAndretti LST (PRO|AM): “Really great racing. Nick did a great job this weekend, driving beyond his years and showing a lot of experience like he was a veteran in the series. I am excited to see him keep growing and getting faster and faster. Unfortunately, in this race we had mechanical issues. It was really unfortunate. The WTRAndretti guys really poured their heart and soul into this weekend. They gave us everything and sometimes you have bad luck. We will take the momentum from the first race (win) and look at what happened the second race and apply to the next one.”

 

Nick Persing, No. 8 WTRAndretti LST (PRO|AM): “Great way to start the weekend, bummer way to end the weekend. Getting the first win for the season is always a great feeling, but leaving the track in this race with a mechanical issue isn’t the best way to end things. We will bounce back. Laguna Seca is my home track so we will be extremely fast there. The team knows the track well in terms of car set up, so we should be good there. Nate and I are looking for this Championship and we are going to keep battling and fight to the end.”

 

Glenn McGee, No. 69 Global Power Components LST (AM): “This weekend was great. First time with Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti with a top-level team. Their professionalism is so high, and I want to match that and try to grow to be a better professional. Super cool for me to be with them, I’m coming from video games and now I with one of the top teams. I just tried to get in the program, work with Danny, Ryan and all the great drivers they have trying to get better learning from them which absolutely helped. Race 1, I think Tony and I had some kinks to work out as drivers; I think our strategy was wrong, we weren’t good on tires, we weren’t good at car placement, we were just kind of out of alignment with everything, it was a tough race for us, but we were about to come home second. In the last race, Race 2, we didn’t get the qualifying session we wanted, we hit traffic in qualifying - we were really on the back foot. Everybody put pressure on me and I’m normal good with pressure, but everybody was piling it on. So, I said, ‘here we go’ and I just sent it around the outside (on the start), just found any gap I could. By the time I got to the hairpin, I think I had passed like 10 cars so that was super fun. The car was very good. I think I might have driven the car so hard that I gave Tony not the best tires. It was just hard to manage. In these conditions, watching Danny and everybody, the laps times fell off so much, I think the conditions were super hard. I’m still developing, and this is a step up for my career. I just really want to learn to be a better professional and learn from top drivers like Danny, and from WTRAndretti. My whole goal is to get better as a driver, I’m already achieving that with this team, so whatever happens it’s going to be great.”

 

Anthony McIntosh, No. 69 Global Power Components LST (AM): “It was a great weekend. A great practice session. Everything went pretty well. I think that we just needed to have more practice for Glenn and myself when temps get really high, and the tires get really worn. The car was perfect, everything was perfect, just our driving needs a little more practice under these conditions at this track. We’re excited to do the rest of the season. It’s going to be a tough season, it’s a whole new AM class.

 

Graham Doyle, No. 10 DEX Imaging WTRAndretti LST (AM): “My first weekend at Sebring and it is double duty both in Super Trofeo and GTD Lamborghinis. We have completed both the Super Trofeo races. Neither one went the way I wanted. The first race ended pretty quickly with a DNF after contact. And the second one, we had some issues at the start of the race, causing us to only make up a few spots from where we started. Definite learning curve, especially coming here on such a hot weekend. Learning everything, learning the bumps definitely took some time. Now I will focus on the GTD car and see what we can do.”

 

 ###

 

ABOUT WAYNE TAYLOR RACING WITH ANDRETTI DRIVER DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM

Based in Indianapolis, Indiana, Wayne Taylor Racing, now with Andretti Global (#WTRAndretti), is a leader in sportscar racing, recognized worldwide for fielding championship winning racing efforts since 2007. WTRAndretti has run a stable of championship winning cars and drivers in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America series for over half a decade, forming the basis of its Driver Development Program. Since its inception in 2015, the team has clinched eight North American PRO Driver, Team and Dealer Championship titles, fielded the first woman World Finals race winner and became the overall 2017 Champions at the World Finals in Imola, Italy. In addition to its Lamborghini Super Trofeo stable, WTRAndretti fields a two-car GTP program with it Championship winning No 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 and No. 40 DEX Imaging Acura ARX-06 effort as well as GTD program with the No. 45 DEX Imaging Lamborghini Huracán GT3 Evo2.

 

For more information on WTRAndretti’s Driver Development Program and how to get involved, contact Travis Houge at info@waynetaylorracing.com .