- Meyer Shank Racing #60 Acura ARX-06 to start third in Sunday's Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks
- Ricky Taylor qualifies #10 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura fifth on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course
- Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti to start 12th in GTD; Gradient Racing qualifies 15th
Tom Blomqvist led the Acura effort today on the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course, qualifying third in the #60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06 prototype he will share with Colin Braun in Sunday's two-hour, 40-minute contest. The Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks marks the return of IMSA sports car racing to the famed circuit for the first time since 2014.
The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport duo of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque will line up fifth in their #10 Acura, with Taylor piloting the ARX-06 in qualifying today around the 2.439-mile Indy road course.
Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
In the production-based GTD category, Ashton Harrison qualified her #93 Racers Edge Motorsports with WRTAndretti Acura 12th in class; and will start tomorrow's race before handing over the driving duties to Kyle Marcelli. In the #66 Gradient Racing NSX GT3 Evo22, Sheena Monk qualified 15th in the car she shares with Katherine Legge.
Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks Acura Qualifying Results
- 3rd overall - #60 Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06
- 5th overall - #10 Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport Acura ARX-06
- 12th GTD - #93 Ashton Harrison and Kyle Marcelli, Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
- 15th GTD - #66 Sheena Monk and Katherine Legge, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22
Fast Facts
- This will be Acura's first official appearance in an IMSA event at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
- Honda Performance Development, however, supported customer team Extreme Speed Motorsports in 2014, when the Florida-based team campaigned a pair of Honda-powered ARX-03b chassis in IMSA's Tudor United Sports Car Championship, including the Brickyard Grand Prix at IMS.
- ESM swept the front row in qualifying, with Ryan Dalziel and Scott Sharp starting from the pole in their ARX-03b; while teammates Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek started second. Race day was not as successful, however, as ESM finished fifth and seventh in the two-hour, 45-minute event.
Quotes
Tom Blomqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-06) Qualified third: "I'm happy about it. I think that was the best we could have done. The Penske's have been strong. It's hard out there. The grip level is so low, and everyone is sliding all over the place and locking up tires. I think I did a good job tidying everything up for that lap. I'm excited for tomorrow. I think we can have a good race and win from there for sure. That's the target. At the end of the day, you're not going to win the race in the first corner, you're going to lose it, as the saying goes. It's going to be especially true in this case with the tires we have. The goal is to stay out of trouble, but if the opportunity arises, you have to take it. We'll see."
Ashton Harrison (#93 Racers Edge Motorsports with WTRAndretti Acura NSX GT3 Evo22) Qualified 12th in GTD: "The Racers Edge guys did a great job getting our Acura dialed in for qualifying. We're starting 12th, which sounds pretty far back but everyone's lap times are really close, so I feel good. I feel confident in our NSX and our plan is to go out there and do our best and at the end of the day hope to bring home a trophy."
Where to Watch the Tirerack.com Battle on the Bricks
Live, flag-to-flag coverage from the Indianapolis Motor Speedway will be available on NBC starting at 1 p.m. EDT Sunday, with live streaming on NBC Peacock.
Fans can listen to audio commentary via IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and Sirius XM Radio; 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 can be found on:
- Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd)
- TikTok (www.tiktok.com/hondaracing_hpd)
- Twitter (www.twitter.com/HondaRacing_Hpd)
- Facebook (www.facebook.com/HondaRacingHPD)
- YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV)
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