Albuquerque Heads to Road America with Nothing to Lose
(Photo credit: IMSA/Geoffrey M. Miller/LAT Images)
It’s not a position he’s accustomed to being in — sixth place in the GTP class of IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with three races to go and for all intents and purposes, out of the hunt for the title.
So along with co-driver Ricky Taylor, Filipe Albuquerque is approaching this weekend’s two-hour, 40-minute race at Elkhart Lake’s Road America with nothing to lose.
“Unfortunately, Watkins Glen, that failure that we had in a wheel completely put us completely out of the championship,” said Albuquerque. “We were already in a tough position. But now we just go for single wins. Put all the risks we have and make it happen. Without saying, I mean, we need the luck to kind of start turning around and eventually we can make something happen.
“Road America, in the past, we won there,” Albuquerque continued. “We were competitive last year. So I just hope that we can be again competitive. We just need to hit our marks, try to do the pole position. And then give the car in P1.
“At this point, second place doesn't mean anything for us. It’s definitely a win or nothing. And, like in the past, I don't know three seasons, at least three seasons, at this stage, we start managing the drivers that are not fighting for the championship. Now we are in a completely different position, which it's about the ones that are fighting for the championship to take care of us that we have nothing to lose. So it's not completely a total bad thing. But we go for single wins, me and Ricky.”
(Photo credit: IMSA/Richard Dole/LAT Images)
Albuquerque’s Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti teammates in the No. 40 car, Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor, are in a better points position in fourth place in the standings, but still need help if they are to contend for the championship. If the opportunity arises, Albuquerque says he’d be happy to support them.
“100%. We are going to try to help them as much as we can. And if that will cost us a win, we will back off for them to win. It's those things that we talked about in the past about what if this situation happens or not, but I take it without any team call needed. Because I'm a team player and know the situation.
“In the end of the day, we are working for a manufacturer which is Acura. And in the end of the day, we are where we are for different reasons. And they are a bit ahead on the road. So, if they can go further when we go to support them as much as they can and take it like more bold strategy and car setup to see if it works. Because we are the ones with nothing to lose.”
(Photo credit: IMSA/Geoffrey M. Miller/LAT Images)
Albuquerque and Taylor sat on the pole at Road America and won outright in 2022. With the latest Balance of Performance adjustments in place, Albuquerque is unsure how his No. 10 Konica Minolta Acura ARX-06 GTP will respond.
“Basically, I think it's fine because it's a lot of grip (at recently repaved Road America). I think our car answers well to a lot of grip. Although, I mean, I've been looking at how historically we drove last year when we were going to tracks but now we have BoP in place. And we've seen already the BoP coming for Road America. And again, it's very different than last year. So I cannot compare to how our pace was in 2023 because the BoP is going to be completely different.
“I think it's going to be around 30-kilos difference to the BMW,” Albuquerque noted. “IMSA is doing the best they can to to be fair and square. So I can expect again a race that is competitive and hard to do so we will see again a lot of question marks. We tested there, we were happy with the car balance.
“(We’re) trying more stuff (in the simulator) to make the car go faster but again, the other guys are doing that (too), so it's never easy.”
While it can be liberating to just race for the win and not be concerned about the championship, it’s not a position Albuquerque prefers to be in.