Blomqvist Scores Sixth Acura Pole of 2022

October 1, 2022

  • Tom Blomqvist’s near-record run sees Meyer Shank Racing’s Acura ARX-05 on the pole for Saturday’s season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta
  • Ricky Taylor to begin third for Wayne Taylor Racing as the 2 Acura groups duel for the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports activities Automotive Championship title
  • Gradient Racing NSX GT-3 Evo22 will begin 14th in GTD

Setting a blistering tempo across the difficult Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta highway course, Tom Blomqvist claimed the pole for Saturday’s IMSA season-ending Motul Petit Le Mans sports activities automotive race in his Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05.

Acura’s sixth pole of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports activities Automotive Championship additionally solidified the Producers’ Championship for Acura, which can turn out to be official with the drop of the inexperienced flag beginning tomorrow’s 10-hour endurance contest.

Blomqvist’s pole lap of 1:08.555 was only a tenth of a second off the present observe file; and units the stage for a battle with fellow Acura racers Wayne Taylor Racing for the 2022 IMSA drivers’ and groups’ championships. The workforce with the higher end tomorrow will declare each championships in IMSA’s premier Daytona Prototype Worldwide (DPi) division.

Within the production-based GTD class, an electronics challenge resulted in driver Until Bechtolsheimer pitting the #66 Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo2 after solely 5 laps. He’ll begin 14th within the automotive he shares with co-drivers Mario Farnbacher and Kyffin Simpson.

Petit Le Mans Acura Qualifying Outcomes

  • 1st total – #60 Tom Blomqvist, Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
  • third total – #10 Ricky Taylor, Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05 DPi
  • 14th GTD – #66 Until Bechtolsheimer, Gradient Racing Acura NSX GT3 Evo22

Quotes
Tom Blomqvist (#60 Meyer Shank Racing Acura ARX-05) pole qualifier, his third pole of 2022 and sixth pole for Acura: “We actually wanted to out-qualify the #10 [Wayne Taylor Racing Acura] to maintain the strain on them. Tomorrow goes to be fierce. It’s ten hours of ‘preventing in shut quarters’. I’ve to be grateful to the girls and boys at MSR for giving me such an important automotive right now. It was fabulous, I actually loved each lap of qualifying. It was mega to have the ability to push the automotive to absolutely the restrict. This race is extraordinarily troublesome. It’s a brief lap, and we’ve acquired 43 vehicles on the market, so the site visitors by no means lets up. Then going into the evening [for the final hours of a race that ends at 10 p.m. EDT] makes every part much more troublesome. However that is the place champions are made, so hopefully we’ll come out on the best facet of that battle.”

Ricky Taylor (#10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-05) certified third: “Good job to Tom [Blomqvist] and his workforce, they did an important effort right now. I believe there was a bit extra time in our automotive right now, however they put numerous emphasis on qualifying right now and it paid off. Now it’s a heads-up race between us and something can occur. It’s an extended race, and infrequently comes right down to the ultimate hour.”

Quick Details

  • That is the sixth IMSA pole of the season for Acura. On the season-opening Rolex 24 at Daytona, Albuquerque and Taylor mixed to win the qualifying race that set the beginning discipline; and Taylor led one other Acura front-row qualifying sweep at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca. Blomqvist scored consecutive poles at Watkins Glen Worldwide Raceway and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park; adopted by Albuquerque’s at Street America in August.
  • Propelled by 5 wins this season, together with Acura’s second consecutive victory on the Rolex 24 at Daytona, Acura will clinch the 2022 IMSA Producers’ Championship with the waving of the inexperienced flag Saturday at Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta.
  • That is Acura’s third IMSA Producers’ Championship in 5 seasons of prototype competitors in IMSA’s premier DPi class. The opposite title years have been 2019 and 2020.
  • Acura and Wayne Taylor Racing additionally gained the Michelin Endurance Cup in 2021 for outcomes scored within the 4 long-distance races on the schedule: Daytona, Sebring, Watkins Glen and Street Atlanta.
  • The 2022 Drivers’ and Group’s DPi championships will probably be determined between the 2 Acura ARX-05 groups: Meyer Shank Racing (MSR) and Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR).

The place to Watch Saturday’s Petit Le Mans
Dwell community tv protection from Michelin Raceway Street Atlanta begins at 12 p.m. ET Saturday for 3 hours on NBC. Protection then returns from 7 p.m. ET to the end on USA Community. Dwell streaming flag-to-flag race protection will probably be obtainable on NBC Peacock.

Followers can hearken to audio commentary by way of IMSA.com, RadioLeMans.com and XM Radio; and comply with the race dwell by way of in-car cameras, IMSA Radio and timing & scoring obtainable worldwide on IMSA.com and the IMSA cellular gadget App.

Acura Motorsports social media content material and video hyperlinks from Street Atlanta may be discovered on Instagram (www.instagram.com/hondaracing_hpd), Twitter (twitter.com/HondaRacing_HPD) and Fb (www.fb.com/HondaRacingHPD). Further options and long-form movies may be discovered on the Honda Racing/HPD YouTube channel (https://www.youtube.com/HondaRacingHPDTV).

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