HRC USA president David Salters, who’s answerable for the ARX-06 program, advised Motorsport.com on the season-opening IndyCar Sequence spherical at St. Petersburg final weekend that the discount of 17kg for the reason that Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona ought to give it a greater combating probability on uncooked tempo at Sebring this weekend.
The Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura pushed by Louis Deletraz, Jordan Taylor, Colton Herta and Jenson Button completed a distant third at Daytona. Its automobiles might solely qualify fifth and sixth within the 10-car GTP discipline, Acura having swept to pole place and received there in 2023 with Meyer Shank Racing.
Final season, Acura was proper within the title struggle with Cadillac within the ultimate spherical at Petit Le Mans – and solely misplaced out following a late-race conflict between its star driver Filipe Albuquerque and Caddy’s Pipo Derani, the latter happening to win the title with Alexander Sims.
Since then, the Acura was slapped with vital further ballast on IMSA’s BoP calculations, which have modified in ethos for this season to be reactive to current races and previous occasions at every observe.
“We’ve a really heavy automotive,” Salters advised Motorsport.com at Daytona, who was at pains to level out he wasn’t complaining concerning the BoP. “I took [the weight penalty] as a praise! We’ve carried out such a superb job, so it’s an excellent praise to our girls and boys.
“Heavy automobiles should not the kindest issues on their tires. Physics is physics, and weight impacts all elements of the automotive: tires, braking, turning and accelerating.”
#40 Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Acura ARX-06: Jordan Taylor, Louis Deletraz, Colton Herta, Jenson Button
Photograph by: Jake Galstad / Motorsport Photos
When requested why he thought Acura’s BoP for the Rolex 24 was so drastic by way of the burden gained, Salters replied: “It’s plainly a query finest requested to IMSA. It’s simulation-based.
“They’re making an attempt to get all of the automobiles to be equal and I assume, by way of figuring out what the aero is and figuring out they will steadiness that with energy and weight, they do their simulation.”
However IMSA has now reacted to its real-world findings from Daytona, with the pace-setting Cadillac hit by a 30kg enhance, which suggests it is going to be 22kgs heavier than when it received at Sebring final yr at 1060kg.
As compared, the Acura will run at 1055kg, however Caddy’s V-Sequence.R has additionally been given a 10kW energy enhance to compensate.
In one other twist, the Daytona-winning Porsche 963 has been trimmed of 2kg to 1049kg, however been given a 11kW energy discount. In addition to its weight discount, which nonetheless makes it the second-heaviest automotive within the discipline 5kg behind the Cadillac, the Acura has had its energy output stemmed by 8kW.
Lamborghini SC63
Photograph by: Lamborghini Squadra Corse
Intriguingly, Lamborghini’s new SC63 LMDh entry, which makes its IMSA SportsCar debut within the GTP class, would be the second-lightest entry at 1044kg – 14kg heavier than the BMW M Hybrid V8.
The Iron Lynx-run automotive can even be the third-most highly effective automotive on the grid, behind the Cadillac and BMW.
IMSA GTP Steadiness of Efficiency (weight v energy)
Acura ARX-06
1055kg
512kW
BMW M Hybrid V8
1030kg
506kW
Cadillac V-Sequence.R
1060kg
520kW
Lamborghini SC63
1044kg
513kW
Porsche 963
1049kg
508kW
