Strategy Plays Key Role in Acura MSR’s Fourth and Fifth Place Results at Laguna Seca

Salinas, Calif. (May 3, 206) - Acura Meyer Shank Racing (Acura MSR) took on the second round of west coast racing at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca and brought home 4th and 5th place finishes on Sunday. The two-hour and 40 minute race at the iconic track saw a collection of varied strategies amongst the competitors in the top GTP class. 

Tom Blomqvist faced early adversity, making contact on the opening lap that sent the No. 60 into the wall exiting Turn 3 and dropping the Acura to 10th. Despite the setback, Blomqvist managed to continue and minimized further damage before pitting on Lap 12 to hand the car over to Colin Braun. 

As the race progressed, strategy came back into play, and under the first full-course caution with one hour and 20 minutes remaining, the team returned to pit lane for another driver change and replaced the nose on the car. Blomqvist climbed back behind the wheel to masterfully tackle a risky fuel-saving strategy that paid off, as he ended up leading and building a 27-second gap to second while his competitors shuffled in for green-flag pit stops. With 15-minutes remaining, Blomqvist brought the 60 into pit lane on fumes, but resumed in fourth position - where he would finish - marking a valiant fuel saving stint. 

Nick Yelloly qualified the No. 93 Acura on the inside of the second row in third and maintained his position through the opening hour of the race. Opting for a longer first stint, Yelloly brought the car to pit lane on Lap 45 for a full-service stop and driver change. Renger van der Zande took over for the final hour and 40 minutes, rejoining the field in strong contention. During a full-course caution, van der Zande came in for fuel only and lined up second for the restart, keeping the No. 93 Acura firmly in the fight at the front.

But with multiple strategies at play throughout the field, short-fills among the competitors allowed them to shuffle past the No. 93, which sat in P5 through the remaining 20 minutes of the race. 

The next round of IMSA action takes Acura MSR to the streets of Detroit on May 29-30. 

Meyer Shank Racing Driver Quotes:

Nick Yelloly: “P5 for us today and I would say not where we wanted to finish considering we started third. But well-maximized in the end after a very tough race. We need to work on our race pace a little bit more, but we got good points for both cars. We go onto Detroit where we won last year and will try to replicate the win.”

Renger van der Zande: “Interesting day. I think we showed that we are very good in qualifying and a little less in the race and it’s something we need to get better at. The tire wear is a bit too big and it just loses grip over the stint. We look good in the beginning and later on we lose it. Strategy-wise we got out-played a bit by two cars. At the end, we did a lot very well, but just fell a little short to get a podium.” 

Tom Blomqvist: Ultimately we really had good pace today. A shame obviously with what happened at the start, but then you start gambling to take more risk for getting the positions back. Honestly, pretty happy with that middle stint and then overcut the cars ahead and jumped up to P4. So in the end, pretty happy with the result if I’m honest. We started fifth, went to tenth and finished fourth. Up and down, but happy with my performance and with the whole team today. 

Colin Braun: “Big hats off to the strategy guys, they were working hard and working numbers all race, and I feel like we maximized what was possible on the day. Obviously not the first lap you want, but such a great recovery as we kept our heads down and kept digging. Super good job by the guys in the pit stops and made the most out of what we had."