The 2023 WEC Champion and Two-Time Rolex 24 Winner Bolster the Team’s Two-Car Acura GTP Lineup
DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. – By naming Brendon Hartley and Colton Herta to the team’s two-car lineup for the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup events, Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport today added a pair of IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race winners who’ve seen great success in other series.
Hartley will join Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 WTRAndretti Acura ARX-06 for the five endurance races in 2024. Herta will team with Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor in the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 as the team expands to two entries in the Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class.
Hartley is fresh off winning his fourth FIA World Endurance Championship driver’s championship and second straight with Toyota Gazoo Racing in the Hypercar class. The 33-year-old New Zealander is a three-time overall winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He was part of the winning team at the 2017 Motul Petit Le Mans with Tequila Patron ESM and has driven in two recent races for WTRAndretti, the 2022 Petit Le Mans and this year’s Rolex 24 At Daytona.
“I really enjoyed my time with WTRAndretti at Petit last year and Daytona this year, so I jumped at the opportunity to compete in the endurance races in 2024 when Wayne called me,” Hartley said. “WTRAndretti knows how to win and going to a two-car team will strengthen the whole operation even further.”
Herta, the son of IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge team owner Bryan Herta, has seven IndyCar Series wins in a career that began full time in 2019 – the same year he made his WeatherTech Championship debut with a GT Le Mans (GTLM) class win at the Rolex 24 for BMW Team RLL. He added a second Rolex 24 victory in 2022, driving for DragonSpeed USA in the Le Mans Prototype 2 (LMP2) class.
“It’s super exciting to join such a prestigious team like WTRAndretti for the endurance events,” said Herta, 23. “They’ve shown how successful they can be in the past and I’m looking forward to hopefully adding to that!”
With the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup growing to five events in 2024, the importance of adding quality third drivers cannot be underestimated. Wayne Taylor, team principal at WTRAndretti, was pleased to bring Hartley back into the fold and add Herta from Andretti Autosport’s IndyCar Series roster. Additional drivers for the Rolex 24 will be named at a later date.
“It’s exciting that we’ve managed to get the services of Brendon Hartley again and Colton Herta as our third drivers who will be doing the IMEC,” Taylor said. “Brendon has driven for us before, and we’ve got to know him really well. Obviously, Colton is a part of the Andretti Global group, which opened the door for us with him. He’s won Daytona in a GT car and drove a LMDh car last year and did a really good job. I’m really excited about having both Brendon and Colton on board.”
The 2024 WeatherTech Championship season opens with the 62nd running of the Rolex 24 on Jan. 27-28. The unofficial kickoff for the season comes Jan. 19-21 with the Roar Before the Rolex 24, three days of testing on Daytona International Speedway’s 3.56-mile road course. To attend one of the most anticipated motorsports events of the year, visit daytonainternationalspeedway.com.