Late pass attempt by Albuquerque “a desperate move” - Derani

The two were pushing through traffic while battling for second overall when the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 of Albuquerque made a run on Derani in the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R. A

The two were pushing through traffic while battling for second overall when the #10 Wayne Taylor Racing Acura ARX-06 of Albuquerque made a run on Derani in the #31 Cadillac V-Series.R. As they approached Turn 1, Albuquerque went to the outside and appeared to push a bumpers-length ahead before slight contact sent him into the tire barriers and out of the fight for the GTP title in the IMSA SportsCar Championship. 

Derani, along with co-driver Alexander Sims, came into the weekend as the championship leaders.

No further action was taken after Race Control reviewed the incident.

“Unfortunate for Filipe, I think he made a desperate move,” Derani told Motorsport.com. “He's been trying to win this championship for a few years, and he truly deserves to, he's an amazing driver.

“I think unfortunate for him, he made a desperate move with still an hour to go. He had enough time to be patient and wait a little bit and maybe use traffic or there was still another pit stop to go.

“He just tried a move on the outside of Turn 1, which we've seen in the past never works; last year the two Ganassis crashed there, and they end up both in the wall. It just never works.

“So, it's unfortunate for him because obviously we would've preferred to fight all the way until the end, but it is what it is and you make your decisions and sometimes it pays off, sometimes it does not.”

Albuquerque was transported to a hospital for further evaluation, but later released and provided an update on his condition, sharing pain in his right hand and back.

Derani and Sims, who were joined by endurance add-on Jack Aitken, finished sixth in the race, which was enough to claim the championship.

Despite exiting an hour from the finish, Albuquerque and co-driver Ricky Taylor ended up finishing second, 21 points behind the Action Express duo.