Wayne Taylor | |
---|---|
Nationality | South African |
Born | Port Elizabeth, Eastern Cape, South Africa | 15 July 1956
Related to | Jordan Taylor (son) Ricky Taylor (son) |
24 Hours of Le Mans career | |
Years | 1987–1993, 1996–1998, 2000–2002 |
Best finish | 4th (1987) |
Class wins | 1 (1998) |
Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956) is a South African sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. He drove for SunTrust Racing with Max Angelelli. He co-drove in the 2006 International Race of Champions in the United States with Angelelli. Taylor now owns and manages his own team competing in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
He won the 1986 South African National Drivers Championship. In 1987 he finished fourth in the 24 Hours of Le Mans. He moved to the FIA World Sportscar Championship. He competed in the C2 class in 1988, and moved to the C1 class in 1989. He also competed in the IMSA Camel GT series from 1989 through 1993. From 1991 through 1993, he was one of the lead drivers for the Intrepid RM-1 GTP program.
He won the IMSA WSC class in 1994, with second-place finishes in the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring. Taylor won the 1996 24 hours of Daytona and 1996 12 hours of Sebring with Scott Sharp and Jim Pace (racing driver) in a Riley & Scott Mk III Oldsmobile.
He was once more IMSA WSC champion in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. In 1998 he won the Petit Le Mans and the prototype class in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
He competed in the American Le Mans Series in 1999. From 2000 to 2002, he was a central part of the Cadillac Le Mans effort. It was handled by his long-time technical partner in 2000 Bob Riley before the chassis program was moved in England and an updated car was built for 2001, followed by a completely new car, the LMP-02, in 2002. Unfortunately, it was not successful against Audi's R8 and even privately entered LMPs, so GM discontinued the program at the end of the year. Taylor tried to secure funding to run a privateer effort with the car, but instead eventually continued with Cadillac in the Speed World Challenge CTS-V effort.
With Max Angelelli, he was co-champion in the Daytona Prototype category of the 2005 Grand American Road Racing Association Rolex Sports Car Series, and the pair also took the overall win in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
In 2006, Wayne and his Grand-Am teammate, Max Angelelli made IROC Series history becoming the first tandem of drivers to compete in one car during an IROC season. They each raced two races and points were combined for their tally as they are in the sportscar series.
In mid-2006, Taylor announced a split with car builder Bob Riley and formed Wayne Taylor Racing for the 2007 season with continued backing from SunTrust, and Angelelli as co-driver. The team is based in Indianapolis. Early in 2007, Taylor stepped away from full-time driving and used a host of fill in drivers before naming Michael Valiante to team up with Angelelli full-time in 2008. Taylor continues to drive in the long distance events. The team continued to field Riley Chassis in 2007 before switching to the new Dallara chassis after the 2008 24 Hours of Daytona. In May 2008, the team's transporter caught fire and destroyed it, the new Dallara and all of their equipment. The team fielded their old Riley with borrowed equipment until a new Dallara could be built and shipped to the US. On 23 August, the team scored their first win of the year and the first for Dallara in Grand-Am at Infineon Raceway California.
Taylor's team won its second Grand-Am championship in 2013 with Angelelli co-driving with his son Jordan Taylor. Wayne's older son Ricky Taylor is also a Grand-Am regular and was Angelelli's regular teammate until Jordan replaced him in 2013.
(key)(Races in bold indicate pole position, Results are overall/class)
Year | Team | Class | Make | Engine | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | Rank | Points |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
2014 | Wayne Taylor Racing | P | Dallara Corvette DP | Chevrolet 5.5L V8 | DAY 2 | SIR | LBH | LS | DET | S6H | MSP | IMS | ELK | COA | PET | 42nd | 33 |
(key) (Bold – Pole position. * – Most laps led.)
International Race of Champions results | ||||||||
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
Season | Make | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Pos. | Points | Ref |
2006 | Pontiac | DAY 6 | TEX | DAY | ATL 11 | 9th1 | 30 | [1] |
1 Ride shared with Max Angelelli
Sports car racing is a form of motorsport road racing which utilises sports cars that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built prototypes or grand tourers based on road-going models. Sports car racing is one of the main types of circuit auto racing, alongside open-wheel racing, touring car racing and stock car racing. Sports car races are often, though not always, endurance races that are run over particularly long distances or large amounts of time, resulting in a larger emphasis on the reliability and efficiency of the car and its drivers as opposed to outright car performance or driver skills. The FIA World Endurance Championship is an example of one of the best known sports car racing series.
Massimiliano Angelelli is a retired Italian racecar driver. He won the 2005 and 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2001 Six Hours at the Glen. Also he was the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series champion in 2005 and 2013, as well as runner-up in 2010 and 2011.
William Anthony Auberlen is an American factory race car driver known for his affiliation with BMW, driving cars made and run by the famous German marque for a number of years. Auberlen currently competes for Turner Motorsport in the IMSA SportsCar Championship and Michelin Pilot Challenge. He is the winningest driver in IMSA history.
A Le Mans Prototype (LMP) is a type of sports prototype race car used in various races and championships, including the 24 Hours of Le Mans, FIA World Endurance Championship, IMSA SportsCar Championship, European Le Mans Series and Asian Le Mans Series. Le Mans Prototypes were created by the Automobile Club de l'Ouest (ACO). The technical requirements for an LMP include bodywork covering all mechanical elements of the car. As of 2023, there are two classes within Le Mans Prototypes, designated LMP2 and LMP3.
The Ferrari 333 SP is a sports prototype race car designed by Ferrari that was built by Italian race car manufacturer Dallara and later Michelotto to compete in the World Sports Car championship for Ferrari. Unveiled at the end of 1993, at the behest of amateur racer Giampiero Moretti, the 333 SP marked Ferrari's official return to sports car racing after a 20-year absence. The car was built to compete in the IMSA's new WSC class, which replaced the previous GTP cars.
Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) is a sports car racing team that was founded in 2004 by racing driver Wayne Taylor. In 2023, the team began a partnership with Andretti Autosport that also saw them rebrand as Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport (WTRAndretti). The team currently competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, campaigning the No. 10 Konica Minolta-sponsored Acura ARX-06 for Filipe Albuquerque and Ricky Taylor and the No. 40 DEX Imaging-sponsored Acura ARX-06 for Jordan Taylor and Louis Delétraz in the GTP class, and the No. 45 Lamborghini Huracán GT3 EVO2 for Kyle Marcelli and Danny Formal in the GTD class, also sponsored by DEX Imaging.
Krohn Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Houston, Texas. The team competes in the IMSA TUDOR United SportsCar Championship Prototype class, and has competed in the FIA World Endurance Championship, Intercontinental Le Mans Cup GTE-Amateur class; the American Le Mans Series GT2 class; and the Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class.
A Daytona Prototype was a type of sports prototype racing car developed specifically for the Grand American Road Racing Association's Rolex Sports Car Series as their top class of car, which replaced their main prototype racing class, specifically Le Mans Prototypes (LMPs). The cars later competed in the merged series of the IMSA SportsCar Championship, from 2014 to 2016, before being phased out and replaced by the Daytona Prototype International class in 2017. They are named after the main series event, the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
The FIA Sportscar Championship was a sports car racing series created by John Mangoletsi and got the approval of the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) in 2001. It was a series similar to the FIA GT Championship, concentrating on two classes of open-cockpit sports prototypes in endurance races mostly around Europe. The series was folded after the 2003 season.
Dyson Racing is a professional sports car racing team based in Poughkeepsie, New York in the United States. Founded by Rob Dyson in 1974, the team competed successfully in North American sports car racing series, including the IMSA GT Championship and American Le Mans Series.
The Dallara SP1, also known as the Chrysler LMP, was a Le Mans Prototype built by Italian firm Dallara. Initially used as part of Chrysler Corporation's attempt to win the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the cars were later sold to customers for use series such as the FIA Sportscar Championship and Le Mans Series.
João Ricardo da Silva Coelho Barbosa is a Portuguese auto racing driver. He currently competes in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship for Sean Creech Motorsport in the LMP3 class.
The Riley & Scott Mark III was a sports prototype auto racing car developed by Bob Riley, Bill Riley and Mark Scott of Riley & Scott Cars Inc. Initially designed in 1993, the car was created for the World Sports Car (WSC) category which was to debut in the North American IMSA GT Championship during their 1994 season. It was not until 1995 that the first Mk III was completed, but the construction of further cars allowed a variety of teams to campaign in several North American and European racing series, including competing at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Terry Borcheller is an American professional racing driver who races in the Grand American Road Racing Association Rolex Sports Car Series and American Le Mans Series.
Spirit of Daytona Racing was an auto racing team that competed last in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Class with the No. 90 Cadillac DPi-V.R, driven by Tristan Vautier, Matt McMurry and Eddie Cheever III.
Meyer Shank Racing is an American motorsport organization that competes in the IndyCar Series and the IMSA SportsCar Championship.
Jordan Lee Taylor is an American professional racing driver. He competes full-time in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, driving the No. 40 Acura ARX-06 for Wayne Taylor Racing. He won the 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2017 championship in the Prototype class of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Ricky Scott Taylor is an American professional racing driver, most notably in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans.
The Dallara P217 is a sportscar prototype built by Dallara Automobili to the 2017 FIA/ACO regulations for the Le Mans Prototype LMP2 class. The car also meets the regulations for the Le Mans Prototype 2 Class of the IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship. It was active in the FIA World Endurance Championship, and the European Le Mans Series. The prototype made its debut at the 2017 4 Hours of Silverstone.
The Cadillac DPi-V.R is a sports prototype racing car which started competing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in North America in 2017. It is the manufacturer variation of Dallara P217 base, and replaces the Corvette DP. It marked Cadillac's return to sports car racing as a full constructor for the first time since the Cadillac Northstar LMP that competed in American Le Mans Series from 2000 to 2002. It was unveiled on November 30, 2016.