Wayne Taylor is cautioning his team that the work is not yet over if they hope to better their second place finishes in the first round of the TUDOR United Sportscar Championship. The Corvette DP of Wayne Taylor Racing has hit an important milestone on the way to the Rolex 24 at Daytona, securing the fastest time of the test at the ROAR Before the 24 pre-season test. Ten years after the team made their debut in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, Max Angelelli tested the Daytona Prototype alongside Taylor’s two sons, Ricky and Jordan.
The fastest time of the test came thanks to Jordan Taylor, who set a 1:39.181 in the #10 Konica Minolta sponsored Corvette DP in the first Saturday testing session. He said, “It was a good test. These days, you need to have the fastest car because, when you get to the final hour, you need to race everyone.
“Five years ago, we wouldn’t focus on a lap-time car. We’d just make it as comfortable as possible. Now, you need to work on lap times and race pace because you know you’re going to come to that last hour having to race for the win.”
Ricky Taylor added, “We definitely have things we need to improve but we made a lot of progress over the three days. I think we’ll have a strong car for the race. Weather conditions have proved to be a big factor. The car changes a lot in the heat. It’s always easier to drive the car when it’s cooler at night. But since the race ends in the middle of the day, in the heat of the day, we’re going to have to set up the car more for that, and that’s been a big focus of the weekend. If we make it through the night, it’s going to be a big sprint to the finish, so we’re going to keep focusing on that.”
Max Angelelli, the only original member of the Wayne Taylor Racing driver line up still racing, predicts a close race. “It’s been a long weekend but a very productive weekend,” he added. “I believe we achieved almost everything we had planned to test and deliver and improve so I feel happy. I think we are very competitive. I still believe it’s going to be down to a nice group of Prototypes in the race. I don’t think there’s going to be just one dominant car. I believe we are going to have several good cars that can shoot for the overall win. So, I’m inviting everyone to come watch the race because it’s going to be a very exciting race.”
Team owner Wayne Taylor is targeting a trouble free run to the top step of the podium, bettering the outfit’s results from the last two years. “There’s still work to be done,” he cautioned, “because we don’t know if it’s going to be a cold weekend or a hot weekend, weather-wise. Staying on top of setup every minute of the race is so critical with this level of competitiveness. I think we have a good car and it’s going to be all about driving, changing tires and fueling the car, and keeping the car on the track the entire race with no issues.”
