[h=2]Ricky Taylor at LM24: A tale of many seasons[/h] Saturday, 17 June 2017


By David Phillips / Images by JEP/Dole/Abbott, LAT

It's been the best of times, it's been the worst of times and, with apologies to Charles Dickens, it's been a time of mixed fortunes and a bright future for Ricky Taylor so far in 2017.
The 27-year-old has played a central role in Wayne Taylor Racing's perfectly dominating start to the 2017 IMSA WeatherTch SportsCar Championship season in the Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. On the other hand, here at the 24 Hours of Le Mans finds himself in a decidedly underdog role driving the Keating Motorsports LMP2 Riley Mk30 (pictured, above) he's sharing with Ben Keating and Jeroen Bleekemolen; that is if you define "underdog" as qualifying more than 10 seconds slower than the LMP2 pace-setters . . . and consider this is the Riley MK30's Le Mans debut... and consider Keating Motorsports is the only team running the Riley here at Le Mans.
"It's been really tough. The pace of these cars is crazy!" says Taylor (pictured). "The fact that it's, technically, a gentleman driver class and the quick cars are turning 3:25 laps is unbelievable.
"I think it's tough any time a constructor only has one car, particularly when the other manufacturers have raced in this class for a season. This is Riley's first stab at LMP2. Together with Multimatic, they've learned a lot the past couple of days and the past six months with the car, so when they make an update I'm sure it's going to be a really good one. So this week we've just been working our way through it, trying to make progress when and where we can but there are also some fundamental things we can't do anything about here at the track that will have to wait for a big update.
"Le Mans is so much about drag and aero. I think this car is probably more suited to a shorter racetrack with a high-downforce setup. All the other constructors have been to Le Mans in P1 or P2, so they know the balance between running Le Mans and the rest of the season. It's really tough to go at it cold without any of that experience; I mean, Bill (Riley) had plenty of experience here but it's been a couple of years since he's been here and the cars have changed a lot; it's so much about efficiency and aero now but when the updates come, I think they're completely capable of nailing it."
On a personal level, the fact that Taylor has enjoyed so much success on the IMSA portion of his 2017 schedule makes the difficulties at Le Mans a little easier to take in stride.
"Here we're the new, inexperienced ones running a single brand-new car," he says. "In IMSA we've got the numbers on our side running three Cadillacs; we were the first cars on track and there's a lot of experience behind the program from Dallara and Cadillac. I've no doubt Riley and Multimatic will get there, but it is two opposite sides of the learning curve.
"For me it's good to be here at Le Mans this year, especially with the jump the P2s have made. So hopefully if I come back next year I'll know what to expect from the cars and, obviously, learning to work with Bill, Jeroen and Ben is really great experience, really good for me. So even though we're 10 seconds off, we're still learning, still improving and still enjoying working together. Everybody gets along really well; it's been a fun week . . . apart from the competitiveness."
Nor has Taylor's 2017 schedule been restricted to IMSA and Le Mans. Schedule permitting, he's teamed with his brother Jordan in a Cadillac ATS-V.R in the Pirelli World Challenge and he also dipped his toe in the IndyCar waters in February when he took Simon Pagenaud's Dallara DW12 Chevrolet for a spin at Homestead (pictured) at the invitation of Cadillac, General Motors...and Roger Penske.
The 2017 season is not even half over, and the scope and diversity of cars Taylor has driven would make Mario Andretti proud. However, Taylor is quick to pour ice water on speculation there could be a switch to IndyCar racing for himself or Wayne Taylor Racing in the forseeable future. But turn the question around – ask whether he would be in the picture should persistent rumors of a Penske Racing return to sports car racing bear fruit, and Taylor is considerably less definite. It comes down to the age old question of whether blood is thicker than Penske...
"The IndyCar test was an extra bonus in what was already a good year," he says. "Really a good experience. Everyone's always asking, 'Are you going IndyCar racing?' even though it was just one test. But I don't foresee that in the future. I'm focused on sports car racing.
"What if Penske goes sports car racing? That's the big question. It would be a huge opportunity for me and for my own career. I think if it was three years ago and I got an offer like that I'd have jumped at it in a heartbeat. But now with Cadillac, Dallara, the whole team and all the success we've had, I would find it really hard to let that go.
"To be perfectly clear – that hasn't happened yet. But I can say that if I do get an offer from Roger Penske, it's not going to be an easy decision. And that's a great position to be in. But no matter what, having them in IMSA – if that's what they choose to do – would be great for the series, great for everyone."

 

[h=1]IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP CO-DRIVERS JORDAN AND RICKY TAYLOR MAKE IMPACT ON THE TRACK AND ON SOCIAL MEDIA[/h]

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Monday, September 18, 2017


Tags:
Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. No. 10








Decorated second-generation racers Jordan and Ricky Taylor, co-drivers of the No. 10 Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R. for Wayne Taylor Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, are accustomed to making noise in both the literal and figurative senses of the term when they are on-track. However, the impact of the respective 25- and 27-year-old drivers extends off the track as well with memorable fan and media interactions, a podcast, and an enthusiastic social media following.
Jordan and Ricky have had a milestone season thus far. They began 2017 with back-to-back resounding victories at the season-opening Rolex 24 At Daytona and the Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring. The Daytona win was with co-drivers Max “The Ax” Angelelli in his last career race and four-time NASCAR Cup Series champion Jeff Gordon. The Sebring win came with new third driver Alex Lynn of Great Britain. Jordan and Ricky currently lead the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship driver standings in the Prototype (P) category.
Off the track, the residents of the Orlando suburb Apopka, Fla., have opened up their lives and embraced their shared wit and humor to engage old and new sports car racing enthusiasts via social media. Whether keeping fans looped in to their day-to-day activities or entertaining them with videos of their antics such as Jordan’s alter ego of Gordon superfan “Rodney Sandstorm,” they have found a way to connect with their audience in a meaningful way that transcends their significant accomplishments behind the wheel.
“I think social media is hugely important in our era of sport,” said Jordan. “It’s a new way for the fans to connect with teams and drivers. I enjoy following drivers that I will never get a chance to meet, guys in Formula 1 or NASCAR. I find it interesting to see what they are like away from the race track. You watch these guys on TV all the time, but I find it way cooler to see what their true personalities are like and what they do between race weekends.
“As a fan, I really enjoy that aspect of it, and I know what I like to see from people I follow, so when I use social media, I like to show people a different side of me that they might not necessarily see at the race track. I think it’s important for people to see that you are not just a generic ‘race car driver.’ Seeing you behind the scenes and in everyday life makes you way more relatable. I do feel like that now that I’ve started with social media, it’s almost like a part time job, but I find a lot of enjoyment in it.”
“I think social media is a great resource and experience for race fans and motorsport professionals to experience the sport from perspectives that were never possible in the past,” Ricky added. “I think it has opened doors for a lot of drivers and fans to access one another. In my opinion, it is not a one-way street where fans get a glimpse behind the scenes of the racing world but also the other way around where teams, drivers, and series can learn more about their audience, what they like, what they want to see more of, what they want to see less of, etc.”
The feedback from their followers has even had an effect on their daily lives.
“My favorite development recently with social media has been my cooking feedback, with fans sending me wing sauce suggestions, recipes, and all kinds of great cooking tips,” said Ricky. “I try to not just post about race cars, and the cooking side with my Big Green Egg has been a lot of fun to interact with people about; I love that. And nobody has booed my cooking… yet.”
Jordan and Ricky have recently expanded their media footprint by launching the BadFast Podcast with the help of RaceDay Nation host Rob D’Amico. Jordan and Ricky can be followed on Facebook (TEAM; Jordan; Ricky), Twitter (TEAM; Jordan; Ricky), and Instagram (TEAM; Jordan; Ricky).
On Friday, Sept. 22, Jordan and Ricky will take over the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca Twitter account (@MazdaRaceway) from 1:40-2:20 p.m. PT and answer questions from fans.
Jordan and Ricky will be competing at this weekend’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on September 21-24. They will be in the feature race, the AMERICA’S TIRE 250 on Sunday, which will also be broadcast on FOX Sports 1, FOX Sports GO, and IMSA Radio.

 

Taylor Cadillac back to the top in Monterey

Saturday, 23 September 2017


By Marshall Pruett / Images by Michael Levitt/LAT & Richard Dole/LAT

Ricky Taylor moved his No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi-V.R to the top of the third Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix practice session Saturday morning with a fast lap of 1m18.216s. Following Nissan's pace to close Friday, the slim margin among the leading Prototype entries should ensure a tight qualifying session as PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports' Jose Gutierrez pushed the No. 52 Ligier JSP217 (+0.069s) and an ill Ryan Dalziel shadowed Taylor in third with the No. 2 Nissan Onroak DPi (+0.078s).