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USCC: Taylor family wins in Detroit and leaves for Le Mans (+photos)

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Khatir Soltani
From press release

Ricky and Jordan Taylor sprinted to the Prototype (P) class and overall victory Saturday, in the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, a result that wasn’t the least bit surprising. After all, the Taylor Brothers were in a hurry.

After winning the fifth race of the United SportsCar Championship (USCC) season, the Taylor Brothers took off for the airport and a flight to Paris, to be followed by a train ride to Le Mans, France. They were expecting to arrive around noon on Sunday, to participate in the 24 Hours of Le Mans mandatory test session.

Corvette DP No. 10 Detroit Belle Isle USCC
Photo: IMSA.com

Ricky Taylor brought the No. 10 Corvette DP home, only 0.207 seconds ahead of Richard Westbrook, who was in the pole-sitting No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP. Westbrook co-drove with Canadian Michael Valiante.

What was shaping up to be a routine run to the checkered flag for Ricky Taylor changed quickly in the closing minutes of the race, following a caution period to repair the tire wall in Turn 12,

Detroit Belle Isle USCC
Photo: IMSA.com

Ricky Taylor was out front, with Joao Barbosa a close second. Taylor took the white flag but suddenly, Barbosa took the lead with a daring inside move into the Turn 3 right-hander, nudging Taylor into the wall. Moments later, though, the left-rear tire on Barbosa’s car was shredding and then, he was spinning. Taylor sped by and won.

Detroit Belle Isle USCC
Photo: IMSA.com

“When he put us in the wall the only thing I was thinking was either he is going to have a tire go down or I was definitely going to break because it was a hard hit,” Ricky Taylor said. “For those last couple laps it was really tooth and nail.”

Ricky Taylor is slated to co-drive a LM P2 car at Le Mans, while Jordan Taylor and Westbrook will join the heralded Corvette Racing operation for a LM GTE Pro effort.

Detroit Belle Isle USCC
Photo: IMSA.com

“Richard and I have done this [Detroit-to-Le Mans trip] before together and it was a disaster,” Jordan said.

“Hopefully this one, with a lot more planning will be a little less stress. I think we knocked off about five years of Richard’s life [last time]. It’s a rough travel night. We hope to get in the car [at Le Mans] for a few hours. It’s a long weekend, but we’re race car drivers and we love driving, so it’s definitely worth it.”

Detroit Belle Isle USCC
Photo: IMSA.com

Race results* – Chevrolet Sports Car Classic
1 - R.Taylor/J.Taylor (Dallara-Corvette) – Taylor - 57 laps
2 - Westbrook/Valiante (Coyote-Corvette) - Spirit of Daytona - 0”207
3 - Yacaman/Pla (Morgan-Nissan) - OAK - 8”817
4 - Pew/Negri (Riley-Ford) – Shank - 9”713
5 - Sharp/Dalziel (HPD ARX03b) – ExtremeSpeed - 17”718
6 - Barbosa/Fittipaldi (Coyote-Corvette) – ActionExp - 33”286
7 - Brown/Van Overbeek (HPD ARX03b) – ExtremeSpeed - 1 lap
8 - Balzan/Westphal (Ferrari 458) – Corsa - 1 lap
9 - James/M.Farnbacher (Porsche 991) – AlexJob - 1 lap
10 - Haase/B.Miller (Audi R8) – Miller - 1 lap
11 - Carter/Davison (Aston Martin Vantage) – TRG - 1 lap
12 - Macneil/Keen (Porsche 991) – AlexJob - 1 lap
13 - Cameron/Palttala (BMW Z4) – Turner - 1 lap
14 - Drissi/Asch (Porsche 991) – Muehlner - 1 lap
15 - Sweedler/T.Bell (Ferrari 458) – AIM - 1 lap
16 - Snow/Heylen (Porsche 991) – Snow - 2 laps
17 - Barker/Faulkner (Porsche 991) – GB - 2 laps
18 - J.Bleekemolen/Keating (SRT Viper) – Riley - 2 laps
19 - Nunez/J.Miller (Lola B12/60-Mazda) – Speedsource - 2 laps
20 - Neiman/Von Moltke (Audi R8) - Flying Lizard - 2 laps
21 - Potter/Lally (Porsche 991) – Magnus - 2 laps
22 - Tremblay/T.Long (Lola B12/60-Mazda) – Speedsource - 3 laps
23 - Canache/Pumpelly (Audi R8) - Flying Lizard - 4 laps
24 - Espenlaub/Putman (Audi R8) – Fall-Line - 4 laps
25 - Marcelli/Cumming (Ferrari 458) – Scuderia Corsa - 4 laps
26 - A.Davis/Sandberg (Porsche 991) – Stevenson - 5 laps
27 - Lindsey/Estre (Porsche 991) – ParkPlace - 31 laps
28 - Cisneros/Giermaziak (Porsche 991) – NGT - 33 laps
29 - Curran/Said (Coyote-Corvette) – Marsh - 39 laps
30 - Pruett/Rojas (Riley-Ford) – Ganassi - 45 laps
*Unofficial results

Detroit Belle Isle USCC
Photo: IMSA.com


Khatir Soltani
Khatir Soltani
Automotive expert
  • Over 6 years experience as a car reviewer
  • Over 50 test drives in the last year
  • Involved in discussions with virtually every auto manufacturer in Canada