WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 25, 2013) – For the past two racing seasons, the month of June has proven to be by far the busiest month of the year for 22-year-old Jordan Taylor with a trio of GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series events sandwiching a pair of long trips to France for testing and then the prestigious 24 Hours of Le Mans endurance marathon.

This weekend, Taylor and his veteran co-driver Max Angelelli look to cap the month off in style with a victory in the second-longest Rolex Series event and one that has been a perennial favorite in the Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) camp – the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen (N.Y.) International.

Last weekend, in the Sarthe Region of France, Angelelli was just a spectator – albeit a proud one – while Taylor, his protégé, competed in his second career Le Mans 24-hour with the factory Corvette Racing team and took the checkered flag in fourth place in the GTE-Pro class.

And it’ll be no rest for the weary this weekend as Taylor, whose 23-year-old brother Ricky Taylor competed at Le Mans last weekend for the first time driving for the privateer Larbre Competition Corvette team in the GTE Am class, will be looking to get back in the victory column in the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Dallara DP for WTR alongside Angelelli in what, for him, will be a 30-hour race week.

Watkins Glen is a track where Angelelli and Ricky Taylor thoroughly dominated in 2011 with a pair of wins from the pole and a whopping 205 of 274 possible laps led (75 percent) in that year’s Sahlen’s Six-Hour and August sprint races. A year ago this weekend, broken suspension issues led to WTR’s fourth consecutive DNF (did not finish) of the season and ended the team’s streak of consecutive podium finishes at the Sahlen’s Six-Hour at six. Angelelli and Ricky Taylor finished just off the podium again in last year’s August sprint race.

With Jordan Taylor already a tried and true replacement alongside Angelelli for his older brother, who now drives the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP, the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP team looks to put some distance between itself and the other Rolex Series championship contenders atop the standings. Angelelli and Taylor already have won twice this season – at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala., and the Streets of Belle Isle temporary circuit in downtown Detroit – and they lead an extremely tight points battle. The No. 99 Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing Corvette DP duo of Alex Gurney and Jon Fogarty stand second, just one point behind, and the No. 2 Starworks Ford Riley duo of Alex Popow and Ryan Dalziel are just two points out of the lead in third.

History just might be on the side of Angelelli and Taylor at Watkins Glen this weekend as, in addition to the team’s clean sweep of the two 2011 events at the track, Angelelli and now team owner Wayne Taylor swept a pair of sprint races en route to their 2005 Rolex Series championship. In 19 total races at the former home of the U.S. Formula 1 Grand Prix, Angelelli and his various co-drivers over the years have totaled 14 podium finishes. That’s a performance record the team will be banking on in a big way as it caps off the month of June.

Practice for Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen begins Friday afternoon with qualifying set for 11:25 a.m. EDT Saturday. Race time Sunday is 11 a.m. with live television on SPEED. Live radio coverage by the Motor Racing Network (MRN) and Sirius NASCAR Radio Channel 90 begins with pre-race festivities at 10:45 a.m. Live timing and scoring during all on-track sessions can be found at www.grand-am.com, and on mobile devices at m.grand-am.com and the GRAND-AM smartphone app.

Max Angelelli, co-driver of the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Dallara DP for Wayne Taylor Racing:

You’re headed to Watkins Glen, which has been the track where you’ve experienced quite a bit of success over the years. What are your thoughts about this year’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen?

“We’ve had great success there in the past and we need to take advantage of every opportunity that presents itself during the race. We have a very small lead in the points, but we do lead the points and we need to come out with maximum points again this weekend. If someone has a bad race, we really have to take advantage of it. We were able to capitalize on other teams’ misfortunates a couple of times, already, but we could have done it on a few other occasions this year. I hope everything will run well with the team and the drivers and everything. This race is more forgiving because it’s six hours long. Our team is so good at pit stops, we have more opportunities in this race where we can gain track position, so that’s good, that’s the intention. We have overtaken many people in the pits already this season, but lately we can see that many of the other teams are improving their pit stops, now. They really have their heads down and are working harder because they are much better now than they were at the beginning of the season. Our championship is so competitive that every single thing from the green flag to the checkered flag is extremely important. Any little glitch can change your final result.”

You said before the Mid-Ohio race two weekends ago that your main hope was to avoid disaster as that has historically been one of the team’s most difficult racetracks. Your thoughts on that?

“We survived Mid-Ohio. It’s probably the most difficult race of the season for us each season. Historically, it was our best result (sixth place) in a long time, so I guess we can say, sort of, ‘Mission accomplished.’ It’s obviously not the result we were hoping for because the car was good and we were up there in front for almost the entire race. I’m looking forward to The Glen because it’s been notoriously one of our best tracks, if not the best. I’m looking for a much better result than last year (11th) . Last year was just a mess at this time of year. This year, we’re coming back with a lot more momentum, so I’m hoping we can increase our points lead. ”

You had a chance to watch the Taylor brothers compete at the 24 Hours of Le Mans last weekend. Was it difficult to be at a race like that when you are not participating? And what did you think of the boys’ performances?

“When you are not driving, what you are looking for is great hospitality, having great food and not getting wet. I can say that, based on my experience this year as a spectator, I can say that I was very successful this year. I did not get wet. I had a great parking place. And we had four different options in terms of food for each meal. The boys did a great job. It was the first year for Ricky, so it was a little bit of a shock for him, which is completely understandable. In my opinion, he did what he was supposed to do. It was the second year for Jordan, and he did what he was supposed to do and that was to raise his game. Part of the process, and the tendency for people including me, has been to look at those two kids and completely forget about their age. When I first did Le Mans, I was a lot older and my experience was a lot different. When people look at Jordan, he’s extremely young, so people probably forget their age when they see how good he is out there on the racetrack. Both boys are beyond their years. The conditions at Le Mans this year were very difficult, so to consider Jordan, who’s 22, and Ricky, who was a rookie there at 23, neither put a wheel off the road the whole race. Le Mans is not only about speed, but about the package – driver, team, racecar. Every time at Le Mans adds to your experience. You learn a lot of things. Jordan had a great opportunity to be with the Corvette factory team. That is a major plus in Jordan’s experience. So I’m thankful to everyone at Corvette Racing for this opportunity for Jordan because it will benefit Wayne Taylor Racing in GRAND-AM. We hope to take full advantage. We have seen things that Jordan has learned and, yes, it will help the team be better, including me. I’m really looking forward to seeing Jordan at The Glen.”

Jordan Taylor, co-driver of the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Dallara DP for Wayne Taylor Racing:

How was your experience last weekend in your second career 24 Hours of Le Mans?

“We weren’t the fastest cars out there, which made things a little frustrating, but it was a little surprising but very satisfying to come home with a fourth-place finish. All the rain spread things out even more, and a lot of cautions made it very tough to make up ground. It was frustrating, but we just kept going with the goal of not make any mistakes. I got to drive across the finish line and take the checkered flag, which was very, very special. I got in the car, in the pouring rain, then we had a caution for rain. We were seventh, but fourth was on the same lap, so we set a goal of finishing fourth. I stayed out on rain tires when it dried out and, somehow, we came out in fourth. I’m proud to say I made no mistakes. I did get hit by one car earlier in the race, but it didn’t turn out to be a problem. It was way better going back the second year knowing what to expect and everything. It was definitely the hardest race I’ve ever done with the conditions. Ollie Gavin (fellow Corvette Racing driver) said if we can get through this race, we can get through any race. Coming from him, that means a lot. He’s done a lot of Le Mans 24-hour races. I’m happy and very proud that we didn’t make any mistakes or do anything stupid.”

You’re now capping your busiest month of the year with the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Your thoughts on that?

“I think the team’s always had a strong car at Watkins Glen. They’ve won the short-course race a few times, and the six-hour race for the first time two years ago. The guys know how to set up the car there, for sure. With it being six hours, we have that many more pit stops to do what we do best. Everybody knows we excel in the pits. Watkins Glen is definitely in the top-three on my list of favorite tracks. It’s an old-school track in that it has great flow, high speed, and a little bit of a danger factor with the classic blue barriers. There’s a lot of history there and around town, so it’s got a special place in racing history here in the U.S. I won the GT pole there the last two years and qualified second in 2010, so qualifying always gone well there. I finished second there in 2011, so I’ve had a couple of good six-hour races, already. I just haven’t been able to win one. Hopefully, we’ll be able to deliver that this weekend.”

Your most recent music video – to the tune of the Beastie Boys song “Intergalactic” – has become such a big YouTube hit that Watkins Glen officials want to play it on their big screens this weekend. What do you think of that?

“The president of the track likes it and wants to play our video on the big screens. They want to do it sometime during the weekend leading up to the race, and maybe during a caution during the race. It’s shocking to know how many people have seen it. Someone even walked up to me at Le Mans and said the video is a huge hit in Belgium. That’s very cool.”

 

Wayne Taylor, team owner of the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Dallara DP for Wayne Taylor Racing:

Your thoughts about heading back to The Glen for this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six-Hour race?

“I love this event. We’ve won there, and we know it’s an event we normally have a good time with and typically have a strong result. It’s going to be tough this weekend because it’s gotten so competitive. The Fords are going to be so fast there. The points are so close, so there’s a lot at stake. We’ll just have to do like we have all year and take it one pit stop at a time, one race at a time. I wish we can have more consistent, top-five finishes than the way it’s been going so far with a win followed by a 10th and a win followed by a sixth. It’d be nice if we could get more consistent top-five finishes across the board because that’s how championships are won. I think we’ll have a good car at The Glen. The guys are very focused. Six races in, six to go, and it’s all about the championship. I have faith in the guys. They are very passionate about this. They’ve prided themselves in trying to win every race. I know they’ll be on top of their game this weekend.”

How was your 24 Hours of Le Mans experience, watching both Jordan and Ricky competing there together for the first time?

“I’ve done it for many, many years as a driver and, to have both of them driving, with the dreadful conditions and all that, it was truly amazing to see that both did extremely well. It was very emotional for me, as their father. So much happened in the race, with the guy losing his life 10 minutes into it. That was just awful. I’ve driven there 13 times, been there several times in addition to that, and this year was without a doubt the worst conditions I’ve ever seen there with the rain and everything. For poor Ricky to go there for his first time under circumstances like that, I felt for the guy. But both boys performed extremely well and I’m very, very proud of them both.”

 

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