Jordan Taylor Pleased with Second in “Big Picture” Approach

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

Jordan Taylor says he was pleased with a second place finish in Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring, in what turned into a solid points day for Wayne Taylor Racing. 

The Rolex 24 at Daytona-winning Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R of Taylor, Renger van der Zande and new recruit Matthieu Vaxiviere notched up their second podium finish in as many races.

While having put pressure on Felipe Nasr in the closing stages of the race, Taylor admitted to being no match on overall pace to the No. 31 Action Express Cadillac DPi, which dominated the second round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

“The restart wasn’t pretty,” Taylor told Sportscar365. “It was just about the traffic, where you hit it.

“They were the fastest car all day so to be hanging with them was good.

“I think we had a third-placed car all day so to finish second, and to be strong at the end, was good.

“There were a couple small opportunities but it would have been a huge risk. We think big picture a little bit and I’d rather win the championship.”

Taylor and van der Zande leave Sebring tied for the DPi points lead with Action Express’ Nasr and Pipo Derani, in what has put the 2017 championship-winning team in a significantly better position to last year, when it started the season with a DNF at Daytona.

“We ended up with more points than we probably expected,” Taylor said.

“We would have wanted a win at the Twelve Hours of Sebring but I think we can leave here with strong points and a lot better a position than last year.”

Saturday’s race featured a dominant run by Cadillac, which swept the overall podium after a strong early run, particularly in wet conditions.

Taylor feels the results were not necessarily indicative compared to the competition hitting trouble.

“I think a lot of guys made mistakes,” he said. “The Mazdas were by far the quickest and they would have been able to race their way to the front if they’d just stayed on the track. They still have the strongest car right now if they finish.

“The Cadillacs just stayed strong all race long, and the drivers aren’t making mistakes. The teams are making good strategy calls.

“We might have a competitive car but I don’t think we have the quickest car.”

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John