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WeatherTech Championship

Taylor Brothers Win Street Fight in Detroit

Jordan, Ricky Taylor score team’s fifth win in seven street races…

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Photo: Brian Cleary/BCPix.com

Jordan and Ricky Taylor have scored victory in Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic at Belle Isle, giving Wayne Taylor Racing its fifth win in the last seven street races in IMSA competition.

Jordan Taylor edged out the pole-sitting No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Joao Barbosa by 1.740 seconds, in a caution and incident-filled race, particularly in the prototype ranks.

Taylor took the lead from Barbosa following the second restart with 48 minutes remaining and held a steady gap over the two-time and defending WeatherTech SportsCar champion throughout the remainder of the 100-minute race.

It marked the Taylor brothers second consecutive street race victory after taking top honors in Long Beach in April. It was also another 1-2 finish for Corvette DP machinery, in the backdrop of GM’s headquarters.

Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi finished second, despite Fittipaldi starting on less-than-ideal tires after spinning and flat-spotting tires in qualifying, and per rules only being allowed to change one tire.

Unofficially, Jordan and Ricky are now tied with Fittipaldi and Barbosa for the lead of the championship.

It was a race of survival for the rest of the Prototype class contenders, which all hit trouble or were delayed by issues.

A heavy crash by the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP of Marc Goossens, triggered by Goossens’ rear wing becoming dislodged, collected the championship-leading No. 31 Action Express entry of Eric Curran with just 13 minutes compete.

It brought out the first of four full-course cautions over the course of the race.

The incident promoted the pair of Mazdas to third and fourth, ahead of the No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Ligier JS P2 Honda of Katherine Legge, which later retired with suspension failure.

The No. 70 Mazda was hit with two overboost infractions, resulting in a 9th place finish overall for Tom Long and Joel Miller, behind Tristan Nunez and Jonathan Bomarito’s No. 55 car, which finished 7th overall and 3rd in class.

It nonetheless marked Mazda’s first P class podium finish in series competition.

Despite the early accident, Curran and Dane Cameron managed to finish the race and collect crucial championship points, although 17 laps behind in 23rd overall.

A late-race spin by Colin Braun handed Prototype Challenge class honors, and a third place overall finish to Starworks Motorsport and drivers Renger van der Zande and Alex Popow.

Braun spun his No. 54 CORE autosport Oreca FLM09 with just 4 minutes remaining, after coming under pressure from the Dutchman in the closing stages.

It gave back-to-back Detroit class wins for van der Zande and the Peter Baron-led team, and their first of the season.

Braun and Jon Bennett salvaged a second place class finish, ahead of the No. 52 PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports entry of Tom Kimber-Smith and pole-sitter Robert Alon, which completed the podium in third.

Of note, the No. 85 JDC/Miller Motorsports car of Misha Goikhberg and Stephen Simpson completed 18 laps after missing the early stages of the race after replacing its tub due to an accident in warmup.

They entered the weekend tied for the PC championship lead with PR1’s Kimber-Smith and Alon.

RESULTS: Chevrolet Sports Car Classic

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

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