Connect with us

WeatherTech Championship

Taylor Brothers Take Dramatic Win in Detroit

Jordan, Ricky Taylor claim victory in Chevrolet Sports Car Classic…

Photo: IMSA

Photo: IMSA

Brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor broke through to claim a thrilling down-to-the-wire victory in Saturday’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic, following a dramatic closing laps on the streets of Detroit’s Belle Isle.

Ricky Taylor took a wounded No. 10 Konica Minolta-sponsored, Dallara-chassied DP across the line just two-tenths ahead of Richard Westbrook, who nearly pulled off the win after contact between Taylor and the No. 5 Action Express Racing Corvette DP of Joao Barbosa while fighting for the lead.

Taylor’s car slammed into the wall and gave Barbosa the top spot, only for the Portuguese driver to slow with a left-rear puncture moments later. It handed the lead back to Taylor, who went on to take the hard-fought win.

It marked Jordan’s third straight victory at Detroit while the first for the brothers as a pairing in IMSA competition. They also take over the points lead as a result of the late-race misfortunes for Barbosa, who along with Christian Fittipaldi crossed the line in sixth.

As a result, the No. 42 OAK Racing Morgan-Nissan of Olivier Pla and Gustavo Yacaman finished third, giving the French P2 squad its first podium finish in TUDOR United SportsCar Championship competition.

The No. 60 Michael Shank Racing Riley-Ford of Ozz Negri and John Pew was fourth, while the Ryan Dalziel and Scott Sharp-driven No. 1 Extreme Speed Motorsports HPD ARX-03b completed the top-five overall and in the Prototype class.

Six P cars finished on the lead lap of the 100-minute race, which featured two full-course cautions, including a 22-minute yellow to fix a barrier that set up a 27-minute dash to the checkered flag.

Trouble struck the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Riley-Ford early, when Memo Rojas pitted with clutch issues. Co-driver Scott Pruett returned to complete his mandatory 10 minutes of running time to score points before the car was retired.

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

55 Comments

More in WeatherTech Championship