Photo: Corvette Racing
Jordan Taylor described Corvette Racing’s double triumph on Sunday as a “team effort” that stretched between Monza, Italy and Bowmanville, Ontario Canada and resulted in a race win and clinching a world championship title.
Taylor and longtime co-driver Antonio Garcia broke a 13-race IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship winless streak by claiming top GTD Pro honors in the Chevrolet Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, less than three hours after Ben Keating, Nico Varrone and Nicky Catsburg clinched the GTE-Am title in the FIA World Endurance Championship race in Monza.
It was revealed post-race at CTMP that the two Pratt Miller-run teams had been in near-constant communication with each other throughout the historic day.
“It was a very good day,” Taylor said. “I don’t think it could have gone much better. We have our remote operations here too, and during our pre-race meeting and warmup, we were listening to their intercom of what was going on there.
“Kyle Millay (chief engineer) is usually on the WEC side but he came here this weekend. They were still talking to him here during our pre-race meeting for their strategy there.
“It’s a team effort from both sides. Nicky (Catsburg) just texted us and said they were on our intercom during our race.
“It’s one big family. They’ve had an unbelievable year winning as much as they did, winning Le Mans and clinching the championship.
“It was a good decision for Corvette to stay in the WEC to execute that championship and open some doors for the future.”
When asked if Millay played a factor in the outcome of Sunday’s race at CTMP, Taylor said they were “bouncing some questions” off him.
“He’s been around for so long and seen pretty much everything there is to see even though he’s so young,” he said.
“Ben Johnson (IMSA team manager and program technical director) was on the intercoms too.
“Both teams on both sides of the ocean are working together.
“If we have an electronics issues, Neil (Schreiber), who set up our car is on the WEC side now so we can bounce questions off him. It’s nice to have that constant communication between the two.”
GM sports car racing program manager Laura Wontrop Klauser, who was in Monza, declared it an “unbelievable day” for the team.
“I can’t think of a better weekend for Corvette Racing,” she said. “A world championship in the WEC and a race win in IMSA on the same day is something we all will remember.
“It shows how strong this program is in both series and how much both sides work together to get the most out of these Corvette race cars.
“I’m incredibly proud of both the No. 33 and No. 3 Corvette teams on this unbelievable day.”
The GTD Pro win for Taylor and Garcia came after a hard-fought first half of the race for the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette C8.R GTD that saw the Spaniard take advantage of both the No. 14 Vasser Sullivan Lexus RC F GT3 and No. 9 Pfaff Motorsports Porsche 911 GT3 Rs going off-course with just over an hour to go.
“It was not easy,” said Garcia. “Probably on the last restart I knew we had the pace to win. Up to that point, the whole class was pretty close.
“On the restart (with 70 minutes left), I knew the Porsche was the only one that gambled on the strategy and jumped us. I was kind of a front-row spectator into Turn 1 when the 9 and 14 went side-by-side, which I think never works here.
“Once I saw that, I was alert and went for it to make the move for the lead.
“We had strong pace at the front, but it was difficult to be at the back of the GTD field with the safety car rules where we cycle completely back to the rear of the GTDs or are always there fighting for positions.
“It’s always a nightmare. I’m glad we had the pace and nothing against us happened like what happened at Sebring when we were in the middle of the GTDs. That’s the way it is.
“I don’t think they want us to be there while we are racing, and we don’t want them there while we are racing other Pro cars.”
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