Taylors’ title in first year of new DPI regs
RICKY AND JORDAN TAYLOR, DRIVING for their father’s Wayne Taylor Racing squad aboard a Cadillac built to IMSA’S new Daytona Prototype international regulations, were the dominant force in 2017.
The Cadillacs were the class of the field, and WTR and its drivers were a step above the identical machines of Action Express Racing and Whelen Engineering, winning the first five races on their way to the title. After a controversial late-race collision with Action Express at Daytona, WTR won at Sebring,
Long Beach, Austin and in Detroit (from the back after Ricky Taylor’s qualifying shunt).
First-lap contact at Watkins Glen and a big crash for Jordan Taylor at Mosport was followed by a string of strong points finishes, and even an engine failure early in the Road Atlanta 10-hour Petit Le Mans season finale wasn’t enough to stop them claiming the crown.
Dane Cameron and Eric Curran were second in the points for Whelen, with their sole win coming in a Mosport thriller as they fended off Jdc-miller Motorsport’s ORECA.
A week earlier at the Glen, Action Express (with Joao Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi third in the points) had taken a breathtaking victory after passing the same ORECA in the final laps.
It took until August for Cadillac’s stranglehold to come loose as Extreme Speed Motorsports won at Road America with their Nissan DPI, a feat they went on to repeat in a dramatic PLM. Spirit of Daytona switched from Riley to a Ligier chassis mid-season and its win in the penultimate round at Laguna
Seca, 14 days after Hurricane Irma battered its workshop, came thanks to a sensational pass by Renger van der Zande on Cameron going into the Corkscrew.
The ultra-competitive GT Le Mans class title was sealed by Corvette Racing, with
Jan Magnussen/antonio Garcia beating BMW Team RLL’S Alexander Sims/bill Auberlen.
Scuderia Corsa won the GT Daytona class for the second year in a row with its Ferrari shared by Alessandro Balzan and Christina Nielsen. Prototype Challenge honours went the way of Performance Tech duo Patricio O’ward and James French.