Both Ricky and Jordan Taylor competed in the IMSA Lites Series at Miller Motorsports Park in Tooele, Utah this past weekend with mixed results. They were racing in Rounds Three and Four of the 12-race IMSA Lites presented by Hankook Series.
Ricky Taylor, driver of the Lites One class No. 11 Brach’s Racing Team Elan DP02 took his first victory in the IMSA Lites Round Three on Saturday, May 17th.
After starting from the outside front row, Ricky passed the polesitting Jonathan Goring on the fourth of 17 laps and kept the lead through the checkered flag.
“The start was definitely good. I got a good run going down into turn one, but unfortunately I was on the outside,” said 18-year-old Ricky Taylor, who has also competed in two Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car races this season. “On lap four he made a bobble going into the attitudes and I was able to catch a draft and put the car on the inside for the lead. From that point, I just had to play the traffic and keep a two or three second gap as much as I could. I used what I had learned from Daytona Prototype racing to use traffic to help me for the rest of the race.”
Jordan Taylor, who just turned 17 years old a week ago, did not fare as well as his older brother in Saturday’s race. After the Brach’s Racing Team stayed up the entire night on Friday to do an engine change, Jordan managed to complete only three laps before the throttle cable stuck, sidelining him for the balance of the race.
“It was a long night for the team and discouraging after all that hard work to be out of the race in just three laps,” said Jordan, who competes in the No. 27 Brach’s Racing Team Elan DP02 in the Lites Two class.
Sunday’s 17-lap race was another tough one for both of the Taylor boys. Ricky’s race was off to an exciting start as he and polesitter Goring had brief contact going into Turn One of the first lap. Taylor was able to make his move on Goring and pass for the lead in Turn Four on the same lap. He held the lead for six laps until a brake failure forced the elder Taylor out of the race.
“A couple of laps before the brakes failed on me. I felt them go soft, but they came back after I gave them a few pumps,” said the elder Taylor, who graduates from high school in Orlando soon. “Then going into the hairpin at Turn Five, it just went to the floor. There were no brakes. I went off track and into the gravel to slow myself down and try not to hit anything. Then I was able to just bring the car back slowly to the pits, but we were out for the race.”
Jordan’s bad luck continued on Sunday, as his car suffered another throttle cable failure in Round Four, allowing him only 6 laps of the 17-lap race.
“It just wasn’t our weekend,” said Jordan. “We aren’t running for the L2 championship, but it is still tough to have such a bad weekend when everyone worked so hard to get the car together. We’ll just have to keep at it and come back the next time with more hard work and, hopefully, better luck.”
Jordan is coming off a very successful race, having just competed in the Sports Car Club of America (SCCA) Formula 2000 class at Road Atlanta last weekend. There he capturing two poles, one victory, two fastest race laps and one track record in the Primus Racing-prepared No. 20 Brach’s Formula 2000 car.
The next round of the IMSA Lites Series will be held July 11-12 at Lime Rock Park in Lime Rock, Connecticut. There are six venues and 12 races on the IMSA Lites schedule this season.
Ricky and Jordan’s sponsors include Brach’s Candy, StarPort USA, SunTrust Bank, Arai Helmets, and OMP.
