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MONTEREY, Calif. (Sept. 8, 2013) – Wayne Taylor Racing’s Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli continued to show championship form Sunday as they won their second straight race in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series. Angelelli started from outside the front row, and Taylor put on a dominating display as Wayne Taylor Racing’s No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Daytona Prototype won the Continental Tire Sports Car Festival at Laguna Seca.
The victory extended the lead of Taylor and Angelelli in the Rolex Series’ DP standings to eight points with one race remaining. Chevrolet also retained its advantage in the class’ engine manufacturer championship, and Wayne Taylor Racing moved to second place and within nine points in the team standings.
Taylor led 72 of the race’s 105 laps. Richard Westbrook in the pole-winning Spirit of Daytona Racing Corvette DP led the first 22 when the yellow flag came out for a full-course caution. Angelelli, running second at the time, pitted and handed over to Taylor, who won the race out of pit lane thanks to quick pit work from the Wayne Taylor Racing crew. Over the next two-plus hours, the young American’s lead grew to nearly a half-minute before late-race caution periods tightened up the field.
He finished 2.692 seconds clear of Scott Pruett, whom Taylor fended off to win at Kansas City in the previous Rolex Series race. IZOD IndyCar Series driver Scott Dixon was third and pressured Jordan in the race’s latter half, as well.
“It was definitely a good race,” Taylor said. “Once we got past that first yellow and had a bunch of green-flag running, we pulled a good lead. I was hoping to stay green and use that buffer to my advantage. But once it went yellow, that went away. Having Pruett and Dixon right on you is intense. I was glad to be able to hold them off and get a win for the guys.”
Corvette DPs took three of the top-five places. Unofficially, Chevrolet leads the engine manufacturer standings by 32 points with 35 available in the final race at Lime Rock Park in on Sept. 28.
“Congratulations to Jordan Taylor, Max Angelelli and everyone at Wayne Taylor Racing on a flawless effort at Laguna Seca,” said Jim Lutz, Chevrolet Program Manager, Rolex Sports Car Series. “Not only was this a tremendous victory in today’s race but an important step toward the Daytona Prototype drivers’, team and engine manufacturers’ championship. The competitive nature of the DP class makes today’s effort even more impressive. This is a great day but no one at Team Chevy will let up with one race remaining.”
In GT, Marsh Racing’s Corvette of Boris Said and Eric Curran placed third after starting second in class. The result matched their season-best at Barber Motorsports Park in the spring, and Curran led for 10 laps late Sunday. Andy Lally and John Potter were the winners.
Stevenson Motorsports’ Robin Liddell and John Edwards placed seventh in their No. 57 Camaro GT.R and stand third in the class drivers’ championship – 13 points behind leaders Lally and Potter.
Earlier in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, Matt Bell went from fifth to second in the final four minutes in Stevenson Motorsports’ No. 9 Camaro GS.R. Bell and Edwards were runners-up to Spencer Pumpelly and Jim Norman in GS and extended the class championship to the season finale at Lime Rock Park.
ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES QUOTES
JORDAN TAYLOR, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
(Did lessons from holding off Pruett at Kansas help today?) “It definitely helped a lot. But guys in GT also are great drivers. So in my career in GT, I’ve learned a lot from those guys and how to hold them off. Having Pruett on me for an hour-and-a-half (at Kansas) was intense and having Dixon on me here was another good experience. I’m glad to have that one in my book and move on.”
MAX ANGELELLI, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“Our team is just the best in my opinion. Jordan, as usual, delivered. He always has this year. I’m very proud of him. He did a fantastic job – was very strong, very fast and made no mistakes. This is the way to win championships.”
WAYNE TAYLOR, OWNER, NO. 10 WAYNE TAYLOR RACING CORVETTE DP
“I can’t even talk. The team was flawless. Max did a great start. Everyone did a great job. These boys never cease to amaze me. I’m just so proud of them all.”
ERIC CURRAN, NO. 31 MARSH RACING CORVETTE
“We’ve always been strong here. Today was just a great day. We had a strong car and good pit stops; on the last one, we kind of got hung up on a lug nut (during a tire change). We had a strong car overall and had a car that could have won today but we will take third place and a podium finish. We’ve struggled the last couple races so it’s really good for the team to get some results and have such a strong finish. I’m really happy for all these guys at Marsh Racing. All their efforts and hard work that they’ve put into this program is really paying off now. I couldn’t be happier for them. It’s a good result beginning of a big future for us looking toward our DP program.”
CONTINENTAL SPORTS CAR CHALLENGE QUOTES
JOHN EDWARDS, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R
“It really wasn’t all that crazy of a race until the last couple of laps when people started getting desperate, but Matt kept his head on straight and made a great move around the outside of (Joey) Atterbury.”
(On Bell’s late pass) “He said he saw Atterbury getting loose and tried the outside and since Atterbury had to pinch it, Matt was able to get the run. I have to say that I never thought that would work when I saw him try it on the outside and we were all on the intercom going, ‘Oh that’s not going to work, that’s not going to work!’ and then it worked.
“At the same time (Bill) Auberlen fell out so we inherited second and then there was mayhem behind us. This Camaro is pretty beat up at the end of this race, but I think it’s actually put together better than it was at the end of last year’s race here. We’ll take the points, and I think we’re looking pretty secure here for second in the championship.”
MATT BELL, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS CAMARO GS.R
“This wasn’t the car it’s been here – actually the last two years it hasn’t been the best car here that we could have had, but really (the team) kept making decisions to make it more drivable when the tires were burning off of it. Everybody was having the same issues. I kept seeing the No. 51 car in front of me get loose in braking zones so I tried the outside and he kind of pinched over and I was braking in the dirt, but it all worked out. We still kind of willed ourselves into that because there were a lot of people spinning all over the place. Maybe I caused that, I don’t know, but it worked. I want to thank all the Stevenson guys. They worked really hard.”
MIKE JOHNSON, TEAM MANAGER, NO. 9 STEVENSON MOTORSPORTS, CAMARO GS.R
“It was just another crazy race. Our whole goal was to stay with the No. 55. We had some really good pit stops. We made a really good call on the dive in which got us some track position. Matt fought hard with that No. 15 car for a long time. We just did what we had to do, which was stay with the No. 55 car, not do anything silly. I guess technically we still have a shot at the championship, but our goal was really just to finish out this season on a high note. This was probably one of the most fun second places we’ve had, so we’re really happy right now.”
NEXT EVENT DETAILS
GRAND-AM Championship Weekend – Rolex Sports Car Series
Lime Rock Park, Lakeville, Conn.
GRAND-AM Championship Weekend – Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (GS Class)
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