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HomeRacingWayne Taylor on his IMSA legacy and Le Mans dreams

Wayne Taylor on his IMSA legacy and Le Mans dreams


Many notable names in racing have graced the IMSA paddocks since the series’ inception in 1969, but few legends have been as consistent for so long – and so good at winning, as Wayne Taylor.

Taylor says, “Mark Ruffoff, who works for IMSA (as senior director of race operations), reminded me that he and I are the only two guys who have actually raced every single race since the end of ’89. Sportscars have entered the race.” “But in those days, it was just about driving, and I couldn’t think about anything else.”

If you know IMSA, you know the name Wayne Taylor and the success associated with it. There’s the famous No. 10 Konica Minolta car and its incredible IMSA run at its wheels. His team, Wayne Taylor Racing, claims two IMSA driver championships, back-to-back Michelin Endurance Cup championships, and wins at crown jewel events such as the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 12 Hours of Sebring, and Petit Le Mans. His legacy includes two sons, Ricky and Jordan, who have carried the Taylor name on stage.

And that legacy continues. This weekend marks the beginning of Wayne Taylor’s 37th season in the Rolex 24 American Sports Car Series, and while he no longer feels like driving (he doesn’t even miss it), racing is still his life.

But Stateside racing was not the life he originally envisioned for himself. In fact, his arrival in the IMSA fold was somewhere between a pivot and a coincidence. One that has turned into a permanent residence, with no signs of slowing down.

“Everything just works here”

In late 1986, Wayne Taylor was a 30-year-old South African who had won the South African Formula 2 Championship. He had one goal in mind: to make his way to Formula 1. So he did what every F1 hopeful knew to do at the time, and relocated to England with his wife.

Then, reality set in.

“(To get to F1) would require a huge amount of money and I had no way of raising it,” says Taylor. “But I was never going to give up – I was going to be a racing driver for the rest of my life.”

Looking for a fallback, he looked at the popularity of sports car racing, particularly in Europe, where the Group C World Championship was hosted in the late 80s. Boxy, wedge-shaped prototypes with attractive wings like the Porsche 956 ruled the Endurance series. Taylor thought it would be an easy jump.

Taylor said, “Not only can you change from Formula 1 to sports cars, but sports cars have a longer shelf life for drivers.” “In Formula 1, when you get to your late thirties, you’re kind of ready DoneWhereas, people are still running… well, I was running until I was 51.

The Porsche 962 C driven by Wayne Taylor (partially) ahead of fellow Porsche 962 C at the 1987 24 Hours of Le Mans.

It was an easy pivot for Taylor: he finished fourth at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1987, then transferred to the World Sportscar Championship, moving up the ranks to Group C. At the time, IMSA-sanctioned cars could participate, so Taylor took advantage of the opportunity and ran a few races across the pond. His 37-season streak with IMSA began in late 1989 at Tampa, Summit Point and Del Mar. At Del Mar, he put the Chevrolet Spice car on the pole, and Taylor says that’s when he started getting calls to drive. Other teams. But time and resources ran short in Europe, and without any fixed journey, his small family returned to South Africa.

America soon came calling again, with Jim Miller bringing Wayne to the 1990 IMSA season for the entire season – 10 races. “Everything happened. “Everything just works here,” Taylor says of the United States. “You know, it doesn’t matter what you want, you can get it.” Taylor wanted to compete, and so he and his family moved Stateside to become a mainstay in the IMSA paddock.

Taylor recalls, “We didn’t really have any money, and it was a real struggle when we first got here.” – And did it with Jim Downing.

That first IMSA title came in 1994. The wins kept coming: Taylor won three more Exxon World SportsCar Championships, scoring two wins at the Rolex 24 at Daytona and one at Sebring. In 1998, he took a Prototype-class victory at Le Mans with Ferrari And Petit became the first driver to win in the inaugural race of Le Mans.

In the first half of the new millennium Taylor split his time between IMSA and a Le Mans effort teaming up with Cadillac (until he dropped out of the competition). His last major podium came in 2005, when he won his second Rolex 24.

Wayne Taylor with members of his team in victory lane at the 2005 Rolex 24

Photo by: F. Pierce Williams / Motorsport Images

Wayne Taylor puts on his helmet after the 2006 season. But his story turned a new page: Taylor joined with his longtime driving partner Max Angelelli to lead the Wayne Taylor Racing Team. And racing soon became a family affair.

Wayne Taylor & Sons, Inc.

According to their father, Ricky and Jordan Taylor – Wayne’s sons – did not care much for racing as children. However, he would take them go-karting to get them away from television. He could see their talent, but he wouldn’t pressure them into playing the game if their heart wasn’t in it. That all changed when Ricky and Jordan watched their father win the Rolex 24 in 2005.

“It was like a lightswitch,” Taylor says. “And that’s all they wanted, racing drivers.”

Taylor’s boys actually joined the family business in 2007. Wayne Taylor says, “I started them – but really, really, they had to earn the right to do what they did.” And I think he did that.”

Less than a decade after joining their father’s team, Ricky and Jordan would celebrate winning their own Rolex 24. “We had 2017 where our whole family, Ricky and Jordan, were at Daytona with Max (Angeli) and Jeff Gordon,” remembers his dad. “We won out of the box. We won five races in the championship.” Jordan would eventually move from Wayne Taylor Racing to the factory Corvette GT program. Ricky left the nest to drive for Roger Penske and his Acura Team Penske Prototype entry. Gave.

Race Winner Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac DPi: Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor, Max Angelelli, Jeff Gordon at the 2017 Rolex 24

Photo by: Alexander Triinitz

Get Wayne Taylor talking about his sons, and he seems more proud of them than of their accomplishments.

“Jordan has had a great career. (He) won Le Mans. Wayne Taylor says, “Winned a lot of championships. Ricky had an incredible career for Roger (Penske): won championships, won the Rolex 24, won Sebring. He accomplished all of this before he was 35, and I was 50. Been doing this for ages, it’s been great.

Taylor also knows that making racing a family affair probably hasn’t been easy for Ricky and Jordan.

“They probably hate driving for me,” Taylor says. “Actually, I’m serious. I guess they really don’t like me driving, because they say I never leave them alone. I’m always on the phone with him, and so it’s a constant battle for him. I can’t even call them and say, ‘I think you should do this in the next race.’ But I really like it.”

After exploring IMSA life outside the Taylor-family garage, Ricky and Jordan reunite with their father to race the No. 10 and No. 40 Acura GTP cars in 2024. This year, there’s a new addition to his team—though one that’s played a much bigger part throughout his career: General Motors. Specifically, Cadillac.

Winning isn’t everything…it’s the only thing

As the 2025 IMSA season begins at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, Taylor talks about it like a family reunion.

“You know, with the new program that’s coming up with Cadillac, it’s like, I’m going back to my old family,” Taylor says. “I won the championship in 1996 in an Oldsmobile Aurora. I won the Grand Am Championship with Pontiac with Riley and Scott. And then came the Corvettes. We won the race in the Corvette. And then I became the team owner.”

As team owner, GM, the Cadillac partnership continued, leading to two IMSA championships in Daytona Prototype International (DPI) competition. As the DPi and Prototype classes were retired to make way for the currently running Grand Touring Prototype (GTP) class, a brief stint followed, before Wayne Taylor Racing announced a return home to Cadillac in late 2024. Partnered with Acura for.

The #10 Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R at this year’s Roar Before the 24

Photo by: James Gilbert – Motorsport Images

Their shared history makes the reunion at the 2025 Rolex 24 an obvious moment of excitement. The sights are set on getting back into rhythm with Cadillac – and not just here in the states with IMSA. Both have their sights set on Europe and the possibility of victory, which neither Wayne, his family, nor Cadillac have been able to achieve.

“The one thing we haven’t done is win Le Mans overall,” says Taylor. “Jordan and I have both won classes – he won the GT class; I won the prototype class in a Ferrari. With existing rules and regulations (Ed Note: Both IMSA and WEC GTP have the same cars and the same rules), it’s possible we’ll get an invitation.”

Taylor explains that bringing home an IMSA championship remains the day-to-day focus. Some WEC races are also being added. But an invite to Le Mans – and then, ideally, the overall win – is the dream he and the rest of the Wayne Taylor family (literally and otherwise) have in mind.

Until then, Wayne Taylor will keep doing what Wayne Taylor does so well: racing.

“As long as I stay motivated, and I have passion, and I have guys that are focused on this team and want to win, I’m going to keep doing it, because what else am I going to do?” Taylor says “I don’t know. Don’t play golf. I don’t play tennis. I don’t play snooker. I don’t have a girlfriend. I don’t have any other sports. Honestly, I don’t know what I would do.”

#10 Cadillac DPi, P: Ricky Taylor, Jordan Taylor, Wayne Taylor

Photo by: Richard Doll/Motorsport Images

Since Wayne Taylor Racing’s IMSA Drivers’ Championship title in 2013, the team has scored 25 victories – many of which have been at great endurance races like the Rolex 24, Sebring and Petit Le Mans. When Taylor hears those numbers, the consistently successful South African driver is delighted. “Since 2013? 25 wins? Wow,” he says. “Yeah, I think we did okay.”

“I wish I enjoyed it more,” Taylor says. “My wife, she always says, and my kids, ‘Dad, you’re never happy.’ You are never happy, Dad.” And I think to myself, ‘You know what? This is very true. I’m only happy when we’re winning races. Besides, I don’t know how the rest of the world lives.”

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