Ricky Taylor (born August 3, 1989) is an American racing driver, most notably in the

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida under the jurisdiction of the ACCUS arm of the FIA. It was started by John Bishop, a former executive direc ...

WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The IMSA SportsCar Championship, currently known as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship under sponsorship, is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada and organized by the International Motor Sports Association (IMS ...

. His career highlights include an IMSA Series Championship in 2017, as well as marquee wins at the Daytona 24, 12 Hours of Sebring and Petit Le Mans. In 2017, he, along with his brother Jordan, won the 2017 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in the Prototype class with 5 wins. In 2018, Ricky left his father's team,

Wayne Taylor Racing Wayne Taylor Racing is a sports car racing team that competes in the IMSA SportsCar Championship Daytona Prototype International class. The team campaigns the No. 10 Konica Minolta sponsored Acura ARX-05 full-time for Filipe Albuquerque and ...

, to join the new Acura Team Penske Prototype squad in 2018 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, partnering with

Hélio Castroneves Hélio Castroneves (; born Hélio Alves de Castro Neves; 10 May 1975) is a Brazilian auto racing driver. He has won the Indianapolis 500 a record-equalling four times: in 2001, 2002, 2009, and 2021. He won the 2021 24 Hours of Daytona wit ...

for the full season. In 2020 he and codriver Castroneves won the

2020 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship The 2020 IMSA SportsCar Championship was the 50th racing season sanctioned by the International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) (which traces its lineage back to the 1971 IMSA GT Championship). This was also the seventh United SportsCar Champio ...

. He returned to his father's team in 2021. Ricky was also runner-up of GRAND-AM

Rolex Sports Car Series The Rolex Sports Car Series was the premier series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It was a North American-based sports car series founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed ...

Daytona Prototype class in 2010 and 2011. Within that category, he earned seven wins and 20 podiums. He was also second in the 2014 24 Hours of Daytona and fifth in 2008, 2011 and

2013 File:2013 Events Collage V2.png, From left, clockwise: Edward Snowden becomes internationally famous for leaking classified NSA wiretapping information; Typhoon Haiyan kills over 6,000 in the Philippines and Southeast Asia; The Dhaka garment fact ...

. In 2021, Ricky Taylor joine
Blayze Coaching
as an official racing coach. Through Blayze grassroots racers have the opportunity to learn 1-on-1 with Ricky anytime, from anywhere.

Early years

His father,

Wayne Taylor Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956) is a South African sports car racing driver and team owner. He won the 1996 and 2005 24 Hours of Daytona, and the 2005 Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype drivers' championship. He drove for SunTr ...

, was driver of

IMSA GT Championship IMSA GT was a sports car racing series organized by International Motor Sports Association. Races took place primarily in the United States, and occasionally in Canada. History The series was founded in 1969 by John and Peggy Bishop, and Bill F ...

in the 1990s, so his brother Ricky and Jordan Taylor grew up in Florida (USA). After competing in karting, Ricky was series champion of single seaters' school Skip Barber Southern in 2006 and runner-up of Skip Barber National in 2007. In 2008, Taylor debuted in the 24 Hours of Daytona for the Grand-Am series with a Riley-Pontiac of Daytona Prototype class of

, resulting fifth with

Max Angelelli Massimiliano Angelelli (born 15 December 1966) is a retired Italian racecar driver. He won the 2005 and 2017 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2001 Six Hours at the Glen. Also he was the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series champion in 2005 and 2013, as ...

Michael Valiante Michael Valiante (born November 11, 1979, in New Westminster, British Columbia) is a Canadian racing driver. Formula racing Valiante began racing in karting where his success earned him a full-season scholarship in the Skip Barber 2.0 Series. ...

and his father Wayne Taylor. Months later, contested the round of Virginia with the Beyer's team, accompanied by Andy Wallace and Jared Beyer. Later, Ricky joined to Doran's team to participate in the final six races of the season with a Dallara-Ford, earning a fifth place with Burt Frisselle like best result. Ricky became in regular driver of Beyer in the 2009 season of the Grand-Am series, using first a Riley-Pontiac and then a Riley-Chevrolet. He earned a fourth place, an eighth and a ninth in the last three races so that finished 18th in the drivers' championship in the Daytona Prototype class.

WTR and Spirit of Daytona

Wayne Taylor hired Ricky to contest the 2010 Rolex Sports Car Series with a Dallara-Ford. Accompanied by

, the driver captured one win and seven podiums and sixth place in the 24 Hours of Daytona. Thus, he was second in the drivers' championships and teams in the DP class, behind

Scott Pruett Scott Donald Pruett (born March 24, 1960) is a former American race car driver who has competed in NASCAR, CART, IMSA, Trans-Am and Grand-Am. He and his wife Judy have three children and are children's book authors. Pruett started racing go ...

and

Memo Rojas Guillermo "Memo" Rojas Jr. (born August 18, 1981) is a Mexican professional race car driver. Successful in American sports car racing, Rojas is a four-time series champion in the Rolex Sports Car Series, a three-time winner of the 24 Hours of Day ...

and his nine victories. In the 2011 Rolex Sports Car Series season, now at the wheel of a Dallara-Chevrolet. Scored three victories (one of them in the 6 Hours of Watkins Glen) and eight podium finishes and a fifth place in the 24 Hours of Daytona. As a consequence, was runner-up in the DP class behind Pruett and Rojas again. Adopting the new Chevrolet Corvette DP in 2012, Taylor recorded three wins and seven top 5 in 12 appearances. Thus ended seventh in the driver standings and fifth in the teams in the DP class. Later, he contested the

Gold Coast 600 The Gold Coast 500 (formally known as the Boost Mobile Gold Coast 500) is an annual motor racing event for Supercars, held at the Surfers Paradise Street Circuit in Surfers Paradise, Queensland, Australia. The event has been a regular part o ...

of V8 Supercars in a Holden Commodore from

Garry Rogers Motorsport Garry Rogers Motorsport is an Australian motor racing team. It is owned by retired racing driver Garry Rogers who began the team to further his own racing efforts. Based in Melbourne, originally out of a Nissan dealership owned by Rogers, the te ...

alongside

Greg Ritter Greg Ritter (born 20 February 1973, in Victoria) is an Australian racing driver. He was the winner of the 1999 Australian Formula Ford Championship The 1999 Australian Formula Ford Championship was an Australian motor racing competition for ...

, however he was sent into a frightening rollover several hundred metres after the start whilst trying to avoid two stricken cars. Taylor became in driver of the

Spirit of Daytona Racing Spirit of Daytona Racing (known as VisitFlorida Racing from 2015 to 2018) was an auto racing team that competed last in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Prototype Class with the No. 90 Cadillac DPi-V.R, driven by Tristan Vautier, Matt M ...

for the

2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season The 2013 Rolex Sports Car Series season was the fourteenth and final season of the Grand American Road Racing Association's premier series, before merging up with the American Le Mans Series in 2014. It began on January 26, with the 51st running o ...

, teaming with

Richard Westbrook Richard Westbrook (born 10 July 1975) is a British professional racing driver noted for his success in racing Porsche and International sports cars. As a junior, he attended St Joseph's College, Ipswich. He has won both the Porsche Supercup i ...

. He earned a third place, three-fifths and a sixth, so finished 11th in the drivers championship and eighth in teams in the DP. On the other hand, obtained a fifth place in the GTE-Am class at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, driving a Chevrolet Corvette of Larbre Competition.

Team Penske

Beginning with the 2018 Roar Before the 24, Ricky Taylor will partner Helio Castroneves in one of two new works Acura ARX-05 fielded by Roger Penske. Taylor and co-driver Castroneves won the 2020 WeatherTech SportsCar DPi Drivers' Championship, after finishing 8th, at the season finale at the 12 Hours of Sebring.

Other competition

In 2012, Taylor was selected by

to participate in the 2012 Armor All Gold Coast 600 event for

V8 Supercars The Supercars Championship is a touring car racing category in Australia, running as an International Series under Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) regulations, governing the sport. Supercars events take place in all Australian ...

as an 'international' co-driver. In his first ever standing start he managed 200m before he rolled off a car that had stalled on the grid, totalling his #33

Holden VE Commodore The Holden Commodore (VE) is an executive car that was produced by Holden from 2006 to 2013. It was the first iteration of the fourth generation of the Commodore. Its range included the luxury variants, Holden Berlina (VE) and Holden Calais (VE ...

and resigning himself and team-mate

to the sidelines for the rest of the weekend.

Racing record

Complete 24 Hours of Le Mans results

‡13th in LMP2. Fourth in LMP2 Pro-Am.

Complete IMSA SportsCar Championship results

(

key Key or The Key may refer to: Common meanings * Key (cryptography), a piece of information that controls the operation of a cryptography algorithm * Key (lock), device used to control access to places or facilities restricted by a lock * Key (map ...

)(Races in bold indicate pole position)

Complete European Le Mans Series results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position; results in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

Complete FIA World Endurance Championship results

(

) (Races in bold indicate pole position) (Races in ''italics'' indicate fastest lap)

External links

Ricky Taylor in Racing Reference

Ricky Taylor in Driver Database

Ricky Taylor in Race Database
{{DEFAULTSORT:Taylor, Ricky 1989 births Living people 24 Hours of Daytona drivers Rolex Sports Car Series drivers FIA World Endurance Championship drivers 24 Hours of Le Mans drivers Supercars Championship drivers Indy Pro 2000 Championship drivers People from Surrey WeatherTech SportsCar Championship drivers 12 Hours of Sebring drivers Team Penske drivers American people of South African descent Corvette Racing drivers Larbre Compétition drivers Wayne Taylor Racing drivers DragonSpeed drivers European Le Mans Series drivers Jota Sport drivers Garry Rogers Motorsport drivers