Taylors Sew Up Front Row At Mid-Ohio

The Corvette Daytona Prototype of Wayne Taylor Racing is on pole at Mid-Ohio. (File photos courtesy of the Rolex Grand-Am Series)
RacinToday.com
The No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette Dallara DP of Wayne Taylor Racing will start Saturday’s GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Diamond Cellar Classic from the pole for the second race in a row after qualifying Friday at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington.
Jordan Taylor, the recently turned 22-year-old whose 23-year-old brother Ricky Taylor made it an all-Taylor front row by qualifying second in the No. 90 Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP, scored his second career Daytona Prototype-class pole in as many events to go with six career GT-class poles. His lap of 1 minute, 16.947 seconds at 105.642 mph was tops among 27 car-and-driver combinations, putting himself and co-driver Max Angelelli in prime position as they vie for their second consecutive victory and third of the season during Saturday’s two-hour, 45-minute race around the 2.258-mile, 13-turn Mid-Ohio road course.
“It was good. We didn’t really know what we had going into qualifying, just like Detroit, but the Velocity guys gave me a good car,” said Taylor, whose victory alongside the veteran Italian Angelelli from the pole at Detroit’s Streets of Belle Isle temporary road course two weekends ago vaulted the No. 10 Velocity Worldwide Corvette DP team to the top of the Rolex Series standings. “I heard Ricky did a 17-zero and I was a little concerned. Once we went back to green flag, we knew what we had to do and we were able to get him by half-a-tenth on the very last lap. It was our second pole of the year and it’s always good to start up front in these races where it’s tough to pass, so I look forward to the event. It’ll be cool starting on the front row next to Ricky. He was probably the last guy I wanted to outqualify for the pole because I know how badly he wanted to get the pole. I know he’s frustrated. We’ve been wanting to both be on the front row together for a while. It’s the first time and I’m sure, once the green flag drops, we’ll be racing each other just like any another competitor.”
Ricky Taylor’s front-row qualifying lap of 1:17.001 at 105.567 mph in the Spirit of Daytona Corvette DP he shares with Richard Westbrook made it an all-Taylor front row for the first time in series history. The previous Rolex Series qualifying milestone for the Taylor brothers occurred at the 2011 Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, when Ricky qualified on the pole in the No. 10 WTR Daytona Prototype and Jordan qualified on the GT-class pole in the No. 88 Autohaus Motorsports Camaro GT.R.
The top-five on the starting grid for Saturday’s Diamond Cellar Classic at Mid-Ohio are:
1. Wayne Taylor Racing (No. 10 Corvette DP) with Jordan Taylor and Max Angelelli (1:16.947 at 105.642 mph).
2. Spirit of Daytona Racing (No. 90 Corvette DP) with Ricky Taylor and Richard Westbrook (1:17.001 at 105.567 mph).
3. Action Express Racing (No. 5 Corvette DP) with Christian Fittipaldi and Joao Barbosa (1:17.200 at 105.295 mph).
4. Gainsco/Bob Stallings Racing (No. 99 Corvette DP) with Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney (1:17.248 at 105.230 mph).
5. Action Express Racing (No. 9 Corvette DP) with Burt Frisselle and Brian Frisselle (1:17.381 at 105.049 mph).
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