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Grand-Am Finale And DP Championship Goes To Angelelli And Taylor

Lakeville, CT – In the expert hands of veteran Max Angelelli and youthful Jordan Taylor, their Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP team not only copped the Grand-Am season finale at the picturesque Lime Rock Park but the two talented drivers won the Daytona Prototype driver championship as well.

    Daytona Prototype champions Max Angelelli, team owner Wayne Taylor and Jordan Taylor. [Joe Jennings Photo]

After 141 events in 14 years, the race marked the final run for the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series. Going forward, sports car racing will be under the banner of the newly-formed United SportsCar Championship entity. The USCC resulted from the merger of the American LeMans Series and the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.

For the two-hour and 30 minute race in Connecticut, the Taylor team needed to finish fourth or better to be assured of the championship.

Running well in recent events, the championship team took the point first on the 58th lap and for the final time on the 105th go-around, leading to the checkered flag and securing the team’s third consecutive victory.

The winner’s led 74 of the 172 laps.

Said Jordan Taylor, “It sounds pretty crazy to hear that we won the championship after watching my dad (race) all these years and since Grand-Am is where I grew up and started to understand racing. It is very special. Our team made it happen. Every time when it came down to the line, they got us track position. All we had to do was keep everyone behind us.”

Added Angelelli, who the championship in 2005 with Wayne Taylor, “This is special, as I did it with Wayne and now with this young kid (Jordan). It has been an amazing journey for me with the Taylor family and with Chevrolet. I am looking forward to the new challenges, and winning more races.”

Angelelli chalked up his 26th career DP victory and Taylor, 22, became the youngest DP champion in history.

Wayne Taylor was thrilled with the outcome and couldn’t stop complimenting his two drivers. “I don’t know how many driver pairings have existed since Max and I have been together,” he said. “It was great when we won the championship together and then he nurtured (my sons) Jordan and Ricky and brought them up to win races.”

The Rolex Series team owner’s championship went to Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates, finishing six markers ahead of Wayne Taylor Racing.

Finishing second in the race was the Michael Shank Racing Ford Riley of Justin Wilson and Gustavo Yacaman and third went to the Chip Ganassi BMW Riley of championship drivers Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas.

Pruett and Rojas were seeking their fourth consecutive championship but had to settle for the runner-up spot, 13 points back.

The Ganassi team started in the back of the DP field after being forced to change engines after experiencing problems during morning qualifications.

At the outset, fast qualifier Dane Cameron put the Team Sahlen BMW into the lead, pacing the field for the opening 57 laps. Thereafter, the lead seesawed back until the Taylor team took control, leading the final 69 laps.

The action started at the drop of the green when Jon Fogarty spun off the track on the first lap attempting to take the lead and a lap later, three GT cars came together, ending the championship hopes for Magnus Racing and drivers Andy Lally and John Potter.

The GT action was equally intense throughout and the championship was up for grabs throughout.

When the checkered flag fell, Eric Curran and Lawson Aschenbach took the victory in the Marsh Racing Corvette, and the Alessandro Balzan copped the GT championship by finishing second with co-driver Leh Keen. They drove the red Scuderia Ferrari 458.

Said Balzan about the winning the crown, “This is crazy for me to get the championship in the first year for Scuderia Corsa and in the last year of the Rolex Series. It is magical. It was a wild race, but the car was so good. But believe me, I never relaxed out there.”

In GX competition, Tom Long and Sylvain Tremblay took their fourth victory in a Mazda 6, and the season’s championship went to Jim Norman, who drove a Porsche Cayman GX.R.

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