Brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor will be joining Corvette Racing for the next 24 Hours of Le Mans. Audi factory drivers Marcel Fässler and Mike Rockenfeller will also be driving for the American team in the first two rounds of the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Rolex 24 at Daytona and the 12 Hours of Sebring.
We already knew that Oliver Gavin and Tommy Milner were partnered in one team with Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen in another, but we did not know the names of the third drivers. We do now!
It comes as no surprise to see Jordan Taylor on the list for the fifth year running. He drove the Corvette C7.R that won LM GTE Pro at Le Mans this year and in 2014, the American came second with Antonio Garcia and Jan Magnussen.Taylor’s brother Ricky has stepped up to replace Ryan Briscoe. Ricky is no stranger to Le Mans, having raced in LM GTE Am with Larbre C ompétition in 2013 in the C6.R, the C7.R’s elder sister.
“The 24 Hours of Le Mans is a key part of Corvette Racing’s schedule,” said Mark Kent, Director, Chevrolet Racing. “Racing against the best teams, drivers and manufacturers in the world on the demanding 8.47-mile circuit is something that we look forward to each year. It allows us to demonstrate, on a global stage, the performance, reliability and efficiency of the Chevrolet Corvette. Corvette Racing has eight class championships at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and our goal is to repeat as champions in 2016. We hope that the addition of Ricky and the return of Jordan help us achieve our goal of a ninth class victory.”
The Taylor brothers will be racing in a Corvette for the whole WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, but for the long races, they will be in a Corvette DP in their father Wayne’s team. The factory therefore needed to find other drivers for Daytona and Sebring. As substitutes go, these are pretty good! Two former winners of the 24 Hours of Le Mans, no less.
Marcel Fässler and Mike Rockenfeller are best-known as Audi drivers yet they also have a good relationship with Corvette. Fässler won the 24 Hours of Spa in a Carsport Corvette in 2007 and Rockenfeller has driven VisitFlorida.com’s Corvette DP team at Daytona and Sebring for the last two years.
Besides winning Le Mans three times, Fässler has also won the 12 Hours of Sebring while Rockenfeller won Daytona in the same year he won Le Mans.
The new season opens with the Rolex 24 at Daytona. In the meantime, Corvette Racing is strutting its stuff at the 2-day test in Florida today and tomorrow.
Cécile Bonardel / ACO — Translated from French by Emma Paulay
PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), PLACE DE LA REPUBLIQUE, LE MANS 24 HOURS, MONDAY 8 JUNE 2015, SCRUTINEERING. Jordan Taylor will be part of Corvette Racing’s Le Mans line-up for the fifth year running.
Source: Corvette Racing announces 2016 line-up for Le Mans and US races