Last week, it was announced that Taylor will return to the team run by his father Wayne at the wheel of a second Acura ARX-06 LMDh in the IMSA SportsCar Championship next year, partnering up with Louis Deletraz.
It brings an end to not only a four-season spell at Corvette, but more than a decade as a driver for General Motors, as he campaigned Corvette DP and Cadillac DPi machinery during his first stint at WTR from 2013-19.
Explaining the decision to selected media, including Autosport, Taylor said that IMSA replacing the GT Le Mans class for GTE cars with the GT3-based GT Daytona Pro division for 2022 prompted him to consider a return to the prototype ranks.
“I always saw my career staying at GM until the end, especially when I made the move to Corvette Racing, which was always my goal,” the 32-year-old said.
“But when the rules changed with the new class structure, and the Le Mans rules changed [with GTE Pro being axed after 2022], it took away some of the passion and enjoyment of driving the cars, and the style of driving that I enjoy.
“It was difficult to make that final decision, but I think at my age and this stage of my career, it’s an exciting time to go back to prototype racing, fight for overall wins and race in a class that has the capability of racing for overall wins at Le Mans, which is something I’ve never done.”
Asked if he ever foresaw himself eventually returning to the family-run WTR squad following his switch to Corvette in 2020, Taylor replied: “No, not really. When I left prototypes, it felt like that was in the rear-view mirror.
“We won two championships, we won two Rolexes [Daytona 24 Hours], and a bunch of things I wanted to win. I never thought I would come back, but as things changed with the rules, the desire to go back came back.
“There was no way I was going to replace either Ricky [Taylor] or Filipe [Albuquerque]. But when Andretti came on board and there was the option of a second car, the conversations started pretty early after that.”
Taylor added that the idea of returning to the rebranded GTP class with GM marque Cadillac “wasn’t talked about too much internally”.
“I think everyone assumed I was a Corvette guy for the most part,” he said. “I don’t think there were many openings with Cadillac on the GTP side, if there were I would have been open to discussing them.
“Being back with the family is a great place to be, some of my best years were with the family team and with Ricky, so I’m excited to get started with Louis and create some more memories on the family side.”
Additional reporting by Gary Watkins
