Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956 in Port Elizabeth,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
) is a South African
sports carSports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
racer. He won the 1996 and 2005
24 Hours of DaytonaThe Rolex 24 at Daytona is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is held on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield road course...
, and the 2005 Rolex Series. He co-drives for
SunTrust RacingSunTrust Racing is a professional sports car racing team competing in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class. The team campaigns the No...
with
Max AngelelliMassimiliano Angelelli is an Italian race car driver.His career begun in Italian Formula Alfa Boxer in 1987 and continued for 15 years. His only championship win as the 1992 Italian Formula Three title...
. He co-drove in the 2006
International Race of ChampionsInternational Race of Champions, better known as IROC, was an auto racing competition, promoted as an equivalent of an All-Star Game or The Masters. Drivers raced identically-prepared stock cars set up by a single team of mechanics in an effort to make the race purely a test of driver ability. It...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with Angelelli.
He won the 1986 South African Driver's Championship. In 1987 he finished fourth in the
24 Hours of Le MansThe 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France...
. He moved to the FIA
World Sportscar ChampionshipThe World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
. He competed in the C2 class in 1988, and moved to the C1 class in 1989.
Wayne Taylor (born 15 July 1956 in Port Elizabeth,
South AfricaThe Republic of South Africa is a country located at the southern tip of Africa, with a coastline on the Atlantic and Indian Oceans. To the north lie Namibia, Botswana and Zimbabwe, to the east are Mozambique and Swaziland, while Lesotho is an independent country surrounded by South Africa.Modern...
) is a South African
sports carSports car racing is a form of circuit auto racing with automobiles that have two seats and enclosed wheels. They may be purpose-built or related to road-going sports cars....
racer. He won the 1996 and 2005
24 Hours of DaytonaThe Rolex 24 at Daytona is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is held on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield road course...
, and the 2005 Rolex Series. He co-drives for
SunTrust RacingSunTrust Racing is a professional sports car racing team competing in the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype class. The team campaigns the No...
with
Max AngelelliMassimiliano Angelelli is an Italian race car driver.His career begun in Italian Formula Alfa Boxer in 1987 and continued for 15 years. His only championship win as the 1992 Italian Formula Three title...
. He co-drove in the 2006
International Race of ChampionsInternational Race of Champions, better known as IROC, was an auto racing competition, promoted as an equivalent of an All-Star Game or The Masters. Drivers raced identically-prepared stock cars set up by a single team of mechanics in an effort to make the race purely a test of driver ability. It...
in the
United StatesThe United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
with Angelelli.
Racing career
He won the 1986 South African Driver's Championship. In 1987 he finished fourth in the
24 Hours of Le MansThe 24 Hours of Le Mans is the world's oldest sports car race in endurance racing, held annually since near the town of Le Mans, Sarthe, France...
. He moved to the FIA
World Sportscar ChampionshipThe World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
. He competed in the C2 class in 1988, and moved to the C1 class in 1989. He also competed in the
IMSAThe International Motor Sports Association is an American auto racing sanctioning body based in Braselton, Georgia. It was started by John Bishop, a former employee of SCCA , and his wife Peggy in 1969 with help from Bill France, Sr...
GT Camel seriesIMSA 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:...
in 1989, 1990, and 1991. He moved to IMSA's Camel Lights series in 1992, and the Camel GTP series in 1993.
He won the
World SportsCar ChampionshipThe World Sportscar Championship was the world series run for sports car racing by the FIA from 1953 to 1992.The championship evolved from a small collection of the most important sportscar, endurance and road racing events in Europe and North America with dozens of gentleman drivers at the grid,...
in 1994, with second place finishes in the
24 Hours of DaytonaThe Rolex 24 at Daytona is a 24-hour sports car endurance race held annually at Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach, Florida. It is held on a combined road course, utilizing portions of the NASCAR tri-oval and an infield road course...
and the
12 Hours of SebringThe 12 Hours of Sebring is an annual motorsport endurance race held at Sebring International Raceway, a former Army Air Force base in Sebring, Florida.- History :...
.
He won the World SportsCar Championship in 1995, 1996, 1997, and 1998. In 1998 he won the
Petit Le MansThe Petit Le Mans is a sports car endurance race held annually at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Georgia, USA.The race was first run on October 10, 1998 as part of the IMSA season, then in 1999 became one of the original events of the American Le Mans Series...
and the prototype class in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
He competed in the
American Le Mans SeriesThe American Le Mans Series is a sports car racing series based in the United States and Canada. It consists of a series of endurance and sprint races, and was created in the spirit of the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Teams compete in one of four classes: LMP1 and LMP2 for Le Mans Prototypes, and GT1 and...
in 1999. From 2000 to 2002, he was a central part of the
CadillacCadillac is a luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors Company. Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mainly in North America....
Le Mans effort. It was handled by his long-time technical partner in 2000
Bill RileyWilliam James Riley is a retired Canadian ice hockey player, and was the third black player in the National Hockey League....
before the chassis program was moved in England and an updated car was built for 2001, followed by a completely new car, the LMP-02, in 2002. Unfortunately, it was not successful against Audi's
R8R8 or R-8 may refer to:* Radial Road 8, a highway in the Philippines* R8 Machine taper, originally designed for Bridgeport Milling Machines* R8 , a regional rail line in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania...
and even privately-entered LMPs, so GM discontinued the program at the end of the year. Taylor tried to secure funding to run a privateer effort with the car, but instead eventually continued with Cadillac in the
Speed World ChallengeThe Speed World Challenge is a North American auto racing series that is sanctioned by the Sports Car Club of America . It consists of two classes: touring car and grand touring. A second touring car class was announced on June 9, 2009....
CTS-V effort.
With Max Angelelli, he was co-champion in the Daytona Prototype category of the 2005
Grand American Road Racing AssociationThe Grand American Road Racing Association or Grand-Am is an auto racing sanctioning body that was established in 1999 to organize road racing competitions in North America...
Rolex Sports Car SeriesThe Rolex Sports Car Series is the premiere series run by the Grand American Road Racing Association. It is a North American-based sports car series that was founded in 2000 under the name Grand American Road Racing Championship to replace the failed United States Road Racing Championship...
, and the pair also took the overall win in the 24 Hours of Daytona.
In 2006The 30th and final season of the Crown Royal International Race of Champions began on Friday, February 17, 2006 at Daytona International Speedway. The all-star roster included thirteen drivers from seven premier racing series. Tony Stewart consistently ran up front and won two races and finished...
, Wayne and his Grand-Am teammate,
Max AngelelliMassimiliano Angelelli is an Italian race car driver.His career begun in Italian Formula Alfa Boxer in 1987 and continued for 15 years. His only championship win as the 1992 Italian Formula Three title...
made IROC Series history becoming the first tandem of drivers to compete in one car during an IROC season. They each raced two races and points were combined for their tally as they are in the sportscar series.
In mid 2006, Taylor announced a split with car builder Bill Riley and formed Wayne Taylor Racing for the 2007 season with continued backing from SunTrust, and Angelelli as co-driver. The team is based in Indianapolis. Early in 07', Taylor stepped away from full time driving and used a host of fill in drivers before naming Michael Valiante to team up with Angelelli full time in 08'. Taylor continues to drive in the long distance events. The team continued to field Riley Chassis in 07' before switching to the new Dallara chassis after the 08' 24 Hours of Daytona. In May 08',the team's transporter caught fire and destroyed it,the new Dallara and all of their equipment. The team fielded their old Riley with borrowed equipment until a new Dallara could be built and shipped to the US. On August 23, the team scored their first win of the year and the first for Dallara in Grand AM at Infinion Raceway California.