Corvette Racing today announced their full roster of drivers for the 2012 season. Returning to the familiar confines of the Corvette C6.R’s are Oliver Gavin, Jan Magnussen, Tommy Milner, Richard Westbrook and Antonio Garcia. As has been widely speculated, Olivier Beretta’s full time seat in the No 3 Corvette C6.R will now be occupied by Antonio Garcia, who has been serving as one of two endurance drivers since 2009. New to the roster is 20 year old American driver Jordan Taylor who will take over the endurance driver duties at Sebring, Le Mans and Petit Le Mans.
Jordan Taylor is a 20 year old resident of Apopka, Florida and the son of two time Daytona 24 winning driver Wayne Taylor. Jordan made his debut in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series in 2009 and he and his co-driver piloted the Autohaus Motorsports Chevrolet Camaro to a runner-up finish in the 2011 Rolex GT championship, falling just two points short of winning the title. Taylor will continue to compete in the Rolex Series in 2012 with Autohaus Motorsports in addition to the three endurance races for Corvette Racing.
“Corvette Racing is one of the most iconic names in motorsports, and joining this team is a huge opportunity for me,” said Taylor, a student at the University of Central Florida. “There are certainly going to be challenges as I learn the capabilities of the Corvette C6.R race cars, become familiar with the team, adapt to new tracks, and race with new competitors. It’s going to be amazing to race a Corvette at Sebring, Le Mans, and Road Atlanta, and I can’t wait to get started!”
GM has a long history with the Taylor family going back to the days of the Chevrolet Intrepid GTP, Oldsmobile Aurora WSC and Cadillac LMP programs. Jordan’s father Wayne currently campaigns a Corvette Daytona Prototype in the 2012 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series.
“We have watched Jordan develop as a fine young driver over the years, and when he had an opportunity to test for Corvette Racing, his performance was very impressive,” said Kent. “He is totally dedicated to racing, gives great feedback, understands how to interpret data, and knows how to make changes to the car and his driving style to suit the conditions. He has tremendous potential and we see this opportunity as an investment in the team’s future.
“I also want to acknowledge the contributions of Olivier Beretta to Corvette Racing,” Kent continued. “Olivier was a valued member of the team, and he played a key role in our success in the ALMS and at Le Mans. Although we have parted company with Olivier, we’ll look forward to seeing him at the race track, and we wish him all the best in the future.”
Corvette Racing will have a private test date later this month and then is expected to participate in the Sebring Winter Test on February 8-9 as the team gears up for the 60th Anniversary Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring on March 17th. Corvette Racing received two automatic invitations to quality for the 24 Hours of Le Mans and so the team will be returing to France with the goal of defending their title in the GTE-PRO class on June 16-17, 2012.
“Corvette Racing’s starts every season with the same objectives: to capture the ALMS GT championship and to win at Le Mans,” said Kent. “We’ve never worked harder to achieve these goals. The entire team is energized and excited, and the strength of the competition drives us to strive for continuous improvement.”
Bondurant School of High Performance Driving
Source:
Corvette Racing
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