With confetti flying, Ricky and Jordan Taylor celebrate in victory lane after winning The Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach. [Joe Jennings Photo]
Long Beach, Calif. – The Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach turned out to be a hard-fought dual between the Wayne Taylor Racing Corvette DP and the Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost Riley. After 100 minutes of intense racing, youthful drivers Ricky and Jordan Taylor prevailed over veterans Scott Pruett and Joey Hand by three seconds, giving the Taylor team its first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory of the young season.
For the Taylor brothers, they won their third TUDOR Championship victory and their 10th North American sports car victory.
“I felt confidence the entire weekend,” said Ricky Taylor. “It was nice to have a nice package underneath us, and to be fighting between Corvette and Ford was nice to see. We also got first place points, so it’s the best we could get.”
It was a dominant weekend for Wayne Taylor Racing with Ricky Taylor also winning the TOTAL Pole Award. Ricky started the race from the pole and led throughout his opening stint, giving way to Jordan Taylor with 47 minutes remaining in the 100-minute sprint race. Running in the second position, Scott Pruett pitted the No. 01 Ford EcoBoost/Riley one lap later and Hand took over.
Hand inherited the lead on the pit stop exchange, but Jordan Taylor quickly pounced and took the top spot in Turn 1 with 44 minutes remaining. He led the rest of the way, although Hand closed the gap to within one second several times over the final 30 minutes.
Said Pruett, “We’re coming off two tough endurances races, a 24 (hour) and a 12 (hour), so your mindset going into this race is completely different. You have to pull it hard right from the green flag and run it hard and try to stay up at the front and do the right things.”
For the third time in three tries, third place went to the VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP of Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante
The GT LeMans class race saw the BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTE score a come-from-behind victory for drivers Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner.
Joining the race in seventh place, Werner made a thrilling charge to take the lead in the closing minutes and give BMW its first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory.
For veteran Auberlen, the win was his 54th North American sports car victory and Werner scored for the seventh time.
Auberlen started the winning No. 25 IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM from the pole, but lost the lead on the opening lap as Giancarlo Fisichella charged from third to first in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia. The Ferrari added to its lead when Pierre Kaffer took over at the midway point of the 100-minute race – while the BMW fell back due to a miscue during refueling.
“Without a yellow flag, we know it’s going to be a long day,” Auberlen admitted. Without the benefit of a caution period in the 100-minute race on the 1.968-mile street circuit, Werner put his head down. Driving a car carrying the paint scheme of BMW Motorsport’s first U.S. victory at Sebring in 1975, Werner caught Kaffer on the 68th lap and made the pass for the lead in Turn 9 with 11 minutes to go.
Regarding the win, the overjoyed Auberlen added, “We were down in the mouth with 25 minutes left, and now we won the race. This is my favorite track. I’m so happy you can’t imagine. Winning doesn’t ever get old. Bobby Rahal is like a rock. He hung in there and Dirk put his head down. He hunted down the Ferrari and made a beautiful pass.”
Added Werner, “After two or three laps, my tires came in. I knew the car was really fast. Catching the other cars was good fun. I found I could run down the Ferrari to a certain distance. Then he had a problem. I felt our car was better, so I waited for the right corner to set him up.”
Kaffer and Fisichella held on for the runner-up spot in their red Ferrari.
Third in class went to a Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R of Jan Magnussen and Antonio Garcia.
The next race for the TUDOR Championship will be the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda, on May 3 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.
Hopes for a double podium for BMW went away when Lucas Luhr briefly went off course in the No. 24 IHG Rewards Club BMW started by John Edwards. That allowed Antonio Garcia to take third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R started by Jan Magnussen. A year ago, the pair gave the new Corvette model its first victory at Long Beach, launching a four-race winning streak.