Deletraz, Taylor Aiming to “Bounce Back” from Daytona

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Louis Deletraz and Jordan Taylor are aiming to defend their Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victory from a year ago, while also looking to bounce back from an early end to January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona according to the Swiss driver.

Deletraz scored a famous victory in last year’s Sebring by getting around the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing Cadillac V-Series.R of Sebastien Bourdais with six minutes to go to take he, Taylor and Colton Herta to the top step of the podium for the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing entry.

It came in a breakout moment for the Swiss LMP2 ace, who was embarking on his first full GTP season.

“Last year’s Sebring was fantastic,” said Deletraz. “With the victory, I have very good memories from it.

“It was one of the best victories in my career and it’s always nice to see the images again, so coming in this year we had two test days, we prepared well with the Cadillac and I think we should be in a strong position again to fight for it and hopefully we can repeat it.

“It’s just such an amazing race and special track. So, I’m very excited to be back and with good memories. We had a rough Daytona and want to bounce back there.”

Deletraz and Taylor enter their second race with the Cadillac LMDh car after making the off-season switch from Acura.

While an accident in the overnight hours at Daytona ended their chances in the twice-around-the-clock enduro, Taylor feel they have the right ingredients for repeated success at the Florida airfield circuit.

“Daytona was hectic being the first race for us, but testing at Sebring for two days was super beneficial,” he said.

“I think we were able to finally get to stuff that as a team wanted to get through on a setup point of view.

“Obviously, we have Dallara, where they worked with Ganassi and Whelen the past couple of years developing setups and we come in kind of with a different perspective. So, we’ve got stuff that we want to try.

“We can always lean on them for some help, but I think we’re looking forward to Sebring where the cars ran very well last year.

“Obviously, Louis was battling with Bourdais and a Cadillac at the end of the race. And we’re counting on Louis being the difference-maker and hopefully the Cadillac being a stronger car.”

When asked if the change of manufacturer has affected WTR’s chances of winning Sebring, Taylor said he doesn’t feel like it changes much.

“We’ve had a long history at this race,” he said. “I think our first 12-hour was 2014 as a team. So a lot of history at the track in the event that we can rely on changing manufacturer.

“A lot to learn, but I think with this class being around for three years now, the Cadillac group can kind of bring us up to speed extremely quickly and help from learning the setup side, the systems side, how to strategize all those things when we go to this event.

“I think we have a big head start. Let’s say if we got a Cadillac last year, it would have been way more difficult, but I think we’re going into it well prepared.”