Not unexpectedly this bulletin just in from IMSA after it was confirmed that Jordan Taylor drove for 17 minutes over his allowed 4 hour driving time in a 6 hour period at the end of the 2015 Rolex 24 Hours at Daytona. Jordan climbed aboard the #10 car at 08:01 and drove until 10:36, ceded the seat to Max Angelelli until 12:17 but then drove through to 13:59 before being pulled in by the WTR team when they realised their error:
The No. 10 Wayne Taylor Racing Prototype team and drivers Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli have been reclassified as finishing last in the Prototype class in the Rolex 24 At Daytona due to a violation of drive-time rules. In the Rolex 24, the maximum drive time was no more than four hours in a six-hour period and no more than 14 hours total.
All Prototype teams and drivers finishing behind the No. 10 team will move up one position in the race standings. The No. 10 team and drivers will receive points for 16th place, last in class. The team also forfeits its third-place prize money, and was scored last in the final segment of the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup standings.
“IMSA conducted a thorough review of drive times post-race, which revealed that Jordan Taylor exceeded four hours over a six-hour period late in the race,” said IMSA Race Director Beaux Barfield. “Drive-time maximums are in place to ensure that drivers do not get fatigued and create safety concerns, as well as to prevent any one driver from making too large a contribution to its team’s result.”
Wayne Taylor, Team Owner, Wayne Taylor Racing: “Obviously, we are disappointed that inadvertently having Jordan drive a few more minutes than permitted has resulted in the issuance of these penalties. We fully understand IMSA’s stance on this and will not challenge the penalties levied against us. We will move forward and continue to do our very best to succeed in our goal of winning this championship, which is one of the most difficult championships in all of motor racing. We look forward to the next round of the Tudor United SportsCar Championship at Sebring.”
The result sees the #90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP elevated to third, and the GTLM class winning #3 Corvette to fourth place overall.
WTR can count themselves very fortunate not to be excluded from the overall result, several teams and drivers citing instances in recent years where disqualification has been wielded for such infringements.
With thanks to Paul Truswell for the data confirmation.
