Latest / BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show / Evening With A Legend: Ricky Taylor

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Evening With A Legend: Ricky Taylor · BREAK/FIX the Motorsports & Vehicle Enthusiast Variety Show

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Evening With a Legend is a series of presentations exclusive to
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legends of the famous 24 hours of lamont giving us an opportunity
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to bring a piece of Le Mans to you.
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By sharing stories and highlights of the big event, you get a chance
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to become part of the Legend of Le Mans with guests from different
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eras of over 100 years of racing.
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Tonight we have an opportunity to bring a piece of Le Mans to you sharing in the
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Legend of Le Mans with guests from different eras of over 100 years of racing.
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And as your host, I'm delighted to introduce.
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Ricky Taylor, one of America's leading endurance talents.
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He has made nine appearances at the 24 hours of Le Manss since 2013, showcasing his
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precision, speed, and composure competing against some of the world's best drivers
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in both prototype and GT categories.
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Known for his technical feedback and strategic awareness.
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He's carried his ims a success to the global endurance
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scene consistently delivering competitive performances at Le Mans.
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Though victory has remained elusive.
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Ricky Taylor's appearances at the fame circuit D Losar underscore his
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standing as a world-class endurance racer, capable of thriving under
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the immense pressure and complexity that defined the 24 Hour Classic.
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And with that, I'm your host crew chief Eric from the Motoring
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Podcast Network, welcoming everyone to this evening with a legend.
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So Ricky, welcome to the show.
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Yeah, thank you very much.
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What a great intro.
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Thank you.
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Well, like all good stories, there's a superhero origin.
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So take us back to the mid two thousands and to your first time at Le Mans.
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Tell us about your first impression when you got there, what the
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experience was like, the scale, the atmosphere compared to all the other
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endurance and sports car racing you'd been doing up until that point.
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That would be with my dad, I guess.
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So Jordan, mom and I all going over to watch Dad in 2001 with
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the second iteration of the.
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Olympian, 900 Cadillac, and I think it was our first time to France actually.
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So that was maybe a big part of it.
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Big memory was, wow, they stay in a chateau for a race weekend.
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And you know, there's just so, so much goes into it.
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It wasn't just, you know, we'd been to Daytona and Sebring and all the American
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races quite a few times, but it was such a different scale of a race weekend.
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Just from the logistics of getting the team there to the amount of time that
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we noticed Dad was away for that one.
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I think that was our first Father's Day together, because father's
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day's always around La MAs.
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So the big thing that jumped out to us was, was really the
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scale of the event and, uh, how many people put so much into it.
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So that 2001 Cadillac, he would've raced with another legend we had on the show.
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He would've been there with Butch Leisinger, right?
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Yeah, that's true.
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Butch Leisinger was in the other car.
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And Butch Leisinger was always the enemy.
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To the Taylor, to the Taylor kids because he was always winning.
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Whether he was with Dyson or Cadillac there, or Bentley, he was
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always such a strong competitor.
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So until we met him, Butch Leisinger was the enemy.
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And then once you meet him, he's just the nicest person ever.
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And we became fans of his, obviously, but yeah.
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Yeah, he was in another, he was in the other Cadillac.
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So fast forward a little bit from 2001 to 2013 ish to your first time at Le Mans.
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Your brother had already been there in 2012 racing for Corvette.
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What was it like turning laps at Le Mans for the first time?
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Everybody talks about, you know, the challenge of the race track and there's a
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few tracks around the world where people really put it on a different pedestal.
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Bathurst is one of them.
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Indianapolis is one of them, and Le Mans is one of them.
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I'd say those are three of the big ones.
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You know, maybe, uh.
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Macau for Open Wheel Guys is a, is a big one.
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You really can't give yourself perspective until you've been there.
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And I think the thing that's important is to remember that it's a street course
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and the first laps that you turn the track is incredibly dusty and it reminds
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you of, of the first laps at Detroit or Long Beach or any of those street
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courses where there's dust flying and the trek has next to zero grip and you're
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gaining four or five seconds of lap.
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As the track evolves and it was just a shock of, firstly
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the speed of the L MP one cars.
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I had mostly prototype experience where I'm not used to being passed and I was
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in A-G-T-E-M class car in the Corvette and seeing the l MP one in the big
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hybrid era days come by, but when I'm in first second gear coming out of, let's
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say Mosan corner, and they're already, you know, doing 180 miles per hour,
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uh, when the front hybrid kicks in.
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So that was very eyeopening, a whole different sense of awareness.
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That I needed to have.
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And then moving to the race, it was classic Le Mansr completely
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soaking wet for basically 24 hours.
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I got my real taste of my first Le Mans and it's sort of how it,
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how it goes there sometimes.
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So had you done any racing in Europe before this point?
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I'd driven in Europe, test some things, but never raced.
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The only race I'd done outside of America was a go-kart race in Brazil
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and I did a V eight supercars race in Australia and that was it basically.
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So having focused your career mostly in imsa, how do you compare that
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experience at LA MA to everything you had learned Stateside, you know, driving
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in IMSA and A LMS and those programs?
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It's definitely culturally different when you go to an IMSA race.
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Something as simple as the paddock layout, interestingly enough, can
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change the culture of the weekend.
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So we work out of trailers.
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The tents off the side of the truck and sort of a common eating area for
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everybody and it creates a really nice camaraderie between the teams and drivers.
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And you see people and you talk and very warm feeling when you race
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in Europe or the whole we season, they're out of garages and so they
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go from their hospitality to the garage, to the race car, and you
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never go outside of your little world.
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You never talk to anybody.
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It's very business-minded.
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And that sort of translates to the on-track product as well.
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SA is very raw and hard close racing with full course yellows.
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And the way that the racing is formatted by the rules lends itself to aggressive
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racing because you have to fight for track position, most importantly,
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where in whack it's very pure.
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They don't have as many mechanisms to bring the field together.
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And every second counts where, you know, you could say you're racing hard in imsa,
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but you have to race really precisely in whack, and it's very unforgiving.
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So a mistake that you make, an hour one at LA Mall, you may never get it back.
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Whether it was the single safety car era or the three safety car era
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or slow zones or whatever it is.
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You really rarely get it back and we, so that makes it very
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challenging from that side.
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Let's talk a little bit more about the racing at Le Mans, especially at night.
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Everybody seems to be fascinated about what it's like to drive and your, the
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way your brother described it was after a while cars drop out and DNF people space
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apart and pit strategies and pit cycles.
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He was like, it feels like you're driving.
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Down the highway to nowhere for a very long time.
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You end up being by yourself at night.
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Is that true?
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Even in the LMP two cars?
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Yeah, it is.
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One thing Ford versus Ferrari did well is like that sense of loneliness.
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I feel like although they were going down a much longer moan straight, that
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sense of just sort of being alone, I think they captured that quite well.
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I think you're spot on there.
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You get into the rhythm at night and it does space out.
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And especially when you're in the faster class and you see everybody
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see the GT cars coming and you get that bit of a rhythm going.
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And I, I guess, like I alluded to earlier, it's a lot more like qualifying laps,
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you know, watching the fuel burn down.
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You're saving the tires in the first half of the stent and then you push
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a little bit more in the, as the fuel burns and you can use a bit of the
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tire, you settle into three, maybe four stints on a tire at a time, which.
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We never do in America.
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Uh, we may double stick once, but because Le Mans is such low energy
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trek, the tires last forever.
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So that alone makes it quite not monotonous, but repetitive and sort of
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emphasizes, you know, doing a good job corner after corner, lap after lap.
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What do you do to stay and focus?
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Do you have your engineer talking to you the whole time
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you listen to an audio book?
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What are you doing to stay awake?
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Yeah, I think luckily we're all very competitively minded people, so
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there's not only somebody to chase.
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You may never catch them and the guy behind you may never catch
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you at the start of the race.
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Everybody's watching the TVs, everybody's watching the timing.
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You're fighting over little inches spaces here and there, and at night
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you kind of settle into the rhythm of I'm gonna do my turn good of a job
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as I can do, give it to the next guy.
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And we're just gonna sort of wind the clock down.
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But at the same time, obviously doing the best job you can, 'cause it
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counts, but it feels like you're just kind of doing your turn sometimes.
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And so you're putting the work in and, and trying to keep the car clean and safe.
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So let's take the veil of nighttime off of the lap.
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And for those that watched the race religiously at home, like I've done
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for many, many, many years since I was a little kid, I didn't have a
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really good perspective of the track until I got to do some VIP laps.
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It was surprisingly narrow and surprisingly tight.
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And some of those corners like aaj and Mosan are extremely slow.
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Was that a shocker for you too?
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Is it always a surprise when you get there compared to the rhythm of some of the
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US tracks, like a Watkins Glen or a road Atlanta that have, you know, that natural
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terrain and, and that movement to them?
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And I'm glad you mentioned those two corners because they are such slow speed
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corners and Lamont gets a reputation for being such a high speed track.
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And that's what makes those corners so difficult is 'cause you're going so
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fast for so long, you lose a sense of.
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Speed.
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You rely a lot on your, on your references as far as you know, breaking
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references and things and where you are.
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I think back in the day before the chicanes, having that hump in
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the straight actually told them, okay, moan corner's coming up.
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But for us, we can see it much easier.
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But losing that sense of speed, I'd say you lose that sense of speed
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at Lamont more than other tracks.
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So it's very easy to.
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Overshoot those low speed corners or just sort of misjudge the speed where
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I feel like usually drivers have a very good gauge for that, but it's a little
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hard to sort of, I guess, calibrate that in there and you'll see a lot of
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people go off in, in those two places.
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I also found myself screaming at the television less.
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In the sense that it's like, just pass him, just go on tv.
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It looks like it.
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There's all the room in the world, but it's actually,
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it's a two lane country road.
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There really isn't the space to make some of the maneuvers, you
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know, with the fisheye lenses that we're looking at the world through
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when we see it on the broadcast.
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Yeah, it's, it's interesting, you know, plank wear has been in
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the news in F1 recently, and we struggle with the same thing and the
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prototypes wearing the plank is, is.
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Critical part to, you know, performance.
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We wanna run the car low and for the drivers preserving that.
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And the unique thing about Le Mans is the road is very crowned.
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So like you said, you, you're yelling at people to go.
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And it's funny, when you watch cars going down the straight, you
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won't see a lot of three wide.
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And if they do go three wide, nobody picks the dead center of the road.
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The car is just high sided on the crown of the road.
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You know, a car will pick a lane and then somebody will go off the
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track, you know, into that sort of green runoff if they go through wide.
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It's kind of a funny game.
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Everybody knows what the good parts of the race track are and
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they try not to give that up.
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But like you kind of hinted, it sometimes changes the way that, that
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you race the track a little bit.
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So when your brother was here, it was just before this year's 24 hours of Le Mans,
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and he was talking about getting prepped and simulation time, and I think you both
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were slated to do some time on the Sims.
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So let's talk a little bit more about how you guys prepare both mentally and
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physically for such a long race, whether it's this one or Rolex for that matter.
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Yeah, I'd say mentally Le Mans is very difficult.
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Just back to the monotony of it, how much you have to get in the rhythm.
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So mentally you don't have those guys to race all the time.
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Where Daytona Sebring, you're always racing somebody head to
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head, you know, on the track, and it's just a constant battle.
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Where at Le Mans, that constant qualifying lap sort of
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mentality really wears you down.
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But to your question on preparation, I wouldn't say
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that we do anything differently.
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Physically, mentally, you know, you might do a bit more sim work or I got
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a little sort of a game on my computer that works on focus and attention and I
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do that year round, but you know, might ramp it up a little bit for LA Mall.
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Simple things like, like heat training or, or things don't hurt.
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It's obviously not super hot there, but the simulator's sort of the big one.
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We use the simulator in Indianapolis, the Del la simulator, and then
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they've got a twin and it's leaf for the European drivers.
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We do a lot of pre and post work.
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So pre Le Mans, I think we did four days in the US one and
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four days in the Italian one.
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They had a lot of data from the previous two years working through
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set up ideas and hiring models just to see how close we can get it.
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And since it was our first time, we had a lot to learn as a team.
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And then after LA Ma correlating the tire again because we had different
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compounds and making sure everything makes sense with our OnTrack data.
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So when we go back it will be even that much better.
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So I know it's not a fair comparison, but last year I got to try Dara's
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Simulator at PRI, which is not the same as what you're using, but I
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noted the software was different.
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I believe they were using a highly modified version of something like
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a set of Corsa versus, you know, max versus Stoppen is practicing on iRacing
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or whatever it is because Le Mans doesn't exist in every piece of software.
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Do you happen to know like what the sim is that the Dara hardware runs on?
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Yeah, they use Ractor Pro.
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So Ractor does all the track scans and even the base
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vehicle model comes from that.
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And then they build off of that.
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The biggest component is the tire model, and each manufacturer licenses Michelin
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to build their specific tire model.
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And so that costs a good fortune.
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Uh, I think for, for that.
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'cause each manufacturer has a, their own Michelin representative, and
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they're a Michelin engineer that.
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Isn't sharing any of his tricks with the other Michelin guy in other camps, and he
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is responsible to build as good of a tire model as possible for your specific car.
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So that's where a lot of the development goes.
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But the base of it is, is our factor, obviously on super high
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end equipment like de LA's.
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The difference between virtual and reality probably isn't very big anymore
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compared to the commercial stuff or the things you can buy at home.
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But is there still a moment when you're on this?
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Sim where you realize I'm playing a game.
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It's not quite like this in real life.
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I think the closer you get to reality they almo, the more difficult
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it gets to make it realistic.
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So when you talk about things like the track scan is, is probably
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the easiest thing to get right.
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There's a bump here, the curb does this.
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The check goes this direction.
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Those are all sort of the easier things to get right.
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I'd say as you get more detailed, you know, building a static tire
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model is easy, but when the car slides, what happens in reality,
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the tire overheats and then the grip drops and that compounds on itself.
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So modeling that becomes very difficult and oftentimes when you're trying to
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model that, you make it less accurate.
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While it's highly accurate and it's a great tool, it's easy to get lost and
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easy to lose your direction as well.
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So luckily, there's a really smart group of guys that do this stuff,
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and I think it's also about the teams and drivers understanding where the
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value is and how to use it properly and not trust certain things too much.
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Since Jordan was here before the 24, there was a lot of hype and
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a lot of excitement and a lot of hope for Team Cadillac this year.
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So now that you're here, let's do a little postmortem.
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Let's talk about what happened at Le Mans.
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Oh boy.
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Again, it was our first time there as a team that was super exciting.
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I think everybody had been looking forward to this and brand new car
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for the mall, and everybody was going into it as a learning experience.
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I don't think anybody in the team had expectations to do anything crazy.
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Uh, obviously Jota was their first year with the Cadillac as well, but
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they have a great history at Le Mans, almost winning overall in LMP two one
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year and having some really strong runs in the Porsche 9 6 3 as well.
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And then Action Express was the only one returning in the same situation.
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And then when Jota got the poll and Jack and the Action Express Car actually did
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the fastest lapping in qualifying, the expectations became a little different.
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Obviously we just missed hyper pole.
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I actually made a mistake exit the Porsche curves that cost the transferred time.
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Otherwise, I think we wouldn't have been fighting for pole, but I think
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we would've been in hyper pole at least, which would've been a, a
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pretty neat thing for the team.
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But everybody has excuses.
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And then moving to the race, it was sort of getting to the point where
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we were gonna settle in and into that night phase where you were talking
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about just sort of settling in.
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We'd lost some track position early, but continuing to click collapse and
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and work our way through, and then US and Action Express have engine failure.
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You know, that was basically it.
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And Philippe tells the story really well.
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He's like, you realize how big Le Mans is?
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It took him like two hours to get back to the pit lane.
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On some guy's scooter from parking, the parking the car in a field.
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He said he feels like he was a World War II behind enemy line,
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sort of, uh, or he parked the car.
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And so that was the end of the race and I was actually
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sleeping when, when it happened.
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Yeah.
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Jordan woke me up and it was a shame 'cause I think finishing that race.
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Unlike some other ones, finishing it is is quite an accomplishment.
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So that was a real shame for the team.
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You and your brother have raced together many times over the years,
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but this was the first time you'd raced together at Le Mans, obviously under your
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dad's banner, Wayne Taylor Racing.
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What was it like?
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The whole family at Le Mans?
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It was really cool.
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And like you said, my dad as well.
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When Jordan went to Le Mans for the first time, I went to watch and he was
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driving for the Corvette factory team.
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It was a big deal, and they're in the same Corvette hospitality.
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Now that we're going first full circle that we went to in
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2001, it didn't change a bit.
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It was the exact same building, the same catering, everything from 2001 until 2012.
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And then when we went back.
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This year we were sharing it with, you know, the whole family together.
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And it was a new hospitality.
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It was actually the same real estate, but doing it all together with a lot of
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the same people, especially for my dad.
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Uh, a good sort of check on the, the life bucket list that
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we all could do it together.
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And for me to see it through Jordan's eyes.
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'cause he's obviously had much more success in Le Mansr than I have.
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And to be sharing the car with him and.
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And get his, his inputs and things as well as Philippe also
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winning in his class at Le Mans.
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So I was the one trying to learn as much as I could.
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So, Ricky, you've mentioned some memorable moments as we've been talking here.
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I wanna pull one thread out of your driver career at Le Mans, and
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that's racing for Jackie Chan.
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In the LMP two program.
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So what was that like?
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What was Jackie's involvement?
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I mean, we were rooting for it going Jackie Chan, this is awesome, right?
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I mean he's done a lot of car related movie Thunderbolt and you know,
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Cannonball and stuff like that.
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But what was it like being part of that team That was so cool.
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So that year Jackie Chan was supporting Team Jota at the time for
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the full, we season with two orcas and then Lee had two entries as well
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and they ended up partnering with.
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Jackie Chan, dc racing at the time, and I was in one of Thes.
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You know, I've been in quite a revolving door of drives over the
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years, so it was just a contact that I'd had and he asked me to do them on.
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Uh, of course I said yes.
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And so it was in a leisure, not one of the orcas, and I
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never got to meet Jackie Chan.
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I was so excited to meet him.
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Obviously I grew up watching Rush Hour and all of his movies,
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and I couldn't wait to meet him.
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And I guess I might be wrong on this.
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But I think David Chang, who was running the team at the time, his family's
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involved with the university in China, and Jackie Chan supports a film school there.
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And that partnership became a racing partnership.
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I don't know the behind the scenes, but I never got to meet
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him, most importantly for me.
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Uh, and uh, it was cool.
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It was cool to, to be involved with that though.
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And, uh.
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Program was super successful.
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Just to be alongside all those people was, was really good.
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And I got to drive with Km Lagar and he was a really good teammate, so I, I
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learned a bit from him and still watching him, him racing, GT GT stuff now.
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Well, it's a good segue to talk a little bit more about LMP two.
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I've made this comment many times before that LMP two doesn't seem to get
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enough love, especially on television.
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How do we fix that?
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Why is that?
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I mean, you guys are out there, you know, racing as hard as you can.
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It is a little bit of a spec series in some respects, but
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there's good racing going on there.
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How do we get more people engaged and excited about LMP two?
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Yeah, you gotta have Philippe on here 'cause Brendan's been our teammate for
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the long distance races for a few years.
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Met Brendan Hartley and obviously he is an overall winner at LA Mall, uh,
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with Toyota and Felipe is a winner in AY two with United Auto Sports.
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And they talk about their wins.
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And Philippe has always given him a hard time about his Toyota wins, that you
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didn't have to beat anybody and he beat 22 guys on track, uh, like in the class.
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And it's alter ultra competitive.
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And I think within the sport everybody watches L MP two,
20:32
they're hiring such good drivers.
20:35
The teams have refined those cars to the nth degree, and the racing
20:39
is is super close and exciting.
20:41
A really strong deep field that you really don't know who's gonna win.
20:45
To answer your question, I don't know how to sell it anymore.
20:47
I think if the cameras were on them more, I think you'd
20:50
see some unbelievable racing.
20:52
Obviously the hypercar class is what it is now.
20:54
It's, it's incredible.
20:56
But yeah, I think everybody's sleeping on Olympia two in general.
20:59
When you watch those races and you put yourself in one of those cars,
21:03
you could really appreciate the the level that's being raced over there.
21:07
Well, you hit on an important point there because we're starting to see a lot of
21:10
growth in what used to be LMP one, GTP, hypercar, whatever you wanna call it.
21:14
Now, as a result of more and more brands coming online, whether it's Ford
21:19
or Hyundai, with the New Genesis and all these other cars that are coming
21:22
into that class, is that gonna force LMP two to get smaller, do you think?
21:26
I think it's a political question.
21:29
That's the way that it looks like it would go naturally.
21:31
It's like you have these high paying manufacturers that are
21:35
spending tens and tens of millions of dollars to race in the top class
21:38
and, and then you've got a customer backed class that the harder sell.
21:42
I don't know if that's the way it's gonna go.
21:44
Sports, car racing, as we all know.
21:46
Very cyclical.
21:47
So this golden era is not gonna last.
21:49
And the days of, you know, needing LMP two to support our racing
21:53
world is, is gonna come back.
21:54
So, yeah, I don't know.
21:56
That's a tough question.
21:56
I wish we could just keep adding garages at La Mo 'cause I think it
22:00
would be a shame to eliminate, you know, such a great historic class.
22:04
Speaking of adding garages, garage 56.
22:06
Take us to 2023.
22:08
Obviously your brother was directly involved with that.
22:10
What are your thoughts on the Camaro and the American Pride and all the
22:13
things we saw alongside of the hundredth being a big to do that was so cool?
22:18
As an American going to LA Mall, there's a bit of a stereotype to it.
22:21
Like, oh, an American and LA Ma doesn't really fit.
22:24
We're so far outside of our comfort zone from the outside.
22:27
To us, it's just another, it's another big race, but then that
22:30
just took it to the max, I think.
22:32
You take everything that's American and you put it on track, a loud, you
22:36
know, V eight nascar, any American driver, an American team, very American
22:40
team doing NASCAR style pit stops.
22:43
It was a proud moment, I think, to see the reception that it got.
22:47
I was super proud.
22:48
I loved the pit stop competition in Le Mansr.
22:50
I've never watched it as intently.
22:52
It was that year.
22:53
And to see the, the NASCAR crew go and beat right at the top, I
22:57
think they turned a lot of heads.
22:59
'cause the teams really put a lot into that.
23:00
So yeah, it was a proud moment and it's cool to see the
23:04
notoriety that it's getting.
23:05
Even still Jordan's getting requests to do things here and
23:08
there for us, so it's nice to see.
23:10
Was there ever a moment when you were out there, whether it was qualifying
23:13
or practice, when you looked in the rear view mirror and you went.
23:16
That's a GT car coming up really fast and your eyes get big and
23:19
go, wait, no, that's Jensen.
23:20
In a Camaro, their closing speed was insane, especially year after year.
23:25
When the, when the rules are quite consistent, year on year, you really
23:29
get into a rhythm of, okay, if I catch a GT here, I'm gonna pass
23:32
'em by here, or I see him up, he is, you know, going into Porsche
23:36
Curves and I'm coming out of Arage.
23:38
You pretty much get an idea of where you're gonna catch him and
23:40
pass 'em, and you get that rhythm.
23:42
And with the garage 56 car, you had to throw all that out the window because
23:46
you could catch 'em into the Ford ccan and you wouldn't pass 'em by turn one.
23:50
'cause that drag from the exit of Ford to D one was way faster
23:54
than anything else out there.
23:56
And like you said, the light, like you'd see the lights and you're like, why
23:59
am I not pulling away from this guy?
24:01
You mentioned Philippe Albuquerque, one of your longtime teammates in many series.
24:06
You guys have raced together.
24:07
Having him with you at Le Mans, how does that change the dynamic
24:12
of your team of teamwork?
24:14
You know, competing at that international level.
24:16
Kind of give us an insight of what it's like in the pits and the
24:19
orchestration that it takes to, you know, complete a 24 hour race.
24:23
Specifically about Philippe.
24:24
The last time he was at Le Mans in the top class was in the Audi LMP one, and.
24:30
That is one of the proudest times of his career.
24:33
I think he, he reached the pinnacle for any driver getting to be involved
24:37
in that program and his teammates with Tom Christensen and, and all
24:40
the, the legends Frank Belo was, was around and Dido Capella was around
24:45
like all of the guys that were all fans of, he was in that program.
24:49
So really cool.
24:50
And he is got so many stories.
24:51
So now when we went to a hybrid platform.
24:54
He had a lot more knowledge than the rest of us.
24:57
He had a big head start from being in, in that world.
25:00
So when it came to energy management or how to strategize, deploying and
25:05
regen and how we do all that stuff, he had a really good perspective of it.
25:08
'cause he, he'd raced it before his year at Le Mans.
25:11
He didn't actually race his car and crashed before he got in the car.
25:14
So to him, he felt like he had some unfinished business and he wanted
25:17
to get back and be in the top class.
25:20
And so to share that with him was really special for me.
25:22
We have a great relationship and we've been together for quite a few years now.
25:26
Just to go there with him.
25:27
He was loving every second of it, walking through the hospitality.
25:30
He is like, everything feels right.
25:32
Everything in the world feels, feels right that he we're here
25:34
together and racing in the top class.
25:36
So it's funny you mentioned that because as racers.
25:40
We have a tendency to learn from each other.
25:42
It's a very collaborative environment.
25:44
Hey, this is how I take this corner.
25:45
This is maybe where you can save a couple tenths and scrape us some feet.
25:48
If you're coming to the table going, I know everything.
25:50
Well, there's faster guys.
25:52
Right.
25:52
So that being said, Philippe, all this experience, what do you think
25:56
is the most important thing that he shared with you or that you learned
25:59
from him and his driving style?
26:01
So Felipe and I are, are very different people.
26:04
He's super confident, so we balance each other out.
26:07
He is the first one to, to give his opinion.
26:09
I'm very easily swayed, so I always feel like if somebody makes a good
26:13
argument, I'm like, maybe they're right.
26:16
And I'm very open-minded.
26:17
I never feel like I know more than anyone else where he's taught me to trust myself,
26:22
you know, push my opinion and believe in what I'm, what I'm selling driving wise.
26:26
He's really detailed.
26:28
We started off driving together.
26:30
We did not like the same car at all, which in some senses is good in sports
26:35
car racing because the track changes so much that at some point in the race
26:38
one driver's gonna like it and the other's gonna hate it and vice versa.
26:41
So sometimes that's good.
26:43
And he sort of brought me closer to his direction, just a much more unstable car.
26:49
I think that's made me a better driver to be able to adapt more things.
26:52
He came through a time when he was racing Reno, two liters and you know,
26:57
you had very li limited setup options and he had to really develop his
27:01
driving style to drive around problems.
27:03
So those, those lessons.
27:05
He passed on to me and that's a way that we sort of brought each other along.
27:09
You mentioned something there without realizing, you mentioned it and I hear
27:12
it's a general complaint from a lot of the, let's say, seasoned enthusiasts.
27:16
That's the term I want to use in that the cars are too reliable nowadays.
27:20
We're hoping for something to break, to mix up the racing.
27:23
Wouldn't it be cool if they brought back manual transmissions, you know,
27:25
if you missed a shift and over Revit, you know, like it was in the, in
27:28
the golden era of endurance racing.
27:30
Do you feel that way?
27:31
Do you think the cars are too reliable in some ways?
27:34
Yeah, I think the idea of it is cool, but I love the fact that you always
27:39
have a chance that the racing is close.
27:41
Maybe because I'm a driver, if I do a good job and my teammates do
27:44
a good job and the team executes well, we should have a good result.
27:48
Where if I'm a mechanic.
27:50
Maybe I want the cars to be less reliable, so that might work and stand above the
27:53
others because I believe in myself.
27:55
So from a driver's perspective, I think I like where it is In terms of reliability,
27:59
the best drivers will still separate themselves in terms of we don't have
28:04
H pattern gear boxes, we have carbon brakes, we don't have steel brakes.
28:07
So we don't have to say brakes, but on the flip side, because we don't
28:11
have those, those things that aren't around anymore, we have a lot of
28:14
systems changes that we can make.
28:15
We can change contraction control.
28:17
We can change a lot of hybrid settings that change the handling of the car.
28:20
We've got anti-roll bars that we can move active brake bias, brake bias, migration.
28:25
All kinds of things that the driver can change in the car.
28:28
Bandwidth that you have in your head can still separate yourself.
28:31
So I'd say if it becomes easy, then I would push it to where
28:36
like you wanna make it difficult.
28:37
So we've got different compounds of tires, none of them last
28:40
perfectly forever at a stable rate.
28:42
So there's plenty of difficulty, I think, in the sport, and that's a
28:46
good thing, regardless of technology.
28:48
Well, Ricky, the audience chat is open and I got a couple.
28:52
Audience questions for you here, but we're gonna start with this one.
28:56
Even though you're a driver, secretly, you're probably rooting for some
29:00
team to win, not just your own.
29:02
Let's say maybe in the LMP one class or something like that.
29:05
Has there been a particular mark that you've been rooting for in the background?
29:09
And I'm sorry, in, uh, in whack.
29:12
You tell me.
29:12
Okay.
29:13
If I can't pick Cadillac.
29:14
After the year Toyota's had, Brendan being in the Toyota, I
29:18
feel so bad for them over there.
29:19
I know they, they work hard and they're such a strong team.
29:22
They execute really well.
29:24
I think they really deserve some good results.
29:26
So I have to say, I, I'm cheering for Brendan mostly.
29:28
Uh, but that program, I feel like, you know, they've had a lot of success, but
29:32
it'd be nice to see them get back on top.
29:33
So for you, is there a favorite race car?
29:36
Of all time.
29:36
Something you would love to get behind the wheel of.
29:39
Maybe it's something like Le Mans Classic or even one of the more
29:42
current cars where it's like, Hey, I'd love to get behind the wheel of
29:45
the 4 9 9 p or something like that.
29:47
I think a big one is the 9 6 2, but I don't want to drive it.
29:51
But for me, the one I would love to drive, uh, would be the Friday, 3 33.
29:57
That's sort of one of the first memories I have of my dad racing
30:00
properly and the sound of it.
30:02
I just love that car.
30:03
I had so much success back in the day, and I'd love to experience that.
30:07
Sam Victor writes, what's the mindset preparing as a driver?
30:11
Switching between cars, for example, switching from driving
30:14
a GT car to a prototype or even a streetcar on the track.
30:18
Oh yeah, a streetcar on the track feels like a completely different thing.
30:21
It's an interesting point 'cause Jack eight and Philippe and I were having the
30:25
same discussion 'cause Jack is doing DTM and IMSA in Cadillac and Philippe is doing
30:32
L MP two and El LMS and IMSA and Cadillac.
30:35
And I'm just doing Cadillac basically.
30:37
And so we were kind of talking about.
30:39
Who has it most difficult?
30:40
Is it Ricky?
30:41
Who has the least seat time?
30:42
Is it Philippe who has to transition from an LP two very lightweight, right down
30:46
force prototype to a heavy prototype?
30:49
Or is it Jack who's got the biggest split of all of them?
30:51
It was interesting.
30:52
There's points to be made for, for all of 'em.
30:54
I think more seat time is always better.
30:56
Driving a variety gives you a, a good toolbox of driving styles of how
31:01
to adapt and how to change quickly.
31:03
To answer the question.
31:04
I think when you switch your mindset over, it's always what makes this
31:08
car fat or what makes this car perform well on the stopwatch?
31:11
Is it?
31:12
If it's a GT car, you know that you're not gonna drive sort of a
31:15
V style corner, you're not gonna be prioritizing late breaking.
31:20
The speed trace always looks like a climate is always climbing, whereas, you
31:23
know, high down force cars, they plateau.
31:26
So you prioritize entry speed and you don't worry so much about the exit speed.
31:29
And you'll start there.
31:31
And then you'll sort of work backwards of how do I treat the
31:34
corner differently depending on, you know, what the car needs.
31:37
And so case by case, I think there's a lot of experimentation and stuff involved too.
31:42
Alright, John Rist writes regarding tire wear at Le Mans.
31:46
What do you mean?
31:46
That Le Mans is a low energy track?
31:49
Did I hear you correctly?
31:50
Yeah, so I would think the same thing.
31:53
When you say energy, it's just how much load and energy is going into the tire.
31:56
So it comes everything from top speed, from high speed corners, from
32:01
the gradient of the track, from the the macro or the micro of the track.
32:05
You know how the stones are laid out, breaking zones.
32:08
All those things sort of add up into, you know, what makes like high energy or not.
32:12
So for example, Detroit on paper, the New Street course looks
32:17
high energy 'cause it's lots of corners, it's lots of braking.
32:20
The cars are sliding around a lot in reality, concrete.
32:23
You know, the stones are very tiny.
32:25
They're close together, like it's very smooth.
32:27
It's actually very low energy.
32:28
We use the soft tire for the entire race there.
32:31
Kona, on the other hand.
32:32
Pretty high energy only because of the banking.
32:34
'cause you have so much vertical load through the banking, whereas
32:38
you think you're going straight and the car's not really sliding.
32:41
And Le Mans is such long straits with sort of a low energy surface that
32:47
the way that it works out between all those variables, it just happens
32:50
to be quite, quite low energy.
32:51
Not to mention the conditions are quite cool and mild, especially at night.
32:55
Well, Scott was on the same wavelength I was and he wants to know about sibling
33:00
rivalries in the sport, but I've heard you and Jordan go back and forth and
33:04
roast each other and you know, on NBC with Calvin Fish and talking about the
33:08
good old days and things like that.
33:09
But I think we need to take this a step further.
33:10
So I'm gonna ask you, who's the better driver?
33:13
Your brother or Rodney's sand store?
33:16
Rodney is a legend.
33:17
I, I haven't seen anything he can't do, so it'd be hard to,
33:21
hard to bid against that guy.
33:23
Oh, I did not see that coming.
33:25
Ricky, you've been talking a lot and you are running for Cadillac.
33:29
Let's talk about the future now as we sort of wrap up this
33:32
episode of Evening with a Legend.
33:33
But first I wanna get sort of a crowd question, being involved with
33:36
Cadillac, what are your thoughts on Cadillac and Formula One in 2026?
33:41
Oh, it's exciting.
33:42
It's really cool.
33:43
I think we were worried initially all of our engineers are gonna leave because they
33:47
need so many people to start that program.
33:49
They're looking for almost a thousand people, I think.
33:52
Where do you find them?
33:53
We're having a hard enough time finding people for our little program,
33:56
and it's so cool to see Cadillac.
33:58
You know?
33:58
You think this program feels big.
34:00
That is just a whole nother level.
34:03
So to see it actually happening, to see it.
34:05
The simulator fully up and running.
34:07
They're doing simulation races.
34:08
All the people are in place.
34:10
It's cool to see the drivers that are involved.
34:12
I must say I'm really excited for Colton.
34:14
He's sort of on the, on the track.
34:16
Track, sorry, no pun intended.
34:18
He's got a hard season, I think, ahead of him.
34:20
F two, but he has a lot of respect for it and I think all of it is cool.
34:25
I'm really excited to see the car on track and I know everybody has very
34:29
reserved expectations 'cause everybody else has a super high starting point.
34:34
But, uh, it's cool to see the same brand that we're affiliated with competing
34:38
in the medical club, motor sports.
34:40
So speaking of, what does the outlook look like for the 20 26, 24 hours of Le Mans With
34:45
Cadillac, the plan is to return, right?
34:48
The plan is, yeah.
34:48
So obviously Jota will go, uh, they've got the two entries.
34:52
I don't know.
34:52
The entries situation is always tricky.
34:55
I hope we get an entry.
34:56
I think, you know, we learned a lot last year, so hopefully, hopefully
35:00
Cadillac has at least three.
35:01
Like you were saying, with the car count, it's probably gonna be getting
35:04
more and more difficult as the.
35:05
The full season wet entries increase specifically for Le Mans.
35:09
I would say this past year was a pretty good one.
35:12
Pretty good opportunity, obviously come the race, the Porsches and the
35:16
Ferraris were very, very strong, where over a single, I think Cadillacs
35:20
had a pretty good single lap pace, but none of us had anywhere close
35:23
to the, the race pace as 'em.
35:25
So.
35:26
A lot of our arrow updates were geared towards improving that.
35:31
So we, we had, we just unveiled the joker tested on track a couple
35:35
times, been in the sim, looks like it's in the right direction.
35:38
Obviously we have a lot to learn about.
35:40
It's a, it's a pretty different update.
35:42
I wouldn't say in one direction or the other, but it's different.
35:45
So Le Mans is a pretty unique track and it's hard to create, I think, when
35:49
all the manufacturers build a car.
35:51
You decide either we're gonna build a car for America, or we're
35:54
gonna build a car for LA Mall.
35:55
It's hard to build one that does both well.
35:57
So if we have a terrible Long Beach, at least we can be like, well,
36:01
maybe we'll have a good LA mall.
36:03
So that's the way it will probably, we'll probably go, is your seat
36:07
guaranteed or do you have a fallback in LMP two if it doesn't work out?
36:11
Nobody see is guaranteed when there's no entry yet.
36:15
Um, so I'd say if there's a WTR entry, we have four drivers, only three can go.
36:21
So I think it would only be fair if we rotated through, and this is
36:26
probably not for me to say, but I think Louis should be in the car.
36:29
And one of the three of us should look for something else.
36:32
But in the same breath, I think Louis also has the best chance
36:34
of finding an MP two ride.
36:36
'cause he's winning everything.
36:37
And I think, you know, AO might have an entry for MP two.
36:40
So yeah.
36:41
I don't know.
36:42
From a driver's perspective, what makes Le Mans the most special event?
36:46
You know, people talk about how it's one of the brown jewels of motorsport.
36:50
Do you see it that way as well?
36:51
Yeah, I do.
36:52
Sometimes it's hard to remove myself.
36:54
From being a sports car racing family, we just grew up in sports, car racing.
36:58
Obviously we watch the Indy 500 every year.
37:00
We watch the Daytona 500 every year.
37:02
We, you know, we watch all the F1 races, all the IndyCar races,
37:06
and we live in sports car racing.
37:08
And so we grew up like you intensely up all night watching the MA as kids,
37:13
and it was just always the biggest one.
37:14
So outside of that, as a driver, I think the one thing you notice
37:18
is how much it means to so many people, whether it's the parade or.
37:22
Something as simple as Scrutineering.
37:24
Lamont does an amazing job of making a big deal out of everything.
37:28
And like we have tech and I'm so, and it's a tent where the car rolls
37:33
through, a couple of engineers look at the car and, and then you go on
37:37
your way and you fix a couple things.
37:38
For Lamont, it's a whole public event with autographs and photos
37:43
and a staged picture, and the car goes up in the middle of town.
37:46
Everything from start to finish is.
37:49
World class and, and then on top of that, I think because it attracts the world's
37:53
best, it is inherently the hardest one.
37:56
You wanna win against the best and you wanna, you know, win
37:59
the, the most difficult races that one happens to be them all.
38:03
So after nine attempts and many more to come at Le Mans, what has it taught you?
38:08
Yeah, there's a lot of ways to lose races, I think.
38:12
But I think, I think it's just the attention to detail, the, you have
38:16
to keep the intensity up for so long.
38:18
And so racing, like I said earlier, you're always in the mix.
38:22
Intensity is always high because you're always racing somebody and
38:25
there's always a restart and you know, you're battling for track
38:27
position, you know, lap after lap.
38:29
But at the same time, things aren't super consequential until
38:32
the last couple hours, whereas.
38:35
Le Mans, you.
38:35
You just have to be, I keep saying this, but you just have to be so detailed.
38:38
And just to mention my mistakes.
38:41
One year at Le Mans, I passed before a safety car line, so I did the restart
38:46
out of our know, and I passed a car before the safety car line and penalty,
38:49
and we never came back from it.
38:51
Another year it was a bit of a slow getaway outta the pits and
38:54
we lost a position and then you gotta fight for hours to get it
38:57
back, and little things like that.
39:00
So don't really matter.
39:02
And Le Mans, it sort of stresses everything.
39:04
So yeah, I think it's just that intensity level and attention to detail
39:08
lap after that for the whole weekend.
39:10
Well, looking ahead, it sounds like you've set some goals for yourself and obviously
39:14
you have some unfinished business at Le Mans.
39:16
So when it comes to racing in general, what's next for Ricky?
39:19
Something we should look forward to in 2026?
39:22
Hopefully it's a better than 20, 25, I think certainly for me, but as a
39:26
team, this was one of the hardest years we've ever had without a win.
39:29
Really struggling for pace.
39:31
Again, it was our first season with the car, so we give ourselves a
39:34
little grace with that, but at the same time, we wanna do better, and
39:38
I'll be the first to admit that.
39:40
I don't think I maximized myself in some situations, so we're not pointing fingers,
39:45
but we're trying to build on last year.
39:46
So it's one thing when you go from year to year to have somebody else's
39:50
notes of a history of at a racetrack, but now we get to go with our own
39:54
firsthand notes and, you know, pick up at a much higher level than last year.
39:59
So hopefully you're gonna see a much, much stronger born normal WCR.
40:03
Well with that, Ricky, as we close out, I want to pass the
40:07
microphone to David Lowe, our a CO representative for some final thoughts.
40:12
Ricky, on behalf of the A CO and Endurance Racing fans everywhere,
40:16
thank you for wonderful evening.
40:18
I really wish you the best.
40:19
Looking forward to seeing you at laal this year.
40:22
Thank you very much.
40:22
Hope to see you there.
40:23
Well, folks that wraps up this evening with a legend where we
40:27
explored Ricky Taylor's journey through the world of the greatest
40:30
endurance race, the 24 hours of Le Mans.
40:32
From his early impressions of the legendary circuit to the challenges
40:36
of racing through the night.
40:37
Ricky's experiences reflect the dedication and passion that
40:40
define true endurance racers.
40:42
His perspective reminds us that success at Le Mans isn't just about speed,
40:46
it's about teamwork, adaptability, and resilience under pressure.
40:50
So to keep up with Ricky and his racing career, be sure to follow
40:53
him on Instagram and x formerly Twitter at Ricky Taylor race.
40:57
And visit Wayne Taylor racing.com for news team updates and upcoming events.
41:02
And with that, we hope you enjoyed this presentation and look forward
41:05
to more evening with a legend.
41:06
And on behalf of everyone here and those listening at home, thank you
41:10
Ricky for sharing your evening with us.
41:12
Thanks.
41:13
Thanks so much for having me.
41:14
It was good fun.
41:26
This episode has been brought to you by the Automobile Club of the West and
41:29
the A-C-O-U-S-A from the awe-inspiring speed demons that have graced the
41:34
track to the courageous drivers who have pushed the limits of endurance.
41:37
The 24 hours of the Le Mans is an automotive spectacle like no other.
41:40
For over a century the 24 hours Le Mans has urged manufacturers to
41:44
innovate for the benefit of future motorists, and it's a celebration of
41:48
the relentless pursuit of speed and excellence in the world of motorsports.
41:52
To learn more about or to become a member of the ACO ussa look no further than
41:56
www.Le Mansn.org, click on English in the upper right corner and then click on
42:02
the a CO members tab for club offers.
42:05
Once you've become a member, you can follow all the action on the Facebook
42:08
group, A-C-O-U-S-A Members Club, and become part of the Legend with Future
42:13
Evening with the legend meetups.
42:24
This episode has been brought to you by Grand Touring Motorsports as part
42:28
of our Motoring Podcast network.
42:30
For more episodes like this, tune in each week for more exciting and educational
42:34
content from organizations like The Exotic Car Marketplace, the Motoring
42:37
Historian, break Fix, and many others.
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Podcast Network, sign up for one of our many sponsorship tiers at
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www.patreon.com/gt Motorsports.
42:51
Please note that the content, opinions and materials presented and
42:54
expressed in this episode are those of its creator, and this episode has
42:57
been published with their consent.
42:59
If you have any inquiries about this program, please contact the creators
43:02
of this episode via email or social media as mentioned in the episode.