Defending IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship champion Ricky Taylor has been named the official reserve driver for French manufacturer ORECA for the upcoming 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Taylor will be available as a reserve for all 19 teams running ORECA machinery in the twice-around-the-clock enduro, ready to step in if the need for a replacement driver arises throughout the weekend.
Last year, Patrick Pilet was brought in as a late reserve at IDEC Sport when Dwight Merriman suffered injuries in a practice crash,.
“Over the past 4 years the work between Acura and ORECA has seen some great success, thank you to Acura and WTR for releasing me for this event,” Taylor said. “It has been wonderful to build the relationship with such an accomplished constructor.
“I’d also like to thank Mr. De Chaunac for having me. ORECA has an amazing history at Le Mans and it’s an honor to be named as their reserve driver.”
Taylor has only once before contested the 24 Hours of Le Mans in ORECA machinery in 2019, but has been closely involved with the French firm through its relationship with Acura’s DPi programme in IMSA.
He also won the 2020 IMSA title with an ORECA-chassis Acura DPi in 2020 and also won the Rolex 24 at Daytona in an Acura DPi in January.
“We strive to support our teams at the highest level, and given the context this year, we have decided to make available a reserve driver for the 2021 24 Hours,” said Anthony Megevand, ORECA Group Customer Racing Program Manager. “Bringing on Ricky quickly became a no-brainer.
“He has everything a driver needs to do Le Mans. He has experienced the race, he knows the ORECA 07, he is fast and has excellent adaptability.
“Ricky is a top-notch athlete and someone we greatly admire as a person. We are truly fortunate to have such a talented driver like Ricky with us and thank both Wayne Taylor Racing and HPD for agreeing to release him for this event.”
