Jordan Taylor returns to the family team and Louis Deletraz gets the call-up to full-time GTP driver as Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport announces its full-season lineup for its second Acura ARX-06 for 2024.
WTRAndretti and Honda Performance Development announced earlier this year that the team would add a second Acura for the 2024 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, and the driver lineup brings a homecoming for Jordan Taylor, who competed for his father’s team for seven seasons including prototype championships in in 2013 and ’17 and two wins at Daytona in the 24 Hours. Deletraz has accompanied the WTR Andretti duo of Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque in the No. 10 Acura for endurance races in 2023, including the team’s second-place finish at the Rolex 24 at Daytona.
“I’m excited to announce that Louis Delétraz and Jordan Taylor will be joining WTRAndretti as full-time season drivers of our second Acura ARX-06 GTP race car,” declared Wayne Taylor. “Louis has been with us for over a year in our endurance events and has quickly become an integral part of our team. I am looking forward to having Jordan back in our home stable after his great career with Corvette. It was a natural for us, since he and his brother drove together with our team and the Cadillac DPi program. With two cars and the Rolex right around the corner, we thank GM and Pratt & Miller for making Jordan available to us at this early stage.
“Now, with Ricky and Filipe in one car and Louis and Jordan in the other, it will be a great battle for the fans on who will take first and second. Not sure Shelley [Taylor, wife of Wayne and mother to Ricky and Jordan] and I will enjoy it as much as the fans, but both cars will share the number one status and be prepared identically. There will be no team orders on who comes first and who second. They will both fight for the win.”
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Jordan departed WTR for a four-year stint with Corvette Racing, where he took GTLM titles in 2020 and ’21 with Antonio Garcia. This season he has also made forays into NASCAR racing and was heavily involved in the NASCAR Garage 56 Project at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. With the Corvette Racing program shifting to GT3 customer racing, it was a good time for Jordan to pursue another opportunity, which didn’t take a lot of searching.
“I’m super excited to be coming back to WTR, now partnered with Andretti Autosport, to go back and fight for overall wins with Acura alongside Louis,” he said. “After spending seven years with WTR from 2013-19, it’ll be nice to be heading back to work with some familiar faces and some new ones. I’ve known Louis for a few years now and have obviously followed his career. I think our driving styles will complement each other very well to bring success next year.
“I’ve spent the last few years in GT cars, so there will be a lot to learn coming into GTP, but I can’t wait for the challenge. I loved my time competing in GT with Corvette Racing alongside Antonio these past few years. We had a lot of success together. I’ve learned a lot and grown as a driver, so I’m looking forward to bringing that experience back to prototype racing.”
After joining WTRAndretti as the 2023 IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup co-driver, Deletraz will move into his first full season as a GTP co-driver in the WeatherTech Championship in 2024. Deletraz’s resume in sports car racing includes two back-to-back European Le Mans Series Championships (2021-’22), and he is a two-time IMSA LMP2 race winner in 2022 highlighted by an overall LMP2 class win at Petit Le Mans. So far this season, Delétraz has two wins in the European Le Mans Series, a class podium at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, two podiums in the FIA World Endurance Championship and a FIA WEC victory at Spa in Belgium.
“I am extremely happy to continue with WTRAndretti in a full IMSA GTP season role,” said Deletraz. “I have really enjoyed working with the team, Acura and HPD this year and the 2024 two-car program makes it even more exciting. Sharing the car with Jordan is fantastic, having a multiple IMSA champion in Prototypes and GT, I couldn’t ask for a better teammate, and I think with our different motorsport experiences we will have a strong package with hopefully many successes. I’m thankful for the opportunity and trust, I can’t wait to get started!”
WTR has been in the thick of the championship fight for the last several seasons with Ricky Taylor and and Albuquerque, and the pair are currently leading the points in the inaugural season of GTP competition. This season, Acura’s factory effort in GTP has been split between WTRAndretti and Meyer Shank Racing with Curb Agajanian, but for 2024 there will be two cars under the WTRAndretti tent. Andretti Autosport bought into WTR at the end of last year as it looked to gain a greater presence in sports car racing as the team has undergone a lot of changes in the past year.
“I’m very excited to get Jordan back in a GTP car and also to have Delétraz come on as a full-time driver with us in our second Acura,” said Michael Andretti, chairman and CEO of Andretti Autosport. “I think that across our two cars, our driver lineup is going to be the strongest in the paddock. This is another great step as we continue to build a closer collaboration with Wayne and build WTRAndretti to be even stronger.”
WTRAndretti has not announced what number its second Acura will carry, nor any additional sponsors for the team. Additional drivers in both cars for the endurance races will be announced at a later date.