Andretti Autosport has signed a partnership with top American sportscar squad Wayne Taylor Racing to race in the IMSA championship’s top level for the first time in 2023.
Indianapolis-based Wayne Taylor Racing has won two IMSA titles, two Endurance Cup championship, four 24 Hours of Daytona wins, a 12 Hours of Sebring victories and three wins at the Petit Le Mans.
Andretti has fielded an LMP3 entry for Jaret Andretti but hasn’t competed at the top-level of American sportscar racing before.
Wayne Taylor Racing with Andretti Autosport will field the number 10 prototype and WTR had already announced its driver line-up.
Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque – with ex-Toro Rosso Formula 1 driver Brendon Hartley and former F2 driver Louis Deletraz joining for the endurance races – will race the team’s lead entry.
“This is an exciting time for us,” said Andretti’s CEO and chairman Michael Andretti.
“We’re proud to be returning to the IMSA paddock in this way and the opportunity to be part of the launch of the GTP program alongside Wayne Taylor Racing and our friends at Honda Performance Development.
“Re-entering IMSA full time, and at this level, has been a goal of mine. I wanted it to be the right opportunity and at the right time – and we’ve found that.
“I’m looking forward to working closer with the team at WTR and meeting all the team’s strong supporters. I want to personally thank Wayne [Taylor] and Travis [Houge] for already being such great partners as we plan for a successful future.”
It’s a big year for IMSA as it retired the Daytona Prototype International cars at the end of 2022 ready for the new Hybrid-based GTP class.
It signals a new era that IMSA and World Endurance Championship cars and teams can compete on an even playing field, and if WTR decides to enter the Le Mans 24 Hours it could see Andretti compete at the French classic for the first time.
WTR with Andretti will also field an Acura NSX in the GT Daytona category with ex-IndyCar driver Ryan Briscoe among the entrants.
The leadership structure of Wayne Taylor Racing will remain in place, with the long-term goal of the team being to move into Andretti’s huge new factory base which has broken ground and is due to open in early 2026.
The team is named after South African ex-driver Wayne Taylor who won two Daytona 24 Hours and was a class winner at Le Mans during his career.
“It’s an honour to be partnering with a name like Andretti as we enter a new era of racing,” said Taylor.
“I was approached by Michael a year ago and, as we all know, timing is everything, especially as our GTP and GTD programs continue to grow with Acura, HPD.
“Having worked with Michael on this for nearly a year, I’m very excited to see it come together.
“While our 2023 program won’t look much different, there is a lot that Andretti Autosport can offer to us as we continue to build and expand.
“I’m looking forward to working closer with Michael (Andretti), J-F [Thormann], Rob [Edwards] and the entire Andretti team.”
Andretti competes in seven championships alongside IMSA; IndyCar, Indy NXT (formerly Indy Lights), Formula E, Extreme E, and Australian Supercars Mexico’s SuperCopa series.
It has also lodged a so far unsuccessful bid to join F1 as ‘Andretti Global’ in 2024 with Renault engines.
