IMSA champion Taylor named ORECA LMP2 reserve at Le Mans
LMP2 chassis supplier ORECA has named reigning IMSA SportsCar Championship champion Ricky Taylor as a reserve driver for this year's Le Mans 24 Hours.


The 31-year-old American, who currently leads the IMSA standings with the Wayne Taylor Racing Acura squad run by his father, will be on site for the French endurance classic in August should any of the 19 teams running the LMP2 class's numerically-dominant ORECA 07-Gibson package require a driver to step in at the last minute.
The two-time Daytona 24 Hours winner has six Le Mans starts to his name, of which four have been in the LMP2 class. His most recent outing was with the Jota-run Jackie Chan DC Racing squad in 2019.
He most recently raced an ORECA 07 - the chassis which WTR's Acura ARX-05 DPi is based - in the European Le Mans Series season opener at Barcelona for the DragonSpeed outfit.
“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," commented Taylor, who won last year's IMSA title with Team Penske alongside four-time Indianapolis 500 winner Helio Castroneves.
PLUS: How 'chess master' Castroneves cemented his Indy legend status
"It has been wonderful to build the relationship with such an accomplished constructor.
"I’d also like to thank [ORECA founder Hugues] 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.”
Last year at Le Mans, one of ORECA's LMP2 teams, IDEC Sport, needed a replacement driver as Dwight Merriman injured himself in a practice crash on the Thursday prior to the race.

#17 IDEC Sport Oreca 07 - Gibson: Dwight Merriman, Kyle Tilley, Jonathan Kennard
Photo by: JEP / Motorsport Images
Patrick Pilet stepped up to replace Merriman on that occasion, but ORECA customer racing program manager Anthony Megevand said the French firm wanted to ensure a ready-made replacement should a similar unforeseen incident occur in the run-up to the La Sarthe race this year.
Megevand commented: “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.
"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.”
Related video

Glickenhaus LMH "ran like a train" during Aragon test
WEC set for largest grid since 2012 at Monza

Latest news
NASCAR bans Chastain Martinsville wall-ride manoeuvre
NASCAR has decided to ban the wall-ride manoeuvre made famous by Ross Chastain at Martinsville that secured him a place in the Championship 4.
Gasly: Mindset for Alpine is "completely different" to Red Bull F1 move
Pierre Gasly says he has a "completely different" mindset for his Alpine Formula 1 move thanks to lessons taken from his failed stint at Red Bull in 2019.
GTD Pro win a “proper send-off” for retiring IMSA stalwart MacNeil
Winning the GTD Pro class at the Daytona 24 Hours was a fitting way for Cooper MacNeil to retire from racing in the IMSA SportsCar Championship, says team-mate Jules Gounon.
The all-French F1 partnership that Ocon and Gasly hope to emulate
Alpine’s signing of Pierre Gasly alongside Esteban Ocon revives memories of a famous all-French line-up, albeit in the red of Ferrari, for BEN EDWARDS. Can the former AlphaTauri man's arrival help the French team on its path back to winning ways in a tribute act to the Prancing Horse's title-winning 1983?
Why the WEC should make space for modern garagistes in 2023
OPINION: There is plenty of excitement over the glut of manufacturers tackling the Hypercar class of the World Endurance Championship this season. The selection committee is set to face headaches over who it decides to admit and who gets turned away from the 2023 entry list, but history tells us that the smaller entrants have a place
Autosport writers' most memorable moments of 2022
The season just gone was a memorable one for many of our staff writers, who are fortunate enough to cover motorsport around the world. Here are our picks of the best (and in some cases, most eventful) from 2022
Is Qatar the price motorsport fans have to pay?
OPINION: Fresh from hosting a controversial 2022 football World Cup, Qatar has added its name to the 2024 World Endurance Championship calendar. Although questions may be asked about its presence on the calendar, is it simply the price to pay for having a healthy racing championship?
How Toyota defeated Alpine for the 2022 WEC title
Toyota #8 trio Brendon Hartley, Sebastien Buemi and Ryo Hirakawa outscored their rivals in the last season before the World Endurance Championship’s top class gets ultra-competitive. Here's how their Hypercar battle with Alpine and the remaining class tussles played out in LMP2, GTE Pro and GTE Am
The long road to convergence for sportscar racing's new golden age
The organisers of the World Endurance Championship and IMSA SportsCar Championship worked together to devise the popular new LMDh rule set. But to turn it from an idea into reality, some serious compromises were involved - both from the prospective LMDh entrants and those with existing Le Mans Hypercar projects...
How Porsche's Le Mans legend changed the game
The 956 set the bar at the dawn of Group C 40 years ago, and that mark only rose higher through the 1980s, both in the world championship and in the US. It and its successor, the longer-wheelbase 962, were voted as Autosport's greatest sportscar in 2020 - here's why
Why BMW shouldn't be overlooked on its return to prototypes
OPINION: While the focus has been on the exciting prospect of Ferrari vs Porsche at the Le Mans 24 Hours next year, BMW’s factory return to endurance racing should not be ignored. It won't be at the French classic next year as it focuses efforts on the IMSA SportsCar Championship, but could be a dark horse in 2024 when it returns to La Sarthe with the crack WRT squad
The problem sausage kerbs continue to cause
Track limits are the problem that motorsport doesn't seem to be able to rid itself of. But the use of so-called 'sausage kerbs' as a deterrent has in several instances only served to worsen the problem, and a growing number of voices want to see action taken
Subscribe and access Autosport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.