Cadillac Wayne Taylor Racing is one of the most prestigious teams in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
With three championships (2005, 2013, 2017) and 26 victories on some of the sport’s most iconic tracks, WTR’s legacy is undeniable. Those wins include five victories at the Rolex 24 At Daytona, three each at Petit Le Mans, the Six Hours of Watkins Glen and the Grand Prix of Long Beach, along with two at the 12 Hours of Sebring.
However, entering victory lane has eluded the team at one venue: Indianapolis Motor Speedway.
Based in nearby Brownsburg, Indiana, WTR enters Sunday’s TireRack.com Battle on the Bricks on the 2.439-mile, 14-turn IMS road course with two cars, eager to change that narrative.
Ricky Taylor and Filipe Albuquerque drive the No. 10 DEX Imaging Cadillac V-Series.R, while Ricky’s brother, Jordan Taylor, teams with Louis Delétraz in the No. 40 DEX Imaging Cadillac V-Series.R.
Ricky Taylor and Albuquerque finished fourth in last year’s race and fifth in 2023.
In Friday’s practice session, the No. 10 and No. 40 cars placed fourth and fifth, respectively.
“It’s our home race,” Taylor said. “Coming to Indianapolis is a bit of a homecoming for the team. I’m looking forward to redemption and getting to fight for the win on Sunday. I think aside from the Rolex 24, this is always number one on the team’s list.”
A two-time series champion -- once with WTR and once with Acura Team Penske in 2020 --Ricky Taylor has 25 career wins, including two at Daytona. Yet, an Indianapolis victory remains on his to-do list.
Albuquerque, meanwhile, has finished runner-up in the championship three times (2021-23), all with WTR. He owns wins at Daytona and Long Beach but has yet to conquer Indy.
“I’ve never won at Indianapolis, and it’s about time,” Albuquerque said.
Jordan Taylor is a four-time IMSA champion -- twice with WTR and twice with Corvette Racing in the GT class. He, too, is winless at Indy but hopes that changes Sunday.
This year’s race remains a six-hour format after 2023's two-hour, 40-minute timed race, offering more opportunities for strategic depth and redemption.
“The second year of any event is a little bit better,” Jordan Taylor said. “The team, the drivers, even the track itself – everyone improves. We knew where we made mistakes last year. We were definitely in position to battle for the win or at least a podium, so we’re looking for redemption.”
Porsche Penske Motorsport Also Eyes Redemption
Team Penske also arrived at Indianapolis seeking redemption. The No. 6 Porsche 963, driven by Nick Tandy and Mathieu Jaminet, was stripped of a third-place finish in last year’s race due to unapproved modifications to the wiring harness loom, ultimately classified 10th in GTP.
“We had a car capable of winning, but we called off the charge a little bit at the end,” Tandy said.
This season, Tandy shares the No. 7 Porsche 963 with Felipe Nasr. The duo has been dominant, winning the Rolex 24 At Daytona, the 12 Hours of Sebring and the Acura Grand Prix of Long Beach.
However, inconsistent results -- fourth in Detroit and 11th at both Watkins Glen and Road America -- have allowed the team car, the No. 6 entry driven by Matt Campbell and Jaminet, to take the championship lead by 75 points. Last season, the No. 7 entry led the No. 6 car in a 1-2 final points finish.
Campbell and Jaminet’s season has been marked by consistency: podiums in the first three races, a win at Laguna Seca and top-five finishes at Detroit, Watkins Glen and Road America.
Both entries entered the weekend believing past success at Indianapolis would translate with the team finishing 1-2 in the 2023 races, including the victory by Jaminet and Tandy. However, the No. 6 entry was 10th among 12 GTP cars in Friday’s practice, leading the No. 7 entry in 11th by .082 of a second.
“We’ve raced there twice, and both times we’ve been on the podium,” Tandy said. “We had a great 1-2 finish in 2023. It’s typically been a good venue for us.”
BMW M Team RLL Seeks Another Indy Win
BMW M Team RLL dominated last year’s Battle on the Bricks, scoring a 1-2 finish with Philipp Eng and Jesse Krohn in the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, leading teammates Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly in the No. 25 entry.
After a promising start to the 2025 season, with Eng and Dries Vanthoor in the No. 24 entry claiming the first four pole positions, results didn’t follow. That is, until the most recent race Aug. 3 at Road America, where the duo claimed victory, its first since Indianapolis last year and the 24th IMSA win for the Rahal Letterman Lanigan team.
The No. 25 team, driven this season by Sheldon van der Linde and Marco Wittmann, followed in second at Road America for another BMW 1-2 sweep.
BMW this weekend aims to make it two straight wins on the season -- and two in a row at Indy.
Eng and Vanthoor are third in the standings, trailing Campbell and Jaminet by 181 points. The No. 25 entry is seventh in the championship and was sixth quickest Friday, leading the No. 24 entry, which was seventh.
German brands won the last two years at Indy, finishing 1-2, in fact, with Porsche in 2023 and BMW last season.
However, the pair of Acura Meyer Shank Racing w/Curb-Agajanian entries were quickest in Friday’s initial session with Tom Blomqvist and Colin Braun setting the pace in the No. 60 entry at 1 minute, 16.209 seconds, followed by Renger van der Zande, Yelloly and Kaku Ohta’s No. 93 entry (1:16.477).
Odds and Ends
- Sebastien Bourdais, a four-time INDYCAR SERIES champion and nine-time Indianapolis 500 starter, helped the No. 01 Cadillac Racing GTP entry claim pole for last year’s race. This year, he’s behind the wheel of the No. 8 Tower Motorsports ORECA LMP2 entry. He shares the car with John Farano and Sebastian Alvarez. The trio was 16th overall and fourth among LMP2 entries in Friday’s session.
- Logan Sargeant made his official Indianapolis Motor Speedway debut Friday after the former Formula One driver tested here this summer. Driving the No. 52 PR1 Mathiasen Motorsports LMP2 entry shared with 2023 Indy 500 Rookie of the Year Benjamin Pedersen and Naveen Rao, the team was 18th overall and sixth in the LMP2 class.
- The No. 52 entry won last year’s LMP2 pole but finished runner-up in class to the No. 11 TDS Racing entry driven by Mikkel Jensen, Hunter McElrea and Steven Thomas, which has won the LMP2 class in the last two Indianapolis races. The same trio returned this and was the quickest among all LMP2 entries Friday.
- The second WeatherTech SportsCar Championship practice session begins at 8:55 a.m. ET Saturday, with individual class qualifying starting at 3:15 p.m. ET.
