Ricky Taylor drafted in at Jota Cadillac as WEC unveils Austin entry list

Two-time Daytona 24 Hours winner Ricky Taylor will join Jota Cadillac for the World Endurance Championship’s Lone Star Le Mans event at Austin next week.

The American will drive the #12 Cadillac V-Series.R alongside Norman Nato and Will Stevens at the Circuit of the Americas on 4-6 September, deputising for an injured Alex Lynn.

This will mark Taylor’s debut race outing with Cadillac’s factory squad Jota, although he previously drove for the British outfit at the Goodwood Festival of Speed and the Bahrain rookie test last year.

It will also be his first appearance at a WEC race outside the Le Mans 24 Hours, where he has competed on a regular basis since 2013.

But while he may not be so familiar with regular six-hour WEC races or the Jota team, he has intimate knowledge of the Cadillac LMDh, which he races full-time for his father’s Wayne Taylor Racing team in the IMSA SportsCar Championship.

"I'm really excited to join Cadillac Hertz Team Jota for the COTA round of the WEC championship,” said Taylor.

“I've always been a big fan of the team and it was great working with them this year at Le Mans as a team-mate car. I know Will and Norman well from their time with WTR.  COTA is an amazing track and it will be great to go back to Austin. 

“Cadillac Hertz Team Jota has been so strong all year, we've all been watching and cheering them on. I’ll be doing my best to help contribute to another good result at COTA."

#101 Cadillac WTR Cadillac V-Series.R: Ricky Taylor

Photo by: Marc Fleury

Jota further revealed that Lynn will be back behind the wheel for the final two rounds of the season in Barcelona and Monza. 

In a press release, it stated that the Briton is “progressing through a structured rehab and car-based recovery programme” after being sidelined from action due to a neck injury.

With Taylor only appearing in Austin, Jota could again run a two-driver crew at the 6 Hours of Fuji, which takes place three weeks after Lone Star Le Mans on 27 September.

Question marks also remain over Jota’s 2027 line-up, with speculation mounting that Taylor could join the team on a full-time basis next year.

LMGT3 changes

Apart from Taylor’s addition, two further changes appear on the entry list for Lone Star Le Mans.

At TF Sport, factory driver Nicky Catsburg returns behind the wheel of the Le Mans-winning #33 Corvette Z06 GT3.R after missing the Sao Paulo 6 Hours due to a clash with the IMSA event in Canada. Nicolas Varrone had taken his spot alongside Ben Keating and Jonny Edgar during the July race.

Eduardo ‘Dudu’ Barrichello will also be making his WEC comeback at Austin, sharing the #23 Heart of Racing Aston Martin Vantage GT3 with Jonny Adam and Gray Newell. Like Catsburg, Barrichello was also unavailable for WEC’s Brazilian round last month, with THOR having drafted Kobe Pauwels in his place.

The rest of the field remains the same as the WEC heads to the US for the start of a hectic second half of the season.

There will once again be 17 entries in the Hypercar class, with another 18 in LMGT3 for a combined total of 35 cars. 

With Jota bringing in Taylor, Aston Martin will be the only team to field a two-driver line-up in the Hypercar class. Harry Tincknell and Tom Gamble will compete as a duo in the #007 Valkyrie LMH, while Alex Riberas and Marco Sorensen will share the #009 entry. 

WEC Lone Star Le Mans - Full entry list