Larbre Competition completes Le Mans line-up

Ricky Taylor will complete the driver crew of Larbre Competition's #50 Corvette C6.R at this year's Le Mans 24 Hours, it has been announced.

The 23-year-old American joins Patrick Bornhauser and Julien Canal at the French squad that has claimed GT class victories in sportscar racing's blue riband event for the last three years.

Ricky, the son of sportscar legend Wayne Taylor who contested Le Mans 13 times, has been a frontrunner in the US-based Grand-Am series driving Daytona Prototypes since 2008.

His SDR Motorsports team's strong links with Corvette made him the ideal candidate to join Larbre Competition's #50 crew.

"Competing at Le Mans has been a long-held dream of mine and to be doing so with a GM-backed team is even better," said Ricky. "Larbre Competition have proven themselves time and again at this level and clearly know how to get the job done at Le Mans. To be joining the car and drivers that won last season can only be a good thing but the pressure will still be on us to deliver the result.

"My dad has let me in on a few of the tricks you need to succeed there and his experience will prove invaluable. I can have no excuses!

"I've predominantly driven DPs over the last few years and have no GT experience, but I'm not expecting that to pose too much of a problem. The learning curve isn't that steep, testing will help and I'll have the Corvette factory guys like Richard Westbrook to call on for advice."

Taylor's signing completes Larbre Competiton's two-car Le Mans line-up that also includes fellow American Cooper MacNeil, who partners Philippe Dumas and Manuel Rodrigues in the team's #70 Corvette.

Jack Leconte, Larbre Competition team manager, added: "Within the framework of establishing an even stronger relationship between ourselves and the US team we will have two American drivers - one in each car - racing with us at the Le Mans 24 Hours. It's also part of our future global strategy that sees Larbre become a keen supporter of sportscar racing's new era in America following the merger of two championships and the creation of United Sports Car Racing. In our case we will have Grand-Am drivers coming to compete at the Le Mans 24 Hours. It's fantastic to have one of the Taylor brothers representing the American GTE Pro team and the other racing for our French squad in GTE Am.

"Since GM and ourselves are now both involved in the careers of these two drivers, I have taken a personal interest in the events they contest and success they achieve Stateside. Indeed, Jordan and Ricky finished first and third at Barber Motorsports Park last weekend, which is obviously fantastic news and gives me extra confidence ahead of Le Mans.

"Ricky is a young and exciting prospect whose ability ensures we will have every chance of claiming a fourth consecutive class victory at Le Mans in our 25th anniversary year as a team."

Larbre Competition begins the defence of its FIA World Endurance Championship GTE Am title at the 6 Hours of Silverstone in Britain this weekend.