Konica Minolta Wayne Taylor Racing is going to the bench and bringing in a ringer this weekend at the Rolex 24 at Daytona, as Rubens Barrichello will join the lineup alongside Jordan Taylor, Ricky Taylor and Max Angelelli.
The team’s full release is below:
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Formula 1 veteran Rubens Barrichello has been added as fourth driver to join the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP for Wayne Taylor Racing (WTR) lineup of Max “The Ax” Angelelli and brothers Ricky and Jordan Taylor for this weekend’s 54th Rolex 24 At Daytona IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season opener at Daytona (Fla.) International Speedway.
The 43-year-old Brazilian holds the Formula 1 record with 322 career starts, during which he drove to 11 career victories and 68 podium finishes, as well as 14 pole qualifying positions. Barrichello’s 658 career points earned is the 11th-best total in Formula 1 history, the bulk of which came during the 2000 through 2005 seasons spent with the Ferrari team as teammate to Michael Schumacher.
“I’m excited for this opportunity as the Rolex 24 has always been a race that I’ve had a great interest in and, when I recently expressed an interest to drive this year for Wayne and his team, he made it possible for me,” Barrichello said. “This is one of the most successful teams in the history of sports car racing and it’s a great pleasure to be able to race in the Rolex 24 with such a competitive team. I have known Max since we raced together in Formula 3 in the early ’90s, and I have been a fan of Ricky and Jordan for some time, now. If they’re not out there winning races, they always seem to be fighting to win at the end. I am looking forward to this opportunity.”
Most recently, Barrichello drove for KV Racing Technology during the 2012 IndyCar Series campaign, as well as the past four seasons in the Stock Car Brasil series, where he won the championship in 2014. He also co-drove in last year’s Rolex 24 with the Starworks Motorsport team, and the 2013 Rolex 24 with the GT-class Dener Motorsport team, as well as the 2013 Indianapolis round of the Rolex Sports Car Series for Doran Racing.
“I’ve known and watched Rubens for many, many years, including his incredible driving last year at Daytona,” said team owner Wayne Taylor, the three-time sports car racing champion who scored his first of two Rolex 24 victories 20 years ago and the other in 2005. “For us to add a fourth driver, it definitely has to be somebody who is at the top of his game and, quite simply, it’s a pleasure to add a guy like Rubens, who I have been in awe of for so many years. Jordan has been a little under the weather, lately, and with a race of this magnitude and intensity, you want to be sure you have plenty of driver support. This is something of a precautionary move, but to include a driver of Rubens’ caliber in our already stout driver lineup, we should be in absolutely great shape.”