Jordan Taylor, Konica Minolta Cadillac driver quote ahead of 24h Daytona 21.01.2019: Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R Team driver n10 It’s time to kick off the new season and your team has assembled quite the driver lineup. Your thoughts as you head to Daytona and try to bring back the magic of your 2017 Rolex 24 win?

Konica Minolta Cadillac DPi-V.R Team driver n10


 
It’s time to kick off the new season and your team has assembled quite the driver lineup. Your thoughts as you head to Daytona and try to bring back the magic of your 2017 Rolex 24 win?

 

“I’m excited because obviously there are a lot of new things going on, starting with our lineup, and the new tires this season, so there has been a lot to learn, a lot of things to adjust to.



But I think we can rely a lot on our history as a team and what we’ve done in this race and trust that our processes will work. At the same time, there are a lot of teams and cars and lineups up against us that are very strong, so we’ll have to make the most of it.


 We had some good days of testing that helped us get to know the Michelin tires and get an understanding of where we’re at. Having guys like Kamui and Fernando definitely helped us expedite that learning process a lot. They bring so much experience and information from what they’ve done in Formula One and in the WEC and in Japan to help us learn, and hopefully we’ll be ahead of the curve all through race weekend.”




 
Where do you feel the team stands after the three-day Roar Before the 24 test earlier this month?


 
“At this point, we’re optimistic. From a car point of view, we made a lot of progress with some changes. It was also good to get Alonso and Kobayashi through the car to get them comfortable driving-wise and seat-wise and ergonomics. That’s really what this test is all about, getting everyone comfortable, getting driver-change practice done, solid routines that they’re not used to that we do, pit-stop procedures.


They fit in super well and they bring a ton of experience, so it’s been interesting to hear their feedback and their direction. Looking at our history, we know how to run these races. You have to get through the first 20 hours without touching anybody or making a mistake. We’ve got the perfect lineup for that.




They all have 24-hour experience and experience with traffic and understanding that these races are won in the last few hours. We might have a great start in the race, but we’ll only know 20 hours into it whether we have a shot at winning.”





Laz Denes- photo IMSA