Taylor Enjoys Double Duty Weekend in Adelaide
7th December, 2022Scott Taylor has finished second in Trophy Class in the 2022 Fanatec GT World Challenge Australia in Adelaide, while also competing in the Battery World Aussie Racing Cars.
Racing in his favoured Porsche GT3R, Taylor entered the weekend third in the points tally for Trophy Class in GT World Challenge and up against one of the most competitive fields of the year in GT competition. The weekend saw a unique format spread across four days with three 40-minute races playing out, all containing a mandatory pit stop.
It was a weekend heavily punctuated by stoppages, with Qualifying seeing multiple red flags and a high number of incidents in the races. Taylor enjoyed his best outright result in the opening race, coming home in 11th place and third in Trophy Class – it was also the only race without an intervention.
Safety Cars spiced up the order in races two and three, with Taylor moving forward to finish second in class in both races and earning outright results of 14th and 13th. The consistent performances helped to solidify third place in the Trophy Class points for 2022.
“We did exactly what we wanted to do in GT, stayed out of trouble and went quicker over the weekend,” said Taylor.
“It’s a little bit frustrating with the number of accidents in the category this weekend, for me I get better the longer the stint is. I take a little minute to really get on it. Qualifying was hugely affected and then two of the races had Safety Cars.
“The reason we’ve got the results we have this year though, is because I didn’t get involved in those incidents. I’m thankful for the team and for Alex Davison who’ve helped me get all the silly stuff out of my driving. That has given me a good platform to be consistent, which I can build from.”
In the Aussie Racing Cars, Taylor did just 2 laps in qualifying before hopping out and jumping in to the GT3R for GT qualifying immediately afterwards. Despite that fact, Taylor was able to put himself 21st on the grid and third in the Gold Cup classification.
In race one Taylor had climbed to 16th in the opening laps, but a car fault ended his run early and also relegated him to the back of the field for race two. It was a storming drive in the second race of the weekend, picking up 10 spots in as many laps on his way to finishing 17th overall and second in the Gold Cup.
Race three was scheduled right before the GT race on Saturday which prevented Taylor from taking part, but he was back for race four on Sunday afternoon. Another standout drive up the order saw Taylor fight his way back to 17th position again, to close out the weekend.
“The Aussie Car was all about the fun factor this weekend, I like the people who run it and all the people involved over there. It isn’t about the money and it feels like going back to your roots a little bit.
“You can experiment a bit in the Aussie car and go hell for leather, and get away with it. It slides around a lot, has a much shorter wheelbase so it’s just a different style of driving that lets me push the car.”
2023 is set to be another big year for Scott Taylor, who’ll reveal his plans for the season in due course.
Photography by James Smith