Ultraman Jordan Taylor Ready to Take On Sebring

Photo courtesy of Jordan Taylor

Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring is considered the toughest test of IMSA’s WeatherTech SportsCar Championship schedule - tougher even than the season-opening Rolex24 at Daytona at twice the length.

It’s the brutal bumps and physical nature of the runways and access roads of the former World War II training base for the United States Army Air Forces, not to mention the heat that makes it a major test of driver and machine.

Given his level of fitness, Jordan Taylor would seem to be up to the task as he and co-driver Louis Deletraz look to make it two in a row at Sebring along with third driver Brendon Hartley in the No. 40 Wayne Taylor Racing Cadillac V-Series.R.

Last month, Taylor completed the Ultraman Florida triathlon endurance challenge, a three-day event with a 6.2-mile swim, 261-mile bike ride and 52.4-mile run, placing 3rd overall.

“It was definitely a weird thing to do. During the whole COVID time, I got into triathlons with (brother) Ricky (Taylor) and some friends and this Ultraman race was always in our hometown area where we train, so we kind of always saw it happening and always wondered what it would be like and how insane it would be to actually be able to complete one.

“When Ricky did his Ironman last year,” Taylor continued, “I just felt I wanted to do something crazy again and signed up for it kind of on the spot. I didn't really think too much of it. I just thought this would be a cool challenge to do and kind of through all the training it was a fun process to kind of understand the challenge of it and see what it takes to complete one.

“It went super well, had a great experience, a really cool community of people that kind of lives that life, while we live a life in motorsports. It was nice to kind of get it done timing-wise after Daytona and kind of switch gears and start focusing on Sebring where we were able to do a little two-day test there a couple weeks ago and really kind of get a head start on the week ahead.”

(Photo by Brandon Badraoul/LAT Images)

Whereas Taylor now equates the 2-hour, 40-minute sprint races on the IMSA schedule to an Ironman competition, the Ultraman is more like an endurance race like Sebring.

“I'd say an Ironman does feel more like a sprint race, relatively. I think the Ultraman you have your eight-hour day of working out and then you've got to rest and recover. It felt like a Rolex 24 where you get out of the car, sort of recover as fast as possible, start eating and trying to sleep. And then you're up a couple hours later to start the next day. So, it did feel like a 24-hour event, like Daytona, just over a whole weekend.

“It kind of reaffirmed a lot of stuff that we know in motorsports with recovery and nutrition and hydration. Those things were all so crucial and things that I can take into my racing career now where I could feel mental fatigue and physical fatigue and how to counter that with either hydration and salt or carbs and that type of nutrition. So goes hand in hand with everyday life.

“It was a cool experience” said Taylor, “and I think the coolest part was bringing the racing community to them and kind of opening their eyes to what sports car racing is and now bringing that Ultraman world to the world of motorsports.”

Even though Sebring is half the distance of Daytona, Taylor agrees that it is the tougher of the two endurance races - mentally and physically.

“Daytona, you can do a three-hour stint in the night and get out and feel like you didn't really do much. And Sebring, when we talk about stint lengths and you got to do a double, all the drivers are a little bit stressed of how that's going to feel, especially in the heat of the day. Because you're not just fighting the elements, you're fighting the car the whole time, you're saving tires, saving fuel, the tire degs are massive, so you're just on edge the whole time.

“So, the physical side added in with the mental side is extremely exhausting. When you've cycled through the car two or three times, that adds up to when it comes to the end of the race. So, you definitely need to be on your game once the sunset comes.”

(Photo by Jake Galstad/LAT Images

But according to Taylor, the most rigorous activity isn’t the Ultraman or the heat and humidity of the Twelve Hours of Sebring. He claims that distinction belongs to the chicken wing eating contest the day before the race.

“The chicken wing contest is a big one. We've had a few guys throw up after that over the years, especially with it being 80 degrees I wouldn't advise it to any of the drivers to go compete. It's all relative.

“An Ultraman, you pace it at a very easy level to get through and an Ironman you can race a little bit harder. When you come to a race like an Ironman or an Ultraman, I'm not trying to win it, so you're not going to put everything on the line. But race day at Sebring my heart rate will be higher than any triathlon I do just because the level of intensity and the passion to win is higher.

“I'd say Sebring is up there. It’s on every driver's list to win. So that's where the intensity comes from. And the physical side is obviously always there with the bumps, the traffic, the nighttime with the lights makes it extremely stressful. It just has all the elements to make for a great sports car race.”