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IN THE COCKPIT: Ricky Taylor, Daytona Test
SunTrust Racing's Ricky Taylor jets back from Italy to test his new Corvette DP and recaps the week-plus long adventure...
Ricky Taylor  |  Posted December 22, 2011  
After his 33-hour trip back from Italy, Ricky Taylor climbed behind the wheel of SunTrust's newly liveried Corvette DP for more testing at Daytona. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
That was a busy 10 days! After getting back from Italy, it was already time for testing in Daytona the next day. Now, after a full day to reflect on our experience in Italy and a good two-day test in Daytona, I’ll conclude my blog for the Italy trip and inform you about our successful test at Daytona.

Our final morning at Formula Medicine was quite short and rushed as our flight was leaving early that afternoon. The only goal that morning was to meet with Dr. Ceccarelli and recap our stay at Formula Medicine by going over the extensive reports they had put together for us.

He covered the medical, mental, and physical results from the tests, as well as suggesting what and how we can improve ourselves in the various categories. They made some very interesting discoveries with my results regarding the Mind Band system, improving my results on some of the other mental tests due to my increased levels of concentration.

We said our goodbyes, and we will see them again in Daytona when Dr. Ceccarelli and Alessio will make the trip to be with us again for the 50th Rolex 24.

On the trip home, it would be Alitalia from Pisa to Rome, and again from Rome to New York, then Delta from New York to Orlando. Right off the bat, our first flight was delayed by 45 minutes, making our connection quite close, but we still had an hour to make it to our flight.

The problem was with the next connection in New York. There was only a two-hour gap between flights for us to go through customs, check in again, go through security, and board the flight home to Orlando. As we were just relaxing on the plane in Rome, they told us that the flight would be delayed. It turned out to be delayed by two hours. So, by the time we landed, we had already missed our connection, so we caught the first flight the following morning and got home without problems.
More progress was made over the single-day test ay Daytona. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)

After 33 total hours of traveling, the next day we would be at the racetrack bright and early to further test our beautifully painted SunTrust Corvette. Bright and early was not an issue as Jordan and I were both up at 4:30, ready to go.

We had many questions regarding the new car after the previous test and had a very long testing plan set up for this supposed one-day test. We made a lot of progress on day one but, with the amount of progress, the guys figured that, while we were already at the track and with how much we could still learn, it would be very beneficial to stay for an extra day and work through an extended plan.

The car was great and I think our engineer Brian (Pillar) answered a lot of questions. I think the car will be very strong for the 24-hour as it is quite comfortable to drive.

Next up will be the Roar before the Rolex 24 at the beginning of January, where we will have a three-day test. Hope to see you there!

Have a great rest of your Holiday season, and we’ll see you on the other side!

Ciao,
~Ricky

Ricky Taylor, 22-year-old son of three-time sports car champion and team owner Wayne Taylor, embarks on his third full season co-driving with veteran Max Angelelli in the No. 10 SunTrust Corvette Dallara of Wayne Taylor Racing. Follow him on Twitter: @RickyTaylor10 or at http://www.suntrustracing.com
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