Ricky Taylor joins Cadillac for WEC at COTA; Lynn rejoins for Spain and Italy

Ricky Taylor will contest next month's Lone Star Le Mans event at COTA with Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA.

Taylor, who drives Wayne Taylor Racing's Cadillac in IMSA, will join Will Stevens and Norman Nato in the No.12 V-Series.R for a one-off appearance with the Jota squad, with a potential 2027 role under consideration.

The No.12 Cadillac will revert to a two driver line-up for the championship’s final 2026 flyaway at Fuji Speedway in late September before a further change for the recently-confirmed replacement races in Barcelona and Monza. Alex Lynn will return to the team for the European races after sitting out the first half of the campaign with a neck injury that required surgery in June.

“I’m looking forward to getting back to racing with Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA," Lynn said.

"I’ve had a long and thorough rehab period and things are progressing well. Over the coming weeks and months I’ll be getting ‘race fit’ through a combination of physio, training, testing and sim work to make sure I’m at my best come Barcelona. I’ve been supporting the team from afar and will be cheering them on for the next round at COTA.”

Earlier in the season, in Lynn's absence, the No.12 raced with two drivers at Imola and Interlagos. Cadillac IMSA GTP driver Louis Deletraz filled the third seat at Spa and Le Mans. 

It will be Taylor's first non-Le Mans FIA WEC appearance since 2016, when he ran a partial LMGTE Am campaign with Larbre Competition in a Corvette C7.R

Last year, Taylor participated in the FIA WEC Rookie Test for Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA, and is also familiar with the squad through the American marque's 'One Cadillac' initiative, through which JOTA works closely with Wayne Taylor Racing, especially at this year's 24 Hours of Le Mans.

"I'm really excited to join Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA for the COTA round of the WEC championship. I've always been a big fan of the team and it was great working with them this year at Le Mans as a teammate car," Taylor said.

"I know Will and Norman well from their time with WTR. COTA is an amazing track and it will be great to go back to Austin. Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA has been so strong all year, we've all been watching and cheering them on. I’ll be doing my best to help contribute to another good result at COTA."

Leon Price, Cadillac Hertz Team JOTA sporting director, said: "It's great that Alex is recovering well and will be back racing with the team soon. There is a plan in place for him to build back into racing in a measured way, to rejoin us for the final two rounds of the championship. Alex has been an important part of the team for years and we’re all looking forward to having him back racing with us.

"We're very pleased to have Ricky joining us for COTA. He's someone we've got to know well through Cadillac and during this year's Le Mans program, and he already has a good understanding of how we operate. He's an experienced endurance racer who will integrate quickly, and we're looking forward to having him in the No.12 car.”