Wayne Taylor gets chance to live out lifelong F1 dream at Monaco

Wayne Taylor has achieved many of his dreams as a championship-winning sports car driver and team owner. This week, however, the owner of the namesake IMSA team will realize an ambition he’s held as a teenager: driving a true Formula 1 car on a legendary circuit.

Taylor is entered in the Monaco Historic Grand Prix on the famous street course in Monte Carlo where F1 will race in two weeks. And the 67-year-old won’t be cruising around in any old F1 car. He’s piloting the same 1978 Wolf-Cosworth WR4 that his childhood hero and fellow native South African Jody Scheckter once drove.

“I’m very excited,” Taylor admitted before leaving for Europe this week. “It’s been a lifelong dream but the dream started out of being an F1 in the ’70s and it just didn’t happen. I couldn’t get it to happen and so I chose sports car racing.

“I was an avid fan of these (F1) cars and I was a big fan of Jody Scheckter because he was from East London (South Africa, where Taylor grew up). I followed him when I was at school and stuff. Over the last 10 years or so, I started thinking one day when I retire from this, I’d like to buy a Formula 1 car of that era but I never thought of going to Monte Carlo or anything like that, I really didn’t.

“My whole life, 55 years, and now to go to Monte Carlo … pretty cool.”

It took Taylor three years to locate the Wolf WR4 that Scheckter drove in a few races; the same car later driven by Keke Rosberg and then by Desire Wilson when she became the only woman to win an F1 race, at Brands Hatch in the 1980 British Aurora F1 Championship. Once purchased, Taylor sent the car to Hudson Historics for a complete restoration under the guidance of company owner Gordon Eggleston.

“He took the car, completely restored it,” Taylor said, “and I can tell you there’s not one nut and bolt on the car that’s not new, there’s not one piece of wire that’s not new.”

From that came the decision last fall to apply for entry into the Monaco Historic. While awaiting word of his acceptance, Taylor took the car for a shakedown test at Putnam Park near Indianapolis and followed that with a full-on test in February on the Daytona International Speedway road course. His initial thoughts weren’t, um, positive.

“My first lap out, in truth, I was figuring out how I was going to tell everybody I’m not going,” he admitted, “until the car started handling properly because the tires were cold.”

Taylor received word in March that his entry was accepted, but he also learned that instead of the four practices he thought he’d have to become accustomed to the car and track, he’ll have just a single 30-minute session before qualifying and the race — which will also mark the first standing start of his illustrious career.

“So, I’ve really got 30 minutes to learn the track, find where the limit is, don’t hit anything, don’t make an idiot…