Mark Taylor (racing driver)
| Mark Taylor | |
|---|---|
_(61843504).jpg) Taylor in 2003 | |
| Nationality |  United Kingdom |
| Born | 16 December 1977 Wimbledon, England |
| Retired | 2004 |
| IRL IndyCar Series | |
| Years active | 2004 |
| Teams | Panther Racing Access Motorsports |
| Starts | 15 |
| Wins | 0 |
| Poles | 0 |
| Best finish | 17th in 2004 |
| Infiniti Pro Series | |
|---|---|
| Years active | 2003 |
| Teams | Panther Racing |
| Starts | 11 |
| Wins | 7 |
| Poles | 3 |
| Best finish | 1st in 2003 |
| Previous series | |
| 2001-2002 1999-2000 1999-2000 | British Formula Three Championship European Formula Ford Championship Formula Ford Great Britain |
| Championship titles | |
| 2003 2000 1997 | Infiniti Pro Series European Formula Ford Championship Formula Ford UK Winter Series |
Mark Taylor (born 16 December 1977 in Wimbledon, England) is a racing driver who drove in the Indy Racing League IndyCar Series. He drove in the 2004 season for two different teams.
Taylor began racing in Formula Ford in his native Britain, winning the 1997 Winter Championship. He finished 8th in the main championship in 1999 while also finishing 4th in European Formula Ford that year. He won the 2000 European championship and was also runner-up in the British championship.
Taylor moved to the British Formula Three Championship in 2001 and finished 9th. The following year he captured his first win and finished 7th in points.
In 2003 Taylor moved to the American Infiniti Pro Series. He dominated what was perceived as a relatively weak field, winning 7 of the 12 races in the season driving the #4 car for the Fulmar Panther team. He graduated to the IndyCar Series driving the #2 for Team Menard in 2004. However, while showing good speed, particularly in qualifying, he struggled to adapt to the top series. He was involved in accidents in five of his six starts (including the Indy 500) before he was dropped in favor of Townsend Bell.
After missing only one race, he was drafted by Greg Ray's Access Motorsports to drive the #13 car. He was unable to repeat his qualifying performances from earlier in the season but showed maturity in the car to finish 7 of his 9 races for Access with a best finish of 7th place.
Having failed to secure a drive for 2005, Taylor has left motor racing and is now living back home in England with his wife Vanessa and daughter Savannah.
Racing record
American Open Wheel
(key)
IndyCar results
| Year | Team | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | Rank | Points |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2004 | Panther Racing |  HMS 19 |
PHX 12 |
 MOT 16 |
INDY 30 |
TXS 17 |
RIR 18 |
KAN |
17th | 232 | |||||||||
| Access Motorsports | NSH 7 |
MIL 14 |
MIS 21 |
KTY 19 |
PPIR 14 |
NZR 22 |
CHI 17 |
FON 10 |
TX2 7 |