Plans for Wayne Taylor Racing to expand into the GT Daytona class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have been put on hold, according to team owner Wayne Taylor, as the reigning Prototype championship-winning squad is set to focus on its title defense with its Cadillac DPi-V.R program.

The Indianapolis-based team had been working towards a potential two-car Lamborghini Huracan GT3 operation, although Taylor admitted that time has run out to make it financially viable for next year.

“We think it’s best to focus on our Cadillac DPi effort for now,” Taylor told Sportscar365. “We have Ryan [Hunter-Reay] back with us [for the Rolex 24] and Renger [van der Zande] seems to be just a great guy to get on with. Jordan, in what he did in Daytona, said he thinks Renger is going to be really fast.

“So I’ve got to focus on this. [Prototype] is where all the sponsors are coming. Winning overall is a big deal for sponsors.”

WTR’s proposed Lamborghini effort would have been an extension of its championship-winning program in Lamborghini Super Trofeo North America, which has seen the team earn multiple titles, including this year’s World Final in Imola, in association with Prestige Performance.

Taylor said the finances required to step into GTD, believed to now be upwards of $3 million annually for a single-car operation, has made it a difficult sell.

“We’d love to run a GTD Lamborghini but somebody’s got to pay for it,” he said. “There’s no doubt. We’ve built a relationship with Lamborghini. We’ve not only won the North American championship but also the World Final.

“They’re great people to deal with. But unless they pay 70 percent of it, and the other comes from the Silver drivers, it would be something I’d be putting a lot of effort into. But at the moment, it’s not.

“Our program’s budgets are just going up and up and up. I’ve got to [focus on] getting through next year.”

WTR’s Prototype team has seen Renger van der Zande replace Ricky Taylor at the wheel of the Konica Minolta-sponsored Cadillac DPi alongside Jordan Taylor, with the elder brother joining Acura Team Penske’s new factory DPi effort for 2018.