The Auto Channel
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
The Largest Independent Automotive Research Resource
Official Website of the New Car Buyer

Grand AM GT - Dalziel Earns Hard Fought P4


PHOTO (select to view enlarged photo)

Birmingham, Apr. 2, 2012: THE PLOT: On-form Ryan Dalziel produced a battling display against the odds to go top of the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Cars Series standings after a hard-fought fourth place in the Porsche 250 at Barber in Alabama.

Ryan, from Windermere in Florida, and Fort Lauderdale-based Starworks Motorsport team-mate Enzo Potolicchio, from Venezuela, knew their #8 Ford-Riley would be up against it on the high downforce 2.3-mile track, but they stuck to an excellent race strategy and finished just outside the top three.

Coupled with his sensational second place at the Daytona 24, the result put Ryan top of the standings with 60 points after two rounds.

Ryan – originally from Lanarkshire in Scotland – and Enzo had qualified in sixth place and managed to avoid any damage during the race. And hopes of a podium were heightened when a late yellow flag caution bunched up the field and left a sprint to the finish line.

Ryan managed to get past Max Angelelli, but Ganassi’s Scott Pruett had gambled on putting new tires on during the caution and he was able to squeeze through into third place.

THE QUOTES: “It was a weekend to think about the points. We knew that Barber was going to be challenging for us, since Grand Am are still working through balancing the 2012 Daytona Prototype bodies, and the Riley chassis clearly has less downforce than the new Corvette bodies, so our outright pace wasn’t there.

“Barber is very tough on tires and so not only did we struggle with our outright speed, we struggled with tire life. The lack of downforce meant we were sliding around too much and that killed our tires very quickly.

“We went into point-scoring mode and it worked out for us. We took home a solid fourth place finish, but more importantly we took over the DP points lead heading into Starworks Motorsport home event at Miami Speedway in four weeks.

“It’s great to be leading the FIA WEC P2 points and the Grand-Am Daytona Prototype standings at the same time.

“The team did a great job in the pits as always so we were able to get on the tails of the leaders but just didn’t have enough to challenge for a podium spot. But it is nice to have the #8 Starworks Ford-Riley #8 at the top of the standings.”