2008 News
Dalziel Steers Rangers to Top-Five Superleague Finish
- 03 November 2008
Orlando, Florida (November 03, 2008) – Ryan Dalziel steered Rangers to a top-five Superleague Formula finish yesterday as Round 5 of the inaugural championship was hosted at the Italian circuit of Vallelunga. The Scottish racer finished fifth in Sunday’s first race followed later in the day by another strong showing with a seventh place finish in the reverse-grid race.
The penultimate round of the series, aiming to mix the passion of football with the thrill of top-flight motor racing, headed to the 4.085km Vallelunga track in Italy having made previous stops at England’s Donington Park, Germany’s Nurburgring, Zolder in Belgium and Portugal’s Estoril circuit.
Dalziel’s hopes for a strong qualifying slot in the Rangers car took a dent when he was forced to miss most of practice due to a mechanical issue. Regardless, the 26-year-old Lanarkshire ace lined up tenth on the grid on Sunday morning and wasted little time in making up places at the start. He was soon up to sixth, where he remained through the majority of the 45-minute race until some late-pressure applied to the AS Roma entry ahead paid off and he duly put Rangers into fifth at the checkered.
Lining up 14th for the second race, courtesy of a reverse-grid based on results from the opening race, Dalziel again found himself charging through the field thanks to a blend of sharp racing from the Scot and a competitive set-up. While there was action throughout, Ryan avoided some of the incidents around him to keep out of trouble and post a seventh place finish for Rangers – who now sit 13th in the Championship Points table, Vallelunga undoubtedly their strongest Superleague Formula outing to-date.
Sunday’s races were won by Beijing Gouan, the current series leaders, and FC Porto respectively.
“Today was a lot of fun,” remarked Dalziel. “I’m happy that with our change of engineer we’ve seen an improvement in the set-up of the car, which in turn has allowed me to race the Rangers entry at the sharp end of the grid. It’s been a bit of a disappointing season to-date in terms of results but we turned a corner here and we’re looking forward to going into the final round at Jerez in a few weeks with a more competitive car. I’m really enjoying racing back in Europe and particularly being in a series with such a deep field of talent!”
Dalziel crosses the Atlantic in the meantime, preparing for a Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series Daytona Prototype test at Daytona International Speedway with Allegra, 11th-12th November.
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Photo Credit: ‘Scotland’s Ryan Dalziel pictured at Vallelunga in the Rangers Superleague Formula entry’ – Superleague Formula