2012 News
WILLIAM LYONS TROPHY AS SMRC HONOURS RYAN DALZIEL
- 02 December 2012
World endurance champion Ryan Dalziel had even more reasons to celebrate 2012 after the Scottish Motor Racing Club honoured his achievements at their annual dinner and awards.
Proud Scot Ryan - who lives in Windermere, Florida – was given a standing ovation by more than 400 SMRC racers and guests as he was led into the room by a piper along with Indy500 winner Dario Franchitti at the Sheraton Hotel in Edinburgh on Saturday night.
Ryan, originally from Lanarkshire, Scotland, was already celebrating his LMP2 title win in the FIA World Endurance Championship with Starworks Motorsport, and his career-best runner-up in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series.
But he was delighted to be presented with the William Lyons Trophy – awarded for the best performance by a Scottish driver in a sports car.
RYAN SAYS: “I am extremely honoured and happy to be given such a traditional Scottish award. It was a shock because I wasn’t expecting it, but I am delighted to receive it and, hopefully, I can come back and receive it again next year.
“It is great to know that people are keeping an eye on what me and people like Dario are doing even though we are not living in Scotland. It is the Scottish Motor Racing Club and we are all members of the same club. We just want to represent Scotland globally as best we can and I think, for me, the big winners weren’t the individuals who won the prizes. I think Scottish motorsport in general was the big winner in 2012.”
THE FACTS: Ryan will be back in action next month when the Starworks Motorsport team takes part in the Roar Before The Rolex on January 4-6. He will team up with fellow Scot Allan McNish, Venezuelan Alex Popow and French ace Sebastien Bourdais ahead of the 24-hour race at the end of January.
Ryan and Starworks Motorsport won the FIA World Endurance LMP2 Championship, thanks to class wins at Sebring in Florida, the Le Mans 24 Hours and Brazil.
They were also on the podium at Silverstone in the UK, Japan, China and Bahrain.
Ryan also managed a career-best second place in the Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Series, with a win at Watkins Glen, second place in the Daytona 24 and third at Sahlen’s Six Hours Of The Glen and Laguna Seca.
He also grabbed an LMPC class win and third place overall in the CORE autosport car at Long Beach in California as well as a third place in class at Mosport in Canada.
He had four Rolex Grand-Am podiums in 2011 – a win at Mid-Ohio and third at Barber, Lime Rock and Watkins Glen. He also had three fourth-place finishes. Ryan also gave Starworks Motorsport its first DP victory, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, in 2008.
Find out more at www.ryandalziel.com.