2016 News

Watkins Glen, N.Y. - Looking to make it three victories in a row at Watkins Glen International, Visit Florida Racing came up short of that goal on Sunday as a promising outing didn’t deliver the desired result for the Florida-based squad in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen.

 Drivers Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens combined for a run to sixth place after six hours of hard-fought IMSA WeatherTech Championship racing as the duo shared the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP.

The team showed pace through the race weekend, leading the race and also setting the fastest lap of the day among the Daytona Prototype-based machines. But an off track excursion late in the race cost track position as the team will now look to rebound with a big run north of the border next weekend at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.

“We are obviously always pushing it to be on that limit. It almost felt like the car was very different from one set of tires to the next, but I felt pretty nice and comfortable,” said Goosens. “That stint that I spun,  I got myself into a nice rhythm being consistent and then the next thing I knew it just snapped for me in the rear. I don’t know what it was, but I hate it because I feel like I let the whole team down. Strategy-wise I think we were all set to be right there. Obviously it can always go either way depending on the yellows, but I think we did have something strategy-wise. I think it would have worked and it is just very unfortunate. So I promise everybody I will try to make up for it next week at Mosport!”
 
“To be honest I thought we were good from the start,” said Dalziel, who carded the quick time of 1:35.429-seconds late in the race running. “I like the car and it seemed like we were able to run with the No. 5 and No. 10. I felt like we were in good shape and the strategy was the right thing to do, so it’s kind of ‘woulda, coulda, shoulda’. But we had the speed, which between here and Detroit, we feel like we have found something we like - the car is fast. But today just wasn’t our day. So we will regroup and head to Mosport and kick ass there.”

After a pair of challenging race outings, the Visit Florida Racing effort doesn’t have the midseason momentum that characterized its strong run in the 2015 IMSA championship. But with a recent uptick in race pace, the team is looking forward to building on the season to make a big push in the second half of the year.
 
“It’s really not in our DNA anymore to finish off of that podium, so the last couple of races have been tough,” said team owner Troy Flis. “This was definitely not the result we were looking for. But I can’t say it enough, the guys have done a really great job putting this car back together over a two week period here and putting together a destroyed car and having a car that went out and was the fastest Chevy during the race. I’m really proud of that. We didn’t really have any issues, so it’s just getting the drivers confident and comfortable. Marc (Goossens) does a great job and so does Ryan (Dalziel). It is tough, but I do have to congratulate both drivers on doing a great job and also congratulate the whole crew for working so hard. 

"The engineering department did a great job. We went into the race today with a great strategy. But I have to congratulate the No. 5 and 31, they did a great job so hats off to them. We just have to do better and make fewer mistakes.”
 
The Floridian team looks to score a better result north of the border next weekend as the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship heads to Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
 
Visit Florida.com Racing 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Drivers:
 
Ryan Dalziel
 Birth Date: 12th April 1982
 Birthplace: Glasgow, Scotland UK
 Residence: Windermere, Florida USA
 Website: www.ryandalziel.com
 Twitter: @ryan_dalziel
 
Marc Goossens
 Birth Date: 30 November 1969
 Birthplace: Geel, Belgium
 Residence: Westerlo, Belgium
 Website: www.marcgoossens.com
 Twitter: @marcthegoose

Ryan Hunter-Reay
Birth Date: 17 December 1980
Birthplace: Dallas, Texas
Residence: Fort Lauderdale, Florida
Website: www.ryanracing.com
Twitter: @RyanHunterReay

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