Tequila Patrón ESM celebrated National Tequila Day in great fashion on Sunday, earning a third place finish at the FIA World Endurance Championship’s 6 Hours of Nürburgring. The No. 31 Ligier P2 of Ryan Dalziel, Luís Felipe “Pipo” Derani finished in third place, earning its third podium in the four completed races of the 2015 race season.

In an effort to prepare and gather information for the 2017 race season, Tequila Patrón ESM switched tire manufacturers to run Michelin, the most successful tire manufacturer in sports car racing. No small move, the two car team worked diligently all weekend to dial in the set up as quickly as possible without any previous tire testing. Focusing on set up instead of outright speed, the No. 30 and No. 31 Ligiers tested numerous variables in the practice and qualifying sessions leading up to the race.

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It has been almost a month since the 24 Hours of Le Mans, and the drivers and crew of Tequila Patrón ESM are eager to return to the World Endurance Championship for the Six Hours of Nürburgring. Following four podium finishes in the first four races of the FIA WEC and IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship  calendars, mechanical difficulties have hampered the two most recent races, the 24 Hours of Le Mans and the Six Hours of the Glen.  Hungry to be back at the front of the field, the Florida based team should be a strong contender with its pair of Nissan Ligier JS P2 cars.

In 2015, both cars struggled to find overall pace in the first half of the race, only getting up to speed in the final half. Throughout 2016, the continuing development of the team from last season has proved to be immense, starting the WEC season off with two first place finishes. The 3.199, 16-turn Germany facility should prove favorable this weekend to the Ligier, a car that shows its strengths on fast and flowing tracks.

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Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada (10 July 2016) – Visit Florida Racing came up just short of a podium finish in the Mobil 1 Sportscar Grand Prix at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park on Sunday when the team and its drivers Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel combined for a fourth place finish.

After leading mid-way through the race, a gamble on strategy didn’t pay off for the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype as the squad targeted victory at the Canadian road course.

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Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada (9 July 2016) – Looking to make a return to the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park podium, Visit Florida Racing is aiming to move forward in Sunday's Mobil 1 Sports Car Grand Prix as the IMSA WeatherTech Championship stages Round 7 of the 2016 season.

At the sweeping 10-turn, 2.459-mile circuit outside of Toronto, Marc Goossens drove the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP that he shares with Ryan Dalziel to a sixth place starting position on the grid with a fast time of 1:11.296-seconds.

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DRIVING AT CTMP: Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens will drive the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype.

CANADIAN TIRE MOTORSPORT PARK: Round 7 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship held at the quick 2.459-mile permanent road course in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.

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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.

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Watkins  Glen, New York –  Visit Florida Racing will start Sunday’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen from seventh on the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship grid after Ryan Dalziel posted a fast lap time of 1:36.473-seconds in qualifying on Saturday. The team is pursuing a third consecutive victory in the 6 Hour classic.

 Dalziel will share the driving duties with his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar teammate Marc Goossens, who won the 2015 edition of the Six Hour in GTD class competition. After the duo set a best time of 1:38.125-seconds in Friday’s first practice session, the team improved for a best time of 1:37.873-seconds in the second practice, and then going even better in practice on Saturday with a quick time of 1:36.461-seconds.

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DRIVING AT THE GLEN: Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens will drive the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype. Visit Florida Racing is just one of three prototype teams utilizing a two-driver line-up.

SAHLEN’S 6 HOURS OF THE GLEN: Round 6 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship held at Watkins Glen International, a 3.4-mile permanent road course with 11 turns.

2016 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS – VISIT FLORIDA RACING: 4th with 142 points after 5 of 10 rounds now complete.

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LE MANS, Fra., — This week, in Le Mans France, Tequila Patrón ESM showed a monumental effort at the 84th annual 24 Hours of Le Mans. The two-car LMP2 team performed well all week long in every session, promising to again be a podium contender in the third FIA World Endurance Championship race of the season, also the longest on the 2016 calendar. As the world’s oldest active sports car endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans has always been a force to be reckoned with, unpredictable in who survives the adversity to come out on top. For Tequila Patrón ESM, the team endured hardship not to finish on the podium but to still complete the grueling 24 hours in 11th and 16th positions.

The opening practice as well as the first qualifying session were only under dry conditions, allowing the six drivers the opportunity to become more confident on track. Torrential downpour hampered the last two remaining qualifying sessions, restricting the chances of the Tequila Patrón cars to better their starting positions. The No. 31 of Ryan Dalziel, Pipo Derani and Chris Cumming qualified in sixth position, and the sister No. 30 car of Scott Sharp, Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek 16th. Unfortunately, Ed Brown’s qualifying stint was during one of the monsoons, not allowing him to get close enough to the required 110% within the pole position. Per FIA WEC rules, the No. 30 car was sent to the back of the field to start in 21st position.

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The No. 31 Tequila Patrón ESM Ligier JS P2 will start P6 in class, P15 overall // Best lap time 3:39.366

Ryan Dalziel // No. 31 Tequila Patrón ESM Ligier JS P2
We had a good first day. Obviously the weather was better on Wednesday than we expected. We’re a little bit off the Orecas, which we expected to be. We’re also a little faster than we expected to be. I think we have a pretty good race car. As always, it seems like tire management will be the important thing. It’s a shame we didn’t get to get any good laps on Thursday to verify some changes. Hopefully the first part of the race can be dry and we’ll see what we get at the end of the race.

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LE MANS, Fra., ---Race week has arrived in Le Mans, France for the 84th running of the world’s oldest active sports car endurance race, the 24 Hours of Le Mans. Riding the momentum of a highly successful season to date, Tequila Patrón ESM returns for their second consecutive year, entering two cars in the 60 car field. The black and white Tequila Patrón ESM Ligier JS P2 Nissans will compete in the P2 class, currently the largest field of this year’s running, with 23 cars listed.

The driver lineups for the Tequila Patrón ESM cars will remain the same, with Scott Sharp, Ed Brown and Johannes van Overbeek sharing the duties in the No. 30 car, and Ryan Dalziel, Chris Cumming and Luis Felipe “Pipo” Derani in the No. 31. Van Overbeek leads the charge for the best Le Mans finish of the No. 30 drivers after his third place finish in the GT class in 2005. This year will mark Sharp’s third Le Mans, and second for Brown, President and CEO of the Patrón Spirits Company. Ryan Dalziel is the only Tequila Patrón ESM driver to grace the top step of the Le Mans podium, winning the LMP2 class in 2012. Cumming and Derani both made their Le Mans debuts in 2015. Cumming’s race ended early with a gearbox problem, but Derani earned an impressive fourth place finish.

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Detroit, Mich. - After making a very promising start to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship visit to Detroit, Visit Florida Racing’s Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers took a sudden turn for the worse on Lap 10 when the No. 90 Corvette Daytona Prototype made heavy contact with the tire wall.

The contact caused significant damage to the right side of the iconic blue Visit Florida Chevrolet Corvette, and the damage was further exacerbated by a second hit when the car was hit by another Corvette DP that had no chance to take avoiding action.

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Belle Isle, Mich. (3 June 2016) – In his first-ever race at the Belle Isle street circuit, Marc Goossens put the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype on the front row for the Chevrolet Sports Car Classic presented by Metro Detroit Chevy Dealers. Goossens’ fast lap time of 1:23.863-seconds was just .048-seconds off of the pole time as he rounded out the all-Chevy front row at the track located in the shadow of Chevrolet’s headquarters.

Goossens and co-driver Ryan Dalziel worked with the Visit Florida Racing team to dial in the Daytona Prototype machine through two practice sessions held earlier in the day.

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DRIVING AT DETROIT: Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens will drive the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype.

CHEVROLET SPORTS CAR CLASSIC PRESENTED BY METRO DETROIT CHEVY DEALERS: Round 5 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship held through the streets of Belle Isle Park, a 2.34-mile temporary street course.
 
2016 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS – VISIT FLORIDA RACING: 3rd with 117 points after 4 of 10 rounds now complete.

STRENGTH IN DETROIT: Visit Florida Racing has shown strength at the Detroit street course event ever since IMSA first visited the venue in 2012. The team has brought home three top-five finishes including the pole position and a runner-up finish in 2014. 

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RIVIERA BEACH, Fla., — This June, FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) team Tequila Patrón ESM will return to France for its second effort at the 24 Hours of Le Mans, currently the world’s oldest sports car endurance event. Paul Mitchell Systems will join Tequila Patrón ESM as the primary sponsor of the legendary race, boasting a striking black and white livery on the pair of P2 Ligiers.

“We are so excited that Paul Mitchell has finally arrived to Le Mans racing,” said Paul Mitchell CEO John Paul DeJoria. “Our world distributors are looking forward to the race, and all of us thank our family, Patrón Spirits, for making this possible. This Tequila Patrón ESM team won both Sebring and Daytona. Look out France, here we come!”

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Saturday’s race at the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps can only be described as dramatically unpredictable. The lead for the LMP2 class battle grew more intense as the hours went on, leading to a final lap battle for the podium steps. Tequila Patrón ESM earned a second podium finish of the 2016 WEC season, securing a third place finish in a tight points fight for the LMP2 class championship.

Throughout practice and qualifying the high downforce Nissan Ligiers struggled to find pace at Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps, despite topping the charts in the opening practice session. For the Tequila Patrón ESM Nissan Ligiers, the race began like any other, with Pipo Derani starting 8th in the No. 31, and Scott Sharp starting 12th in the No. 30. Both drivers advanced position during their opening stints, with the most impressive jump up the charts happening during the first round of pit stops. Derani pitted the car in 9th, and after a perfectly executed stop, the Brazilian left the pits four positions ahead in 5th.  During his opening stint, Sharp brought the No. 30 into the top 10 before passing the driving duties on to Johannes van Overbeek.

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Starts last, finishes second for encore podium result at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

Monterey, Calif. (1 May 2016) – Visit Florida Racing showed on Sunday that even when it is raining, there is sun behind those clouds. Despite starting the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda over a minute behind the race leader, Visit Florida Racing drivers Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel finished the race in second place to notch the team’s best IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship result of the season so far.

Looking to make a vigorous defense of the team’s 2015 IMSA victory at the California track, Visit Florida Racing had been frustrated in the early practice and qualifying sessions during the weekend as the Corvette DP just didn't have the pace to be a front runner. But lots of data analysis, and another round of adjustments in the morning, saw the car improve come race time.

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Monterey, Calif. – Defending Continental Tire Grand Prix powered by Mazda race winners Visit Florida Racing will look to mount a strong push to the front on Sunday at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca as the team is set to start from the fourth row of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship grid.

The two-hour sprint will see Marc Goossens and Ryan Dalziel team in the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP as the duo hope to return the bright blue skies VISIT FLORIDA Corvette to victory lane for the second year in a row. With a pair of practice sessions on Friday followed by one full session  Saturday, the 15-minute qualifying session yielded a fast lap time of 1:19.652-seconds with Dalziel behind the wheel to lock in seventh on the GTLM and Prototype class field.

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DRIVING AT MAZDA RACEWAY: Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens will drive the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette Daytona Prototype.
 
CONTINENTAL TIRE MONTEREY GRAND PRIX POWERED BY MAZDA: Round 4 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship held at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, a 2.238-mile track with 11 corners featuring the famous Corkscrew.
 
2016 CHAMPIONSHIP STANDINGS: 4th with 84 points

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Continuing an impressive run in 2016, Tequila Patrón ESM earned a second place finish on Sunday at the World Endurance Championship (WEC) season opening race at the 6 Hours of Silverstone. The finish marks the team’s third podium finish in three races, following record setting wins at the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona and the Twelve Hours of Sebring in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The team returned for a second full season in the WEC with a two car effort. Starting the event in 10th, the driver lineup for the No. 30 Nissan Ligier JS P2 consisted of Team Owner Scott Sharp, Tequila Patrón CEO Ed Brown and ESM veteran Johannes van Overbeek. Ryan Dalziel, Chris Cumming and Pipo Derani completed the team lineup in the No. 31 Nissan Ligier JS P2, leading the team qualifying effort with a 2nd place result.

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