2010 GRAND-AM ROLEX SPORTS CAR SERIES SEASON
Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona winner Ryan Dalziel, rookie Adam Christodoulou among those competing
Ryan Dalziel (Glasgow) has had over a month to celebrate the biggest victory of his career – the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in January at Daytona International Speedway. This week, though, it’s back to business.
The Scottish native, now living in Orlando, Florida, is among five drivers competing for class honours in the second round of the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, the Grand Prix of Miami this Saturday at Homestead-Miami Speedway in southern Florida. Dalziel, who won the Rolex 24 with Action Express Racing and co-drivers Joao Barbosa, Terry Borcheller and Mike Rockenfeller, moves to a new team, Starworks Motorsport, to pair with Mike Forest (Edmonton, Alberta, Canada) for the remainder of 2010 in the No. 8 BMW Riley Daytona Prototype.
“I’m definitely looking forward to getting back at it, especially since this race is one of my favourite races on the schedule,” said Dalziel, who shares the points lead by three (35-32) and looks to take the advantage outright following the Grand Prix of Miami. “I am also looking forward to starting to work with Starworks. I spent a couple of days at their shop, and I was totally impressed with the operation. I look forward to working again with (team owner) Peter Baron and my new teammate, Mike Forest.”
Dalziel is one of two U.K. based drivers now living in the U.S. that are racing fulltime in the Rolex Series. The other is Dalziel’s new teammate, Ian James (Epsom, England), who now lives in Phoenix, Arizona. James is driving with Bill Lester (Atlanta, Georgia) in the team’s No. 7 Starworks Motorsport BMW Riley. James, who has 74 career starts in the Rolex Series dating back to 2000, said he is excited to return to racing in a Daytona Prototype.
“I feel great to be back working with Peter Baron,” said James, who has won in GRAND-AM’s street stock racing division, the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge, in 2007. “I last drove for Peter in 2006 and in my first race with him we scored a podium finish. This year I look forward to more of the same.
“I am pleased to co-drive with Bill Lester and join Starworks Motorsport,” James continued. “With the engineering department headed by (Riley Technologies’) Bill Riley and the talented group of individuals the team has, we should be contenders at every race. With Ryan, Mike, Bill and myself, Peter has drivers who will push each other and with a common goal, make the cars as fast as possible and get Starworks Motorsport into the winners' circle. It’s exciting to head to Homestead for the first sprint race in the 2010 Rolex Series, there really is nothing like the rough and tumble of Daytona Prototype racing.”
While there are two U.K. drivers competing fulltime in Daytona Prototypes, three from the U.K. are running in the GT category. Leading the way is Robin Liddell (Newbury, England), who remains in England fulltime while driving the 12-race Rolex Series GT schedule with Stevenson Motorsports. Liddell led more laps – 143 – than any other driver in the GT portion of the Rolex 24. Liddell and co-drivers Andrew Davis and Jan Magnussen (Roskilde, Denmark), who now calls England home, finished fifth after clutch problems during the final third of the race.
Adam Christodoulou (Lichfield) recently signed with the Rolex 24 GT-winning team, SpeedSource, as part of the Mazda racing development ladder. Christodoulou, the 2009 Star Mazda Series titlist, joins co-driver John Edwards as series debutants. At 20 and 19, Christodoulou and Edwards are the youngest combined pair entered for this weekend’s race.
“After a fantastic two seasons racing in 2008 and 2009 winning two titles back to back in two different championships from around the world, I’m now being thrown my next challenge,” Christodoulou said. “I think it’s going to be great working with John, as I know we both want the same thing: to be fast, competitive and to win races. I don’t think I could have been partnered up with a better team and teammate.”
Luke Hines (Sedge Green, Essex) is the fifth driver entered for the Grand Prix of Miami. Signing with Miller Barrett Racing in the middle of February, Hines – making only his second Rolex Series start and first at Homestead-Miami Speedway – will co-drive with Bryce Miller the remainder of 2010 in the No. 48 IPC/Marquis Jet Porsche GT3.
“Obviously, I know the car but I am going into the race blind, not knowing the track itself,” Hines said. “All different tracks require different approaches. It’s going to be crucial for me to be there, walk ‘round the track, study the track, work with Bryce closely on data.
“I’m confident in the car,” Hines added. “The team has done a lot of work in the last few weeks since Daytona and I believe they’ve found time in the car. We’ll see when we get there how we are compared to the Mazda and the Pontiac. Hopefully, we’ll be faster! We’ve got the car as fast as we can go so far, but we’re working on a few little enhancements to find more time again.”
Leading the GT standings are Sylvain Tremblay, Jonathan Bomarito, David Haskell and Nick Ham (Yorkshire), who now lives in Colorado and won the pole position for the last Grand Prix of Miami last October.
The season also continues with former Daytona Prototype champions Borcheller, Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, Scott Pruett, Memo Rojas and Max Angelelli, and GT titlists Craig Stanton, Andy Lally, Kelly Collins, Paul Edwards and Leh Keen.
Practice and qualifying are scheduled for Friday, with the two-hour and 45-minute race scheduled for 5 p.m. local time.
