LIDDELL SECOND IN GT
British drivers Ryan Dalziel (Glasgow) and Robin Liddell (Newbury) were among the top finishers in their classes of the Grand Prix of Miami. The 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series second round of the season took place at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida.
Dalziel finished fifth overall in his Daytona Prototype, driving for the new Starworks Motorsports team. Liddell took second in his GT car – the No. 57 Stevenson Automotive Group/Vin Solutions Chevrolet Camaro.
Dalziel’s co-driver, Canadian Mike Forest, started the two-hour, 45-minute race from the 10th position. Dalziel led one lap late before pitting, and he and Forest were the last drivers on the lead lap. Their No. 8 Corsa Car Care Products/Xtreme Indoor Karting BMW Riley finished 14.533 seconds behind the race winners – U.S. born Scott Pruett and Mexican driver Memo Rojas.
“I am very happy for the team to finish 5th in my first race with Starworks Motorsport,” Dalziel said. “We had a certain fourth place but the yellow killed it at the end.”
His teammate Ian James from Epsom, UK finished 12th in the No. 7 IPO Solutions/Xtreme Indoor Karting BMW Riley with co-driver, U.S. born Bill Lester. The pair finished three laps off the pace in the 129-lap race, losing two of those due to serving penalties after pit road infractions.
“We had a good car at the beginning of the race, then,in the second pit stop, I left with the hose still connected to the car!” said James, who now lives in Phoenix. “ I was told to go, but we got a penalty and lost our ninth place, then I got another penalty and a drive through. At the end, we had a problem with the steering rack and lost more ground. We'll do better next time.”
Liddell did not lead in GT but patiently worked his way through traffic. With only one caution period, a race record, during the event, it was difficult for the native Scotsman to catch class winners and U.S. born drivers Jeff Segal and Emil Assentato. However, the yellow catapulted him and Davis to second in the class.
“At the end of the race, you couldn't see much” said Liddell. “The infield was very dark. On the new Camaro, the hood is very high and hides the lights so it was like driving with no lights, so I struggled with visibility. The tire wear was very high for us. I knew with 10 minutes to go the restart would be tough."
Rookie Adam Christodoulou from Lichfield in Staffs, had a stint in the race in the SpeedSource/Newman Wachs Racing sister car to the race winning Mazda RX-8 of Segal and Assentato. Christodoulou and co-driver Jon Edwards, both single-seater young stars, had a safe debut in their first Rolex Series race en route to ninth.
Gearbox problems midway through the race sidelined Luke Hines from Essex, who was making his second career Rolex Series start. Hines started eighth in the 19-car GT field and shared the No. 48 Marquis Jet/IPC Porsche GT3 with American Bryce Miller.
“It’s the first time I’ve started a race in GRAND-AM, a good experience and a monkey off my back,” Hines said. “Not knowing the characteristics of the other competitors, I felt pretty good [to do so well]. We worked really hard, but we just couldn’t hold onto the lead in pack.”
All five British drivers will be back in Rolex Series action April 10 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Alabama.
Additionally, GRAND-AM’s Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge was on hand at Homestead-Miami, with U.K. born Andy Pilgrim from London finishing ninth in class driving a BMW M3 with American Eric Curran and Fall-Line Motorsports.
