Dalziel wins Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in Daytona Prototype and lies second in the Rolex Championship…
in GT, rookie Adam Christodoulou wins at Lime Rock and Ham wins at Daytona
Just halfway through the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, presented by Crown Royal Cask No. 16, UK drivers have enjoyed some real success. After six races, three U.K. drivers have won races and one holds second place in the overall championship.
Ryan Dalziel became the second Scot in three years, following Dario Franchitti in 2008, to win the prestigious Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona, the opening round of the 12-race Rolex Series circuit. Dalziel shared with 2010 Le Mans 24 Hour race winner Mike Rockenfeller in driving their BMW/Riley Daytona Prototype.
Dalziel is currently second in the overall championship, just 18 points behind leaders Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas. He has not finished outside the top 10 in any of his five races, since winning Daytona, with the Miami-based Starworks No. 8 Corsa Car Care BMW/Riley
Justin Wilson was leading the 24 Hours of Daytona when a pit stop in the final three hours of the race cost him the win, settling for second. He took the podium with another British driver, Richard Westbrook, who finished third with Supercar Life Racing.
Other Brits, alongside Franchitti, in the 24 Hours of Daytona Prototypes were Darren Manning, Ian James, and Radical Champion Derek Johnston, the inaugural Sunoco Daytona Challenge winner. In the GT class, Yorkshireman Nick Ham, won the Rolex 24 with SpeedSource No. 70 Castrol Syntec Mazda RX-8.
Long time Rolex Series competitor, another Scot Robin Liddell, has experienced an up-and-down season. He led a race-high 143 laps in the Rolex 24, only to experience clutch problems in the Chevrolet Camaro, and drove from Scotland to Madrid to bypass the Icelandic volcano ash to get to the next race! Liddell sits fifth in points having top-10 finishes in five of six races.
2009 Star Mazda champion, Adam Christodoulou, was brought by Mazda to the top-level of US sports car racing as they seek their first manufacturer title in the Rolex Series. He tackled the short Lime Rock Park race in his Mazda RX-8 in May and won, in just his fifth Rolex Series race.
Luke Hines, son of Zipkart’s Martin Hines, debuted in the Rolex 24 and has competed in three of six races so far this season with a best finish of 15th at Watkins Glen International in his Porsche GT3.
Other U.K. drivers who have competed in the 2010 Rolex Series include Andy Pilgrim, Dan Watkins, Johnny Mowlem and Richard Dean.
The next race in the Rolex Sports Car Series will be the EMCO Gears Classic on Saturday, June 19, at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course.
