Wishaw’s Ryan Dalziel powered his Samax Motorsport team to their first win in the American Grand-Am Rolex Sports Car Championship when he piloted his BMW-Riley Daytona Prototype to victory at Laguna Seca in California at the weekend.
The 26-year-old from Lanarkshire, who finished on the podium in the last round at the Virginia International Raceway, took over from his team-mate Henri Zogaib midway through the 2-hour 45-minute race.
Dalziel took the lead on lap 76 on the demanding 2.2-mile mountainside circuit and held it comfortably before taking the chequered flag 12 laps later ahead of the Riley-Matthews Pontiac Riley driven by Belgian Marc Goosens.
“The last few laps were pretty emotional for me,” Dalziel admitted. “I managed to get passed Goosens for the lead but I was a little bit angry at myself later though when I made a mistake on the final restart and damaged one of the tyres.
“But there was no way I was going to give up a victory for myself, for Henri and for the Samax crew so I was going to end up in the tyre wall or in victory lane, so I’m stoked it turned out to be the second option.
“I’ve always have mixed emotions coming back to Laguna Seca. I lost the Atlantic Championship here in 2004, and since then I’ve had an up and down relationship with the track. It’s really special for me to come here and win.
“The car was phenomenal, and I don’t think we’ve lost a position in the pits all year! I can’t thank the team enough, it was a great job by everyone and richly deserved. Here’s to more!”
JM