Wishaw’s Ryan Dalziel is aiming for back-to-back victories in the American Grand-Am Rolex Sportscar Championship when he fires up his Daytona Prototype this weekend for the latest round at Watkins Glen International Circuit, New York.
The 26-year-old Scot, who clinched his maiden win for the Samax Motorsport team at last month’s racer at Laguna Seca in California, is quietly confident he and his team-mate Henri Zogaib can win again.
“We’re heading into Watkins Glen with a ton of momentum following our last two races,” stated Dalziel, who finished just 0.5s behind the winner at Virginia International Raceway in April.
“The team has made some additional improvements to the car after stripping it back to basics before rebuilding it ahead of the Watkins race. I think we’re going to be strong again. I definitely think we’ve got a good shot at winning this race’”
And the Scot will tackle the six-hour race round the 3.4-mile circuit, contested by 19 Daytona Prototype cars and 26 GT runners, hoping to improve on his past record at the track.
“I twice drove a Porsche GT3 Cup car here in 2005 and each time we had technical problems which blighted the races,” Dalziel continued. “But things improved the following year when I twice finished in the top 10 in my rookie Daytona Prototype season.
“Last time out at Laguna, I think we probably turned a few heads with our performance and hopefully we’ll get a bit more respect on-track as a result of our success.
“I love the longer events like Daytona and Watkins Glen, I enjoy knowing I’m going to have a couple of stints in the car. Of course there’s always an element of luck required in endurance racing but we’ve got a good team strategy and we’re ready for the fight.”
JM