After a promising time at the three day 'Roar Before the 24' test Ryan Dalziel begins the festivities of the 49th running of the Rolex 24 at Daytona looking forward to the chance to take back-to-back wins in the race and claim his place in the history of the event.
After winning last year with Action Express Racing 28-year-old Dalziel will be running the 2011 race with the Fort Lauderdale based Starworks Motorsport team with whom he contested the remainder of last season. Joining him the no.8 Ford powered Riley are Tomas Enge, Colin Braun, Jim Lowe and Mike Forest – the last of that quartet also Dalziel's regular teammate through 2010.
Dalziel got his attempt at a second win off to the best possible start at the three day test earlier this month, where he broke the unofficial lap record around the road course of Daytona International Speedway with a time of 1:39.793
“I can’t wait for this weekend to get started,” Dalziel says. “After an amazing test a couple of weeks ago, we as a team, are extremely confident heading into the race. We know the car is fast and that we’ve got a great crew. Our combination of a Riley chassis together with Ford power check all the right boxes to help us win this thing. The entire crew from Peter Baron (Team Owner) and Bill Riley (Race Engineer), to the drivers, we all know how to be successful at this race and we’re desperate to get out there and chase victory.”
He continues; “it’s amazing to think that Starworks Motorsport is barely a year old when you consider all we’ve accomplished. The team’s now heading to Daytona with two solid entries and I know everyone believes the No. 8 car can win. I can honestly say I’m heading into this race with more confidence than any previous season. I’m certainly not ready to hand over my crown and I’m hoping to become the first Scotsman to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona twice.”
On track action at Daytona begins on Thursday (January 27) with qualifying at 3:45pm local time. The race itself begins at 3:30pm on Saturday (January 29)
