Visit Florida Racing has confirmed the purchase of a Riley chassis for the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship.
The Spirit of Daytona-run outfit will run the Riley Mk.XXX in a full-season programme, starting with the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January.
The Riley/Multimatic-designed car will be powered by the spec 4.2 litre V6 engine built by Gibson.
Visit Florida Racing previously ran a Corvette DP in the IMSA championship, notching up three race wins since the Grand Am/ALMS merger in 2014.
This season the team scored two podiums, including third place at the Rolex 24, while driver Marc Goossens finished fifth in the championship.
“I’m really happy to have these big elements of our program finalised,” said team owner Troy Flis.
“We did our homework about all the options, and we are very excited to be going this direction.”
“Bill and Bob Riley have an incredible record of success, and the partnership they’ve established with Multimatic for this project only adds to what they are capable of.”
“Having the Gibson and the WEC bodywork means that we’ve got a lot of options as this class comes to fruition and starts to develop. This is an exciting time for everyone in IMSA, and we are very happy to be this much closer to the 2017 Rolex 24 at Daytona.”
Driver announcements for Visit Florida Racing’s 2017 campaign will be announced in due course, although Goossens and Prototype Challenge champion Renger van der Zande have been rumoured for the drive (original article at Sportscar365.com).
The 2017 IMSA WeatherTech Sportscar Championship will get underway at the pre-season Daytona test on January 6-8.
