VisitFlorida.com Racing has announced Ryan Dalziel and Marc Goossens will drive their No. 90 Corvette DP in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech United SportsCar Championship, replacing former pilots Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante.
Both Dalziel and Goossens bring a heft of knowledge and experience to the team. Goossens has over 80 starts in GRAND-AM, ALMS, and IMSA and boasts 12 starts in the 24 Hours of LeMans and five wins in the 24 Hours of Zolder. Additionally, Dalziel has wins in the Rolex 24 at Daytona, 24 Hours of Le Mans, and Sebring 12 Hours and over 120 starts across GRAND-AM, ALMS, and IMSA.
“We have worked to build this team from season to season and I’m very excited about having Marc and Ryan with us next year in the Visit Florida car,” said VisitFlorida.com team owner Troy Flis. “They’ve worked together before, are very fast, and I think will help us take this program further and into the future as we look ahead. I’m proud of what we accomplished last season, but we have our sights set on being stronger next year.”
Michael Valiante and Richard Westbrook, who piloted the No. 90 Corvette DP in 2015 and took a runner-up finish in the championship will no longer be with VisitFlorida.com Racing. Westbrook is rumored to have left to pursue a contract with Chip Ganassi Racing to race the Ford GT in GTLM, while Valiante simply wasn’t retained.
Despite Westbrook and Valiante being out of the picture, Dalziel and Goossens are confident they can keep the the team’s momentum rolling in 2016 before the move to DPi regulations in 2017 puts the Corvette DP in retirement.
“This is very exciting for me to be not only returning to Prototypes, but to be doing so with a team that has so much momentum like Visit Florida.com Racing,” said Goossens.
“I’ve known Troy (Flis) for a long time and have seen first-hand how his team has stepped up every year and built on the season before. That is exactly what we hope to do in 2016 and working with Marc (Goossens) again is something that I’m also very much looking forward to,” added Dalziel.
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