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From Crash.net:
Dalziel, Figge secure best finish for PCM
TUESDAY 24TH MAY 2005
american lemans series 2005. midohio sports car course. lexington, ohio. 20-22 may 2005. corvette of pacific motorsports
Alex Figge and Ryan Dalziel's third American Le Mans Series outing with Pacific Coast Motorsports resulted in a fourth place GT1 class finish today at Mid-Ohio.
Despite just missing the class podium, fourth place was the highest finish of the year for Dalziel, former Toyota Atlantic rival Figge, and the #5 Menards-Yokohama Corvette C5-R.
Opting for a hard compound tyre in qualifying proved to be the wrong decision, as Dalziel qualified a disappointing fifth in class and 13th overall. Choosing not to incur a start penalty by switching tyres prior to the race, PCM instead opted to pit as soon as a suitable opportunity presented itself on track.
With sunny skies above, Dalziel started the race and quickly found himself embroiled in the action fending off the advances of the #35 Maserati MC12 piloted by Fabrizio de Simone. The Italian passed the Corvette early on, but was then penalised for contact and forced to serve a stop-go penalty. Despite reclaiming his position, Dalziel remained vulnerable until a full course caution to remove debris from the track allowed PCM the window of opportunity it was looking for to pit and change tyres.
When the race resumed, Dalziel was immediately more competitive thanks to the four new Yokohamas underneath him and, setting lap times comparable to the Saleen S7R which was sitting third in class, he was able to push harder as he battled once again with the ever present Maserati.
The second full course caution of the day fell at the halfway stage, after Frank Biela's P1 class Audi punted de Simone's Maserati into the gravel at turn eleven. With Dalziel's track rival beached, the Scot darted into the pits from fourth to hand over to Figge. The timing of the swap-stop under the yellow proved to be fortuitous as damage to Dalziel's left rear tyre was discovered after the PCM crew strapped on a new set of Yokohamas for Figge's second half charge.
The American duly kept out of trouble, skilfully executing passes on slower GT2 cars following the safety car period while maintaining the team's fourth place class position all the way to the chequered flag as rain threatened. Thanks to a couple of late P2 class retirements, Figge took the finish in eighth overall, recording both the team's best GT1 result and highest placing from the first three ALMS starts.
“Fourth place is a good result this weekend," Dalziel reflected, "The team did a great job and I was really pleased with the performance of the new set of Yokohamas in the race. Obviously, it was important to get the new tyres on as soon as possible after the race started and, thankfully, the first full course caution came fairly early on.
"The racing was pretty good out there today, and Alex and I were able to keep the car out of trouble, despite the Maserati driving into the side of me. As a result, we have our best finish to-date.”
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Dalziel, Figge secure best finish for PCM
TUESDAY 24TH MAY 2005
american lemans series 2005. midohio sports car course. lexington, ohio. 20-22 may 2005. corvette of pacific motorsports
Alex Figge and Ryan Dalziel's third American Le Mans Series outing with Pacific Coast Motorsports resulted in a fourth place GT1 class finish today at Mid-Ohio.
Despite just missing the class podium, fourth place was the highest finish of the year for Dalziel, former Toyota Atlantic rival Figge, and the #5 Menards-Yokohama Corvette C5-R.
Opting for a hard compound tyre in qualifying proved to be the wrong decision, as Dalziel qualified a disappointing fifth in class and 13th overall. Choosing not to incur a start penalty by switching tyres prior to the race, PCM instead opted to pit as soon as a suitable opportunity presented itself on track.
With sunny skies above, Dalziel started the race and quickly found himself embroiled in the action fending off the advances of the #35 Maserati MC12 piloted by Fabrizio de Simone. The Italian passed the Corvette early on, but was then penalised for contact and forced to serve a stop-go penalty. Despite reclaiming his position, Dalziel remained vulnerable until a full course caution to remove debris from the track allowed PCM the window of opportunity it was looking for to pit and change tyres.
When the race resumed, Dalziel was immediately more competitive thanks to the four new Yokohamas underneath him and, setting lap times comparable to the Saleen S7R which was sitting third in class, he was able to push harder as he battled once again with the ever present Maserati.
The second full course caution of the day fell at the halfway stage, after Frank Biela's P1 class Audi punted de Simone's Maserati into the gravel at turn eleven. With Dalziel's track rival beached, the Scot darted into the pits from fourth to hand over to Figge. The timing of the swap-stop under the yellow proved to be fortuitous as damage to Dalziel's left rear tyre was discovered after the PCM crew strapped on a new set of Yokohamas for Figge's second half charge.
The American duly kept out of trouble, skilfully executing passes on slower GT2 cars following the safety car period while maintaining the team's fourth place class position all the way to the chequered flag as rain threatened. Thanks to a couple of late P2 class retirements, Figge took the finish in eighth overall, recording both the team's best GT1 result and highest placing from the first three ALMS starts.
“Fourth place is a good result this weekend," Dalziel reflected, "The team did a great job and I was really pleased with the performance of the new set of Yokohamas in the race. Obviously, it was important to get the new tyres on as soon as possible after the race started and, thankfully, the first full course caution came fairly early on.
"The racing was pretty good out there today, and Alex and I were able to keep the car out of trouble, despite the Maserati driving into the side of me. As a result, we have our best finish to-date.”
See all the best motorsport from the comfort of the best value hospitality in the business with Club Crash
Click here to go to Club Crash
