Ken
Gone but not forgotten
From Crash.net:
Dalziel makes ALMS debut
TUESDAY 5TH JULY 2005
Scotsman Ryan Dalziel helped steer Pacific Coast Motorsports to their highest overall finish in their rookie American Le Mans Series season at the ‘New England Grand Prix', a 2-hour 45-minute endurance sprint at Lime Rock Park in the United States.
The Toyota Atlantic star, together with team-mate Alex Figge, took the privately entered Menards-Yokohama Corvette C5-R to seventh overall, recording a fifth place GT1 finish in the process.
Racing before a sizeable Lime Rock audience on a very sunny Independence Day, American Figge maintained the teams fourth place qualifying position in the first of his double driving stint, holding station on the narrow, undulating 1.54-mile Lakeville course.
A full course caution, the first of four on the day, soon slowed the field to extract a stricken GT1 Dodge Viper after just 15 minutes of racing.
Approaching the half hour mark, the race restarted with Figge continuing to charge, pushing the ageing C5-R hard. Figge's progress was stymied however by locking up his tyres at 'Big Bend'.
Despite holding it together, the Corvette fell into the clutches of the ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7-R. The pair fought for position for some time before Borcheller forced his way past Figge to take fourth in class.
A slick pit stop by the team saw Dalziel take the wheel, but just fifteen minutes into his stint a heavy off by Ron Fellows in the Corvette Racing C6-R brought out the yellow flags for the second time.
Dalziel kept the C5-R in the top ten running order throughout his stint, posting lap times comparable with the Saleen S7-R and Maserati MC12 ahead in second and third respectively. Johnny O'Connell, who had taken over from Fellows in the hastily repaired Corvette, was soon charging through the field forcing Dalziel back into fifth, although the Scot continued to keep the fourth placed Saleen S7-R of Englishman Johnny Mowlem honest.
As the race headed into the final hour two additional full course cautions played into Dalziel and Figge's rivals pit strategies. The third caution period lasted ten minutes but almost as quickly as the field charged to the green flag another caution was signalled and the resulting lengthy delay allowed the Saleen to run all the way to the flag without refueling.
Figge resumed driving duties under the yellow and the California-based racer headed back on track to await the restart.
With almost 30 minutes passing under the fourth and final full course caution, to allow a clean-up operation from leaked gearbox oil, the sprint to the flag resumed with 15 minutes to go. Alex took the flag fifth in GT1 and seventh overall - a personal best for Pacific Coast Motorsports in only their fourth ALMS start.
Despite dropping a place from their original starting place, Dalziel was nonetheless pleased with his day's work. "Today was the closest we've been all season to some of the other GT1 runners and I think we were unlucky to lose out the way we did with the caution periods playing into our rivals fuel strategies. It was definitely a positive weekend with our pace increasing and more to come for the fifth round in a couple of weeks."
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
Dalziel makes ALMS debut
TUESDAY 5TH JULY 2005
American Lemans Series. 2005 driver's head shots. dalziel
Scotsman Ryan Dalziel helped steer Pacific Coast Motorsports to their highest overall finish in their rookie American Le Mans Series season at the ‘New England Grand Prix', a 2-hour 45-minute endurance sprint at Lime Rock Park in the United States.
The Toyota Atlantic star, together with team-mate Alex Figge, took the privately entered Menards-Yokohama Corvette C5-R to seventh overall, recording a fifth place GT1 finish in the process.
Racing before a sizeable Lime Rock audience on a very sunny Independence Day, American Figge maintained the teams fourth place qualifying position in the first of his double driving stint, holding station on the narrow, undulating 1.54-mile Lakeville course.
A full course caution, the first of four on the day, soon slowed the field to extract a stricken GT1 Dodge Viper after just 15 minutes of racing.
Approaching the half hour mark, the race restarted with Figge continuing to charge, pushing the ageing C5-R hard. Figge's progress was stymied however by locking up his tyres at 'Big Bend'.
Despite holding it together, the Corvette fell into the clutches of the ACEMCO Motorsports Saleen S7-R. The pair fought for position for some time before Borcheller forced his way past Figge to take fourth in class.
A slick pit stop by the team saw Dalziel take the wheel, but just fifteen minutes into his stint a heavy off by Ron Fellows in the Corvette Racing C6-R brought out the yellow flags for the second time.
Dalziel kept the C5-R in the top ten running order throughout his stint, posting lap times comparable with the Saleen S7-R and Maserati MC12 ahead in second and third respectively. Johnny O'Connell, who had taken over from Fellows in the hastily repaired Corvette, was soon charging through the field forcing Dalziel back into fifth, although the Scot continued to keep the fourth placed Saleen S7-R of Englishman Johnny Mowlem honest.
As the race headed into the final hour two additional full course cautions played into Dalziel and Figge's rivals pit strategies. The third caution period lasted ten minutes but almost as quickly as the field charged to the green flag another caution was signalled and the resulting lengthy delay allowed the Saleen to run all the way to the flag without refueling.
Figge resumed driving duties under the yellow and the California-based racer headed back on track to await the restart.
With almost 30 minutes passing under the fourth and final full course caution, to allow a clean-up operation from leaked gearbox oil, the sprint to the flag resumed with 15 minutes to go. Alex took the flag fifth in GT1 and seventh overall - a personal best for Pacific Coast Motorsports in only their fourth ALMS start.
Despite dropping a place from their original starting place, Dalziel was nonetheless pleased with his day's work. "Today was the closest we've been all season to some of the other GT1 runners and I think we were unlucky to lose out the way we did with the caution periods playing into our rivals fuel strategies. It was definitely a positive weekend with our pace increasing and more to come for the fifth round in a couple of weeks."
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
