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GRAND-AM
GRAND-AM: Dalziel Keeps Starworks’ Momentum Moving in Montreal
Glen winner is fastest in firstpractice, driving his teammates’ car...
Ryan Dalziel topped the time charts in opening Rolex Series practice in Montreal. (Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM)
Bringing all the momentum that the team could claim in Canadian customs, the Watkins Glen round-winning Starworks squad led the time sheets in the opening practice for Saturday’s Montreal 200 (SPEED, Saturday: 7 PM ET/Tape Delay) as Ryan Dalziel posted a fast lap time of 1:34.424 seconds around the 2.75-mile Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Thursday’s opening practice session.
Dalziel posted the fast time not in the No. 8 Ford-Riley that he’ll share with Alex Tagliani on race day, but instead in the sister Starworks No. 2 entry that Alex Popow will start the race with before turning over to Tagliani and then racing to the airport to race at Road America on Saturday afternoon.
“We just wanted to make sure Tag got as many laps as possible in the No. 8 car so we decided rather than change too much on that car, we'll have me and Alex (Popow) run in the No. 2 car and work through our changes,” said Dalziel, who scored multiple podium finishes in Formula Atlantic competition at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“It seems like the cars are good. Every session it changes a lot and right now, on a dirty track, we're good and we'll see how we look tomorrow on a sticky track.”
While some teams might be looking for a more conservative choice as the championship battle intensifies over the final three rounds, Starworks has elected to go with the speed and experience that Tagliani is expected to bring in his Daytona Prototype debut.
“Obviously Tag's reputation kind of speaks for himself and we have full confidence in him jumping in the car,” said Dalziel. “He has a lot of knowledge here - way more starts than I've had here. Once he figures out the car - this is the first time he's sat in a DP - I'm sure he's going to be fine. We're good, we're in a good spot, the cars are good and we can give him as much time as we can.
“I think that's one of the reasons we didn't use a fourth driver this weekend was to make sure that we got him up to speed as much as possible with getting him as much time as we can in each car. It may be a little bit of a risky move, we could have went with some safer options but we felt that his speed outweighed any risk of his unfamiliarity with the car.
"We're here to win and we wanted the fastest guy we could find and that was Tag.”
The Rolex Series GT-class championship-leading entry of Jeff Segal led the GT runners in the session with a quick time of 1:40.725-seconds, with the 2011 Champions Brumos Racing close behind with a 1:40.863 flyer on the F1 circuit.
While the quick time was an encouraging start for Segal, he knows that the track will rapidly change as the weekend progresses as two different NASCAR (Nationwide and Canadian Tire presented by Mobil 1) series as well as the Canadian Touring Car Championship all lay down rubber on the circuit, which is only utilized twice a year.
“I think a lot of things are going to change this weekend,” said Segal, who won the 2007 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship before moving up to the Rolex Series. “Obviously the track has no rubber on it right now and it's getting better and better with every lap.
"The car feels great. We know we're strong in braking and there is a big emphasis on braking at this track. We're under no illusions that it's difficult to race with some of the higher top speed of some of the other cars, but we're looking to rebound from our disappointment last weekend and hopefully have a strong race.”
An opening lap incident saw the No. 69 suffer damage, but Segal and co-driver Emil Assentato rallied to finish seventh at the Glen. But with just a few days between events, there was some off-track rallying needed as well to ready the car in time for the Montreal 200.
“There's a lot of history for the brand here and we have a strong partner in Ferrari Quebec,” said Segal. “Obviously some of the damage that we had at Watkins Glen we were under the gun to fix and they were a big assist in doing that out of their facility.
"So Ferrari and Montreal and in particular with Gilles Villeneuve and this race track there are a lot of strong connections there. For me the first time I drove this track was in a Ferrari Challenge car so this just feels natural to me.”
RESULTS: Practice 1
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
Dalziel posted the fast time not in the No. 8 Ford-Riley that he’ll share with Alex Tagliani on race day, but instead in the sister Starworks No. 2 entry that Alex Popow will start the race with before turning over to Tagliani and then racing to the airport to race at Road America on Saturday afternoon.
“We just wanted to make sure Tag got as many laps as possible in the No. 8 car so we decided rather than change too much on that car, we'll have me and Alex (Popow) run in the No. 2 car and work through our changes,” said Dalziel, who scored multiple podium finishes in Formula Atlantic competition at Circuit Gilles Villeneuve.
“It seems like the cars are good. Every session it changes a lot and right now, on a dirty track, we're good and we'll see how we look tomorrow on a sticky track.”
While some teams might be looking for a more conservative choice as the championship battle intensifies over the final three rounds, Starworks has elected to go with the speed and experience that Tagliani is expected to bring in his Daytona Prototype debut.
“Obviously Tag's reputation kind of speaks for himself and we have full confidence in him jumping in the car,” said Dalziel. “He has a lot of knowledge here - way more starts than I've had here. Once he figures out the car - this is the first time he's sat in a DP - I'm sure he's going to be fine. We're good, we're in a good spot, the cars are good and we can give him as much time as we can.
“I think that's one of the reasons we didn't use a fourth driver this weekend was to make sure that we got him up to speed as much as possible with getting him as much time as we can in each car. It may be a little bit of a risky move, we could have went with some safer options but we felt that his speed outweighed any risk of his unfamiliarity with the car.
"We're here to win and we wanted the fastest guy we could find and that was Tag.”
The Rolex Series GT-class championship-leading entry of Jeff Segal led the GT runners in the session with a quick time of 1:40.725-seconds, with the 2011 Champions Brumos Racing close behind with a 1:40.863 flyer on the F1 circuit.
While the quick time was an encouraging start for Segal, he knows that the track will rapidly change as the weekend progresses as two different NASCAR (Nationwide and Canadian Tire presented by Mobil 1) series as well as the Canadian Touring Car Championship all lay down rubber on the circuit, which is only utilized twice a year.
“I think a lot of things are going to change this weekend,” said Segal, who won the 2007 Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Championship before moving up to the Rolex Series. “Obviously the track has no rubber on it right now and it's getting better and better with every lap.
"The car feels great. We know we're strong in braking and there is a big emphasis on braking at this track. We're under no illusions that it's difficult to race with some of the higher top speed of some of the other cars, but we're looking to rebound from our disappointment last weekend and hopefully have a strong race.”
An opening lap incident saw the No. 69 suffer damage, but Segal and co-driver Emil Assentato rallied to finish seventh at the Glen. But with just a few days between events, there was some off-track rallying needed as well to ready the car in time for the Montreal 200.
“There's a lot of history for the brand here and we have a strong partner in Ferrari Quebec,” said Segal. “Obviously some of the damage that we had at Watkins Glen we were under the gun to fix and they were a big assist in doing that out of their facility.
"So Ferrari and Montreal and in particular with Gilles Villeneuve and this race track there are a lot of strong connections there. For me the first time I drove this track was in a Ferrari Challenge car so this just feels natural to me.”
RESULTS: Practice 1
With experience at Skip Barber Racing School, Lime Rock Park, and several IndyCar teams, Matt Cleary has covered open wheel and sports car racing for over a decade. Working for Sunday Group Management, Cleary also provides strategic motorsports consulting for a range of clients in the sport. You can follow him on Twitter @sundaygroup
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