Another Top Five for Starworks Motorsport!
Starworks Motorsport’s Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest scored another top five finish last Sunday in the NJMP 250 in New Jersey. Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest started their first race together with the #8 Corsa Car Care Starworks Dinan-BMW Riley at Homestead, Florida last March and yesterday they celebrated their fifth top five finish of the season in only eight starts together. The two Starworks drivers have always finished in the top seven except on one occasion this season. This is a statement of exceptional reliability and ultimate performance from the Starworks Motorsport #8 team which is made up of two excellent drivers and a great crew and that has now became one of the top teams in the series.
After this ninth round of the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, Pruett and Rojas lead Ryan Dalziel by only 19 points (267-248) with three races remaining in the DP championship. It is still possible for Ryan Dalziel to catch the two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers to win his first Rolex Series driver championship.
Mike Forest qualified the #8 Starworks Motorsport Corsa Car Care machine 12th on Saturday. After an excellent first stint, Ryan Dalziel took over from Mike Forest and had to battle hard to go back to the top five. "It was a really difficult weekend for the #8 Corsa Car Care car,’ stated Dalziel after the event. “We struggled a little on set-up as neither I nor our engineer had been there before. We lost power steering early and had a differential issue towards the end but showed great race pace in the middle of the race. Fifth place is good points and we can still get this championship” declared Ryan.
Mike Forest was also optimistic after the race. “It was a tough day,” declared Mike Forest after the race. “We encountered our first setback Saturday morning when the practice session was partially wet, it didn't allow us to work on the set-up. We were in decent shape on Sunday until the 95 degree heat killed the power steering. It took all of my strength to keep it off the wall in turn 1, the steering wheel was incredibly heavy forcing me to nurse it back to the pits. The steering motor cooled enough to come back after that lap. The team showed a ton of fight to stay composed. Bill Riley made a great call to get our lap back. Ryan did an amazing job to get us back near the front. It was a hard day but not a total disaster as far as the championship is concerned. We'll be strong at the Glen in 3 weeks” continue the young Canadian.
With only three races remaining in the season, the Starworks Motorsport team is very motivated and there is no doubt that they will go to the next race at Watkins Glen International Raceway in three weeks with ambition and determination to score their first win.
The next action for the GRAND-AM Rolex Series will be the Crown Royal 200 on Saturday, August 7 at Watkins Glen International.