Photo by: Ted Rossino
Riley Technologies Wins Eighth Consecutive GRAND-AM Championship
1-2-3 on Mid-Ohio podium as Starworks breaks through for maiden win
Mooresville, NC (19 September 2011)—Riley Technologies closed the 2011 GRAND-AM season out in winning fashion at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this weekend, scoring a 1-2-3 finish in Daytona Prototypes as Starworks Motorsport broke through for its first-ever Rolex Series win. Ryan Dalziel and Enzo Potolicchio teamed in the No.8 Ford-powered Riley to cross the line just .416 seconds ahead of the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates BMW-Riley.
The weekend opened up with qualifying on Friday as the No. 99 GAINSCO Riley set a new track record time of 1:16.504 seconds on the 2.258-mile natural terrain circuit. Jon Fogarty and Alex Gurney teamed in the No. 99 to finish third, completing the Riley sweep of the Daytona Prototype podium.
The runner-up race finish for the Ganassi duo put an exclamation point on a tremendous season for the defending series champions, who only needed to run 30 minutes of the EMCO Gears Classic event to secure both Team and Driver Championships for the second year in a row. Pruett and Rojas opened the year with a victory in the Rolex 24 At Daytona, and went on to win five races in 2011.
The results delivered the GRAND-AM Manufacturers Championship to Riley Technologies for the eighth consecutive season. The Riley Technologies Daytona Prototype design first debuted in the 2004 Rolex 24 At Daytona, winning the pole position and going on to secure the championship in its first season of competition. A 2008 update of the venerable championship-winning design once again saw Riley on pole for its debut race, the Rolex 24 At Daytona. The Mid-Ohio victory is the 84th GRAND-AM win for Riley Technologies in Daytona Prototype competition.
“It is amazing to look at the statistics and see everything that our customers have accomplished,” said Riley Technologies VP Bill Riley. “The Rolex Series is extremely competitive, and I am proud of the effort and support that we as a company put into every race weekend. Congratulations to Starworks on winning the final race of the year, and to Ganassi for another incredible championship season. We are hard at work already to be ready for the 50th running of the Rolex 24 At Daytona. Riley designs have enjoyed a lot of success in that event through the years, and we fully intend to extend that history again next January.”
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