“I inherited the lead from Colin after his great starting stint, ” Papis said. “The car was a little loose for me on entry to the corners and I couldn’t hold the speed. The 10 car was really fast and I had to let him go. It was a good performance by the team and it turned out to be a good points day for us. ”
The No. 11 SAMAX Pontiac Riley continues to hover toward the top of DP points and race finish standings. This week the car was driven by Jean-Francois Dumoulin and Ryan Dalziel, both new to the car and team. Dumoulin started the car from his ninth place qualifying position and ran strong in the top ten during his stint. Dalziel took over and proceeded to move the Pontiac powered Riley to the front and had the car running in third on the start of the last lap. The team had experienced radio trouble all race and Dalziel did not hear the crew tell him to switch the fuel setting to reserve and the motor stumbled allowing a competitor by and relegating the team to fourth place.
“I was waiting for the stumble on the fuel and it came at exactly the wrong time, ” Dalziel said. “We had radio problems and I did not hear the team tell me to go to reserve. We had a strong car, especially down the straight. I am excited for the finish as well as disappointed. We had a podium spot with less than a lap to go. But the strategy was right on and the team did a great job to get us in that position today. ”
Jim Matthews and Marc Goosens qualified their Riley-Matthews Motorsport Pontiac Riley in 13th place. Mathews started the car and held position before turning over to Goosens. The Belgian took the fight to the front runners and brought an ill handling car home in seventh.
“We were fighting oversteer off of the corner all race, ” Goosens said. “The team made a great call to make a wing adjustment during the yellow, costing us a little time on pit road, but it paid off on the track. The car was better in practice, but maybe the longer stints caused it to go away more that we anticipated. We had good power down the straight, but getting off the turn hurt us today, but a top ten finish is a good result. ”
Round five of the Grand-Am series will take place May 18 – 20 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The GT cars will race on May 19 with DP on May 20.
Grand-Am Top Ten VIR Daytona Prototype Finishers:
1. Taylor, Angelelli, Magnussen - Pontiac Riley
2. Braun, Papis - Pontiac Riley
3. Law, Donohue - Porsche Riley
4. Dumoulin, Dalziel - Pontiac Riley
5. Fogarty, Gurney - Pontiac Riley
6. Frisselle, James - Lexus Riley
7. Goosens, Matthews - Pontiac Riley
8. Pruett, Rojas - Lexus Riley
9. Long, Bergmeister - Porsche Crawford
10. Patterson, Negri - Lexus Riley
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