Visit Florida Racing Finishes 3rd in the Tequila Patron Sports Car Showcase
- plugged2racing
- Apr 19, 2015
- 2 min read
The NO. 90 VISITFLORIDA.COM Chevrolet Corvette Daytona Prototype is becoming a regular on the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship podium, the team scored their third consecutive podium finish of the 2015 campaign in the Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase on Saturday afternoon.
The finish was the third consecutive, third-place finish for the Daytona Beach based team and they are now the only prototype team to visit the podium in each of the series first three events. For team owner Troy Flis, the consistency is exactly what his team needs to contend for the prototype championship in 2015.
"It's what we need to do, that's what our goal was," said Flis about the three consecutive podium finishes to start the year. "It's not our day (for a win) yet. We rolled off the truck pretty well with the Visit Florida car, but we just didn't have the raw speed that we needed to fight for a win. I'm happy with our weekend. That's what we need to do to win a championship, just keep finishing on the podium and be consistent."
A brilliant move by driver Michael Valiante on the opening lap of the race to secure the third position from defending series champion Christian Fittipaldi helped setup a run to the checkers for teammate Richard Westbrook.
The pass would prove to be critical as the race ran for the 100-minute duration without a full course caution and minimal passing on the highly technical Long Beach street circuit.
"Michael did a great first stint and gave me the car in a nice, easy position," said Westbrook. "I didn't feel a lot of pressure as we weren't in a position to attack the front two cars, but we had a comfortable gap to fourth place."
"It's great to have another podium," said Michael Valiante. "We started fourth, and it was great to move up to third. We still have some work to do to find some pace to challenge for the championship, but it was a great finish nonetheless."
The finish unofficially moves the VISITFLORIDA.COM Corvette DP to second in the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship trailing the Action Express Racing NO. 5 Corvette DP by only three points.
The TUDOR Championship moves to Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix, May 2-3. Visit Florida Racing will look to build upon the early season success as they continue their march toward a first prototype championship.
Contact:
Kyle Zimmerman
KZimmerman@hi-revracing.com
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