Starworks Motorsport has lined up some serious stars for its two-car assault on the 2012 Grand Am Rolex 24 at Daytona.
Along with 2010 Rolex winner Ryan Dalziel and co-drivers Enzo Potolicchio and Alex Popow, two-time Le Mans 24 winner Allan McNish will be driving for Starworks, along with 2004 IndyCar champion Tony Kanaan and 2011 FIA GT1 world champion, Lucas Luhr. Kanaan will be joined fellow IndyCar drivers EJ Viso and Ryan Hunter-Reay.
Starworks had originally planned to enter a single car with four drivers, but plans changed—very much for the better.
“We felt, with our four current drivers, we had a line up strong enough to compete for a win—Alex, Enzo, Ryan and Lucas,” team owner Peter Baron told Grand-am.com.
“We weren’t going to add a fifth driver, but Allan is a friend and we heard he was interested. You just do not pass on the opportunity to put Allan McNish in the car. He is a legend. He brings much more than his speed—he elevates the other guys, gets the others even more motivated and it is great to work with someone with that kind of history in sports car racing.
“Plus Allan has won just about everything in sports car racing but the fabled Rolex Daytona.”
The second car was tougher to crew. Team owner Peter Barron wanted a second car, and he wanted Tony Kanaan.
“The other car was a bit last-minute,” Baron said. “We wanted to put together the most interesting car that would give us good visibility and bring interest to the series. We had worked with Ryan and EJ before and it worked out well. We wanted a third IndyCar driver. I have tried for three years to get Tony in the car and it has not worked out, so it is great to get it done.”
The new drivers will test their new rides at the Roar Before the 24, Jan. 6–8 at Daytona International Speedway, to prepare for the 50th Anniversary Rolex 24 at Daytona, Jan. 28–29.
One Car for Endurance Aces, One for IndyCar Stars
Starworks’s No. 8 car is packed with endurance-racing experience. Ryan Dalziel has six Rolex 24s under his belt, and a win in 2010, plus he finished second-in-class in the 2011 Sebring 12 Hours. Dalziel has raced in ALMS LMPC and GT cars as well as Grand Am GTs and prototypes. He started driving for Peter Barron in 2007, and will pilot both the Starworks Riley Ford in the Rolex DP class plus one of the Starworks’s Grand Am Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge Mustangs in 2012.
Teamed with Dalziel will be Le Mans superstars Allan McNish and Lucas Luhr.
Allan McNish won his first Le Mans 24 in 1998 in a Porsche GT1. He has been an Audi factory driver since 2000 in which time he scored his second Le Mans win and six more podiums, plus three Sebring 12-Hour wins and three American Le Mans Series championships.
The 42-year-old Scot has raced in six Rolex 24s, but has never won. He hopes to complete the endurance racing “Triple Crown”: Le Mans, Sebring, and the Rolex 24.
“I have known about the Starworks team for quite a while and I have known Peter Baron as a driver and also as a team owner,” McNish told Grand-am.com.
“With Ryan Dalziel...
