Grand-Am and ALMS veteran Michael Valiante will co-drive the Spirit of Daytona Racing Coyote-Corvette Daytona Prototype when regular driver Antonio Garcia has schedule conflicts, according to Grand-Am.com.
Valiante will drive with Richard Westbrook at Rolex Sports car Series events at New Jersey, Detroit, Mid-Ohio, and Montreal
Valiante drove with SunTrust/Wayne Taylor Racing in 2008 and Michael Shank Racing in 2009–2011, and has driven the JDX GTC Porsche in the American Le Mans Series this season, scoring numerous poles, podiums and fastest laps.
“I’ve had my eye on Valiante for a while now. When we began our search for drivers at the beginning of the season Michael’s name always came up,” said Spirit of Daytona team owner Troy Flis on Grand-Am.com. “I’m excited that we have an opportunity to work together now and feel confident that Michael will be a great fit with our team and will love racing in our Corvette DP.”
“I’m really looking forward to joining Spirit of Daytona for these events. I have had the opportunity to do a little testing with SDR and feel very comfortable with the new Corvette DP and with the team,” added Valiante. “They are fresh off a win at Barber and have a lot of momentum. It’s a very exciting time to be joining the Spirit of Daytona team and Grand Am.
Antonio Garcia, Richard Westbrook’s regular co-driver at SDR, also drives for the ALMS Corvette Racing team. He will be at ALMS events in Laguna Seca while Grand Am is at New Jersey and Road America while Grand Am races at Montreal. Garcia will drive all other Grand Am Rolex races in 2012 including this weekend’s Grand Prix of Miami.
