Watkins Glen II: Starworks Motorsport preview

STARWORKS MOTORSPORT BACK AT WATKINS GLEN!

Australian James Davison returns to Starworks Motorsport

Starworks Motorsport's drivers just spent three weeks thinking that this coming Saturday's Crown Royal 200 at The Glen, tenth round of the 2010 GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series, might be the race where they score their biggest success ever. For this short course race at Watkins Glen International Raceway, the #7 Flex-Box Dinan-BMW Riley will be driven by Bill Lester and James Davison and the #8 Corsa Car Care Dinan-BMW Riley DP by Ryan Dalziel and Mike Forest.

If he wants to keep a chance to win the championship, Ryan Dalziel, co-driver of the #8 Starworks Motorsport Dinan-BMW Riley must finish on the podium and ultimately ahead of the #01 car. Before Saturday's race Pruett and Rojas lead Ryan Dalziel by only 19 points (267-248) with three races remaining in the DP championship. Ryan Dalziel can still catch the two Chip Ganassi Racing drivers to win his first Rolex Series driver championship.

For his teammate, young Canadian Mike Forest, who is racing in his full Rolex Series DP season, the outcome of Saturday evening's race is the same. He and Dalziel must not have any problem and do everything they can to finish ahead of their direct competitors so Forest can keep his 5th place in the 2010 Rolex Series driver point standings after this tenth round.

The team, led by team owner Peter Baron, has worked really hard during the last three weeks to make sure their two race cars are at their peak performance level for the Crown Royal 200.

A great sign for the next two races after the Glen, GRAND-AM recently decided that the Dinan-BMW-powered DPs will have a weight break for the final two races of 2010 after a 75-pound penalty was imposed following Scott Pruett and Memo Rojas' victory at Mid-Ohio. In addition to the #01 TELMEX BMW/Riley, also affected were the two Starworks Motorsport entries, the #7 Flex-Box and the #8 Corsa Car Care BMW/Rileys. Beginning with the Montreal 200 on Aug. 28, BMW-powered DPs will be restored to their original weight of 2,275 pounds. The engines were found to be in violation of DP Regulations 4-1.1 Engine Eligibility (components and performance levels that must be strictly adhered to), after Mid-Ohio. Since then, changes were made, the engines were retested and found to be compliant, although the revised engines will not be available in time for the Crown Royal 200 at Watkins Glen.

Ryan Dalziel is one of the 2010 revelations of the 2010 Rolex Series season. Winner of the Rolex 24 At Daytona last January, Ryan moved to Starworks for the second race of the season and since then, he never stopped working with the team on getting the best car and when at the wheel, trying to win his first Rolex Series championship with Starworks. With three races remaining, Ryan believes in his chances of winning the title and knows that Saturday might be the most important race of the year for him and his teammate Forest."I love Watkins Glen and I can't wait to go back and run the short course," announced Ryan Dalziel. "Starworks Motorsport really needs a win if we have any hopes of stopping the Chip Ganassi racing team and their drivers winning the championship. We are not going to give up without a fight" added Dalziel.

Sharing the driving duty all season with Ryan Dalziel, has been a real treat for Mike Forest. Mike has been experiencing some of his best moments of his young career this year with Starworks Motorsport and every time he takes the wheel of the #8 Corsa Car Care Dinan-BMW Riley DP machine he shows to the racing world that he is one of the top endurance drivers of his generation. Three races before the end of the championship the Canadian remains 5th in the standings and does not want to give up that position any time soon. "I am very much looking forward to Watkins Glen," commented Mike Forest. "After the extra weekend off it seems like a long time since the New Jersey event. I am excited because I have a feeling that Ryan and I will be strong at the Glen" added Forest.

Bill Lester finished 5th last year driving with Ran Dalziel at the 2009 Crown Royal 200. The former NASCAR veteran driver knows what it takes to finish on top and with his new Watkins Glen teammate James Davison, Lester is extremely motivated to score that top result he is looking for since Daytona. "The Glen race on the NASCAR short course is an equally short race," announced Bill Lester. "It's almost over before it starts being that it's time limited to 2 hours. So we'll need to be spot on from the drop of the green flag. While I'm confident in the preparation of the Starworks team it will be imperative that both the drivers and the crew be mistake free to ensure a good result since there is no time in this race to recover. I'm pleased that James Davison joins us this weekend as my co-driver in the #7 car after his impressive run in the #8 car during the Six Hour at The Glen. And I'm especially keen on achieving a good result in front of my NASCAR friends and fans" said Lester.

James Davison will rejoin Starworks Motorsport this week for the Glen event. The Aussie driver co-drove the #8 Corsa-Car Care machine at the Six Hours of the Glen earlier this year and finished 7th with Dalziel and Forest. For this race Davison will drive the #7 Flex-Box with Bill Lester. "I am delighted to be rejoining Starworks Motorsport for the Crown Royal 200," announced James Davison. "My debut with the team was highly successful, which I intend to build on. I got to know Bill Lester when I was driving the #8 car with Mike, and Ryan, he is a great guy. I look forward to partnering with him and securing a strong finish" said Davison.

For the first time this season, a BMW Performance parts-equipped 135i and X6 will pace the field during Saturday's GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series Crown Royal 200 at The Glen. BMW leads the Daytona Prototype Manufacturer Points, having won six of the nine races to date and scored three podium finishes with Starworks Motorsport and the #8 Dinan-BMW Riley DP alone.

-source: starworks motorsport