Connect with us

WeatherTech Championship

Valiante Rejoins Spirit of Daytona for 2014

Sprit of Daytona Racing lineup set for 2014 TUDOR Championship…

Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM

Photo: Brian Cleary/GRAND-AM

Spirit of Daytona Racing has announced that Michael Valiante will rejoin the Florida-baed team for the 2014 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship season.

The 33-year-old Canadian is expected to pair with GM factory driver Richard Westbrook for the entire 11-round championship. Valiante takes the seat of Ricky Taylor, who moved back to his father’s Wayne Taylor Racing operation for next year.

Valiante is no stranger to the Troy Flis-led squad, having made a handful of starts with Westbrook in 2012, which included a win at Mid-Ohio. He competed in a partial season with 8Star Motorsports last year, teamed with Stephane Sarrazin and team owner Enzo Potolicchio.

“Michael did a great job for us in 2012, and we are really excited for him to race with us full-time next season,” Flis said. “I think having him back, as well as with some of the changes we are looking at for our program, we should not only come out of the box much stronger, but we will hopefully be able to develop a championship-contending campaign with our VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP.

“New tracks, new rules, new races–there are a ton of new challenges for us to adjust to this year and we want to be in a position to maximize our opportunity.”

Valiante will get his first chance to get back behind the wheel of the VisitFlorida.com-sponsored Corvette DP at next month’s pre-season tests at Sebring and Daytona.

“Testing with our Corvette DP is just a couple of weeks away now, and there is a lot of work to be done,” Valiante said. “So it is a good feeling to have our plans in place, and to be able to now focus on what we need to do to be ready to go at Daytona in January.”

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John

1 Comment
Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

More in WeatherTech Championship