Era’s “Hero or Zero” Call Nets Second Consecutive LMP2 Win

Photo: Era Motorsport

Ryan Dalziel credited a “hero or zero” call made in the pits and a strong closing stint by Connor Zilisch that helped deliver LMP2 victory for Era Motorsport in Saturday’s Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring presented by Cadillac.

Dalziel, 17-year-old Zilisch and Bronze-rated driver Dwight Merriman scored their second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in as many races, after taking top class honors in January’s Rolex 24 at Daytona.

Having started tenth on the class grid, the No. 18 Oreca 07 Gibson had an up and down race after several early setbacks until the call was made to make an off-sequence stop that led to a fuel-savings run by Zilisch to the end.

“It was a weird day,” Dalziel said. “I felt like every time we kind of got to the front, we ended up in the back.

“I think when I got in the car, the plan was double [stint] me, double [stint] Connor at the end. I got in the car and we were in the lead.

“I think one of the GTPs went off and threw out some carbon, and in the space of one lap, we got overheating, then we got a puncture.

“That’s when we pitted off-sequence. I think it was only four or five laps after the restart. I want to say I thought that was it.

“Without a yellow, I knew we were going to be struggling to make time back.

“We still had the pace in the car. We definitely didn’t give up. We knew once the yellow came out, we did the driver change. We were already a little bit offset with the fuel time.

“Connor… just started saving a little bit of fuel. There was a whole conversation for a few minutes on the intercom, which is this call is going to be the hero or zero call for the team.

“We knew we had the potential of getting to the lead based on the fuel time. [But] how many times in racing do these things work out perfectly?

“Once we got the lead, you look at the list of drivers that are behind Connor on that restart. The talent and the guys with experience. The kid just kept his head cool and brought it home.”

Zilisch recalled: “I was in seventh when we were coming to the green on the restart about 45 minutes to go. I was the fourth car to come out of the seven in line.

“Thankfully I’d been saving enough fuel, when I came out, we were leading those four cars that came in. We jumped those three guys.

“I didn’t pass anybody on track at all the last hour-and-a-half. I passed one car, but then he passed my right back. Honestly, I did no passing. It was all strategy.

“I literally said on the radio when that second caution came out with 30 minutes to go or whatever, there is literally zero chance we’re in the lead right now.

“They’re like, ‘No, you’re the leader.’

“I was like, ‘You’ve got to be shi**** me. There is no way’.

“It was honestly unbelievable. It takes a team effort. Ryan and Dwight did a great job. We kept the car clean all day.

“Like Ryan said, we went to the back, came back to the front more than once or twice. [It was] a total team effort. [I’m] just so proud to be a part of this team.”

While it marked Dalziel’s second LMP2 class win at Sebring, 12 years after his third place overall finish in 2012, Mazda MX-5 Cup graduate and Trackhouse-contracted driver Zilisch earned his second IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship victory in as many career starts.

“It’s pretty unreal to get two wins in my first two WeatherTech starts,” he said. “I’d be curious to know if anyone else has ever done that!”

John Dagys

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