Van Der Zande Confirmed at Visit Florida

Photo: Jake Galstad/IMSA

As revealed by Sportscar365 last week, Renger van Der Zande will make the switch to Visit Florida Racing next year, having been signed alongside Marc Goossens in the team’s new Riley Mk. 30 Gibson LMP2 car.

The reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Prototype Challenge champion moves from Starworks Motorsport up to the Prototype class, after four seasons in the spec prototype ranks.

Van der Zande replaces Ryan Dalziel, who will be part of Tequila Patron ESM’s Ligier Nissan DPi effort next year.

“I cannot wait to see our new car soon. It’s just great to have the opportunity to race for overall victories and be right there for a new era with the DPi class,” van der Zande said.

“The competition is very strong and I am ready to do battle with my Visit Florida Racing team. Marc is a great guy. We raced against each other when I made my first outings in GT racing.

“We speak the same language in two ways – we both speak Dutch but also have a great understanding between us.

“It’s an advantage to have a guy like Marc alongside me who has been with the Visit Florida team for a year and has tons of racing experience.”

Goossens, meanwhile, returns to the Troy Flis-owned team for a second consecutive season.

“Continuity is very often a key to success and I’m feeling very positive about the new prototype,” he said. “It is a new platform for everybody, so everyone essentially starts from scratch.

“And of course it goes without saying that I am looking forward to driving a Riley-built car again.

“I’ve worked with Bill and Bob Riley for over 15 years and I know that they will supply us with a very competitive chassis.

“This combined with the global-spec Gibson engine should be a strong package when we start the season at Daytona.”

Flis added: “We’re all very excited about the 2017 season, and having Renger join our full-time driver line up.

“We have been watching him through the years and think he’ll be a great co-driver for Marc and just a great addition to our Visit Florida Racing team.”

The team’s endurance drivers have not yet been announced.

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