Triarsi Trucking in IMSA Ferrari for Parts After Testing Accident

Photo: John Dagys

Triarsi Competizione is bringing its second Ferrari 296 GT3 to New Orleans for parts following an accident in Thursday’s test session for this weekend’s Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS event at NOLA Motorsports Park.

Ryan Dalziel was hit by the No. 94 BimmerWorld BMW M4 GT3 of Bill Auberlen on the out lap of the the session, causing left-front wishbone and splitter damage, as well as a broken steering rack to the Pro-Am class Ferrari.

With a lack of on-site spare parts, the Florida-based team quickly leapt into action to transport its IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup chassis for the 650-mile journey in time for tomorrow’s official track action.

“It’s not ideal,” Dalziel told Sportscar365. “I guess one of the dealership trucks is bringing it. That was the quickest way for us to get parts here, was to throw the IMSA car on a trailer, get it here and get it changed.”

Dalziel said the truck left shortly after 2 p.m. ET and should arrive in Avondale, La. around midnight.

“It depends what time it gets here tonight,” he said. “It’s probably going to be midnight or the early hours of the day.

“We’re tearing things apart now. I don’t think it will be too far away for maybe the Bronze session but for sure we’ll be out by Practice 1 unless we find any more stuff.”

Auberlen’s BMW, meanwhile, returned to action in the test session after undergoing repairs of its own.

“From what I understand, parts are getting better at this point, it’s just not parts we had on the truck,” Dalziel said of Triarsi’s situation.

“I think going forward there’s going to be more available parts. But that’s just a nature of the beast. It’s not the first time and it won’t be the last time.

“Ultimately it sucks for us. We didn’t do anything wrong. Auberlen got a little bit overambitious on a damp track and torpedoed us.

“Now we have to sit all day and watch.”

With no competitive track action on Thursday, Dalziel is hoping that he and co-driver Justin Wetherill will be able to hit the ground running tomorrow once the Prancing Horse is repaired.

“We were strong here last year so we know what worked on the [Ferrari] 488 that was good,” he said. “We’re still trying to figure out what relates to this car.

“I think we understand the direction this car needs to go and we’re getting a fair amount of help from Ferrari on what seems to be working in Europe.

“We came here pretty different to how we raced Sonoma. I think it’s the right way to go but until we run… we’re hoping that everything translates over from last year.”

Dalziel: Ferrari 296 GT3 Takes Lessons from ORECA LMP2

The U.S.-based Scot, who races in the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship in an Oreca 07 Gibson, said he’s seen similarities in the design and serviceability of the new-for-2023 Ferrari to the LMP2 car.

The common link comes with ORECA, which builds the Ferrari 296 GT3 as part of a new partnership that began with the V6-powered contender.

“I think it’s a big step forward with the car,” Dalziel said. “We got a decent BoP bump from Sonoma to here. We haven’t run it in this configuration yet so I’m not even sure [how it will be].

“But I think it’s going in the right direction of getting us in line and pulling some people back.

“The car has a lot of similarities to the ORECA LMP2 car, just how ORECA designed it. There’s just a lot of things you see that they did on this car that they learned from the P2 car.

“Overall it’s a really good car.”

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