{"id":652,"date":"2017-09-24T19:58:54","date_gmt":"2017-09-24T23:58:54","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/?p=652"},"modified":"2023-05-03T16:21:22","modified_gmt":"2023-05-03T20:21:22","slug":"visit-florida-racing-wins-again-in-monterey","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/2017\/09\/24\/visit-florida-racing-wins-again-in-monterey\/","title":{"rendered":"VISIT FLORIDA Racing Wins Again in Monterey"},"content":{"rendered":"

Daring pass in closing laps to secure team\u2019s third victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca<\/em><\/p>\n

MEDIA NOTES:<\/strong><\/p>\n

\u2013 Third victory for VISIT FLORIDA Racing at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca (2012, 2015, 2017)
\n\u2013 Third consecutive podium finish at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca for the team
\n\u2013 Both Renger van der Zande and Marc Goossens scored their first victories at the track after having each finished second in previous events
\n\u2013 First North American Victory for Ligier\u00a0JS P217<\/p>\n

Monterey, Calif. (24 September 2017) \u2013 With a clever strategy, outstanding teamwork, and some bold moves from drivers Marc Goossens and Renger van der Zande, VISIT FLORIDA Racing scored a dramatic victory in the closing moments of the America\u2019s Tire 250 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca\u00a0on Sunday<\/span><\/span>.<\/p>\n

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The team, which had to deal with flooding and the effects of Hurricane Irma last week, rallied to be ready for the race weekend, which marked the penultimate race of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.<\/p>\n

The victory is the third at the track for the team having won in 2012 and 2015 in a Daytona Prototype, and marks the third consecutive podium result at the 2.238-mile circuit for VISIT FLORIDA Racing. It was also the second podium of the season for the team, which opened the year with a run to third place in the Rolex 24 At Daytona.<\/p>\n

Goossens opened up the 2 hour and 40 minute race from third on the grid and kept the No. 90 VISIT FLORIDA Racing Ligier JS P217 at the sharp end of the field. He worked<\/p>\n

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his way up to the race lead prior to pitting at the 44 minute mark for a full service pit stop and a driver change.<\/p>\n

After a flawless pit stop, van der Zande returned to the track fourth in the order. He showed speed as he began catching the top-three cars. At the half-way point of the race, the team called van der Zande to pit lane for fuel and tires.<\/p>\n

A key call from the VISIT FLORIDA Racing strategists, saw van der Zande pit for the final time with 44 minutes to go \u2013 taking on fuel and only right side Continental tires. The call to take just the right side tires saw the No. 90 VISIT FLORIDA Racing Ligier JS P217 leapfrog up to second in line as van der Zande chased down the race leader.<\/p>\n

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Clicking off faster times than the leading No. 31 DPi, van der Zande closed the gap with each lap. With minutes left, van der Zande made an incredible pass through the iconic Corkscrew corner that features a 180 foot elevation drop to take the race lead. He never looked back for the final three laps and delivered VISIT FLORIDA Racing its first victory of the 2017 season.<\/p>\n

\u201cAfter Road America we knew we were right up to pace,\u201d said van der Zande. \u201cWe only put on two tires at the last stop and then it was just holding onto the tires. Even with two tires compared to the others with four new tires \u2013 I was able to stay close to them. I\u2019m just super happy for the whole team. For Marc (Goossens) we\u2019ve been working hard to get this. That pass \u2013 that was a lot of fun!\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cWhat a move!\u201d enthused Goossens following the race. \u201cThat\u2019s what it takes to win and\u00a0\"\"Renger (van der Zande) just did it. It was a great job!\u201d<\/p>\n

After scurrying to have the car ready for the Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca round following the flooding at the team\u2019s shop last week, the victory is a special one for the entire VISIT FLORIDA squad.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe whole team deserves this \u2013 we\u2019ve just kept pushing as a group and a family,\u201d added Goossens. \u201cIt\u2019s a great team. With everything everyone went through, this win couldn\u2019t have come at a better time. We\u2019ve been fighting all year and to finally show up on the podium with a victory is awesome.\u201d<\/p>\n

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Team Owner Troy Flis was thrilled with his team\u2019s performance and credited the organization\u2019s partners with the victory.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re winning races and it\u2019s great to be a part of,\u201d beamed Flis from Victory Lane. \u201cWe love Laguna \u2013 we knew this was going to be our best shot to win. We usually have pretty good success here and our set up is pretty good. We knew we had the best team and the best guys. It was a big challenge to get a P2 car to win overall and I have to give it to these guys. They did a hell of a job. Onroak, Ligier, my team, they\u2019ve all worked their butts off this year, they needed this. This was a great outcome for us today \u2013 thank you to VISIT<\/p>\n

<\/div>\n

FLORIDA and all of our partners.\u00a0The entire state of Florida is working hard after the hurricane under the leadership of Governor Rick Scott, and it is so important that we let everyone know Florida is open for business. Come visit!\u201d<\/p>\n

The victory was the first of the season for a non-DPi configuration Prototype entry as the Daytona Beach-based team earned the first North American victory for the\u00a0Ligier JS P217\u00a0LMP2 chassis.\u00a0The achievement was all the more remarkable given that the\u00a0 team only took delivery of the car in August and had only one race worth of experience with the Ligier package ahead of the Monterey weekend.<\/p>\n

VISIT FLORIDA Racing will return for the season-finale of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship\u00a0in two weeks<\/span><\/span>\u00a0at Road Atlanta for the 10-hour Petit Le Mans.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Daring pass in closing laps to secure team\u2019s third victory at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca MEDIA NOTES: \u2013 Third victory for VISIT FLORIDA Racing at Mazda [\u2026]<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":4,"featured_media":653,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[19,1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-652","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news","category-uncategorized"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/4"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=652"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":654,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/652\/revisions\/654"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/653"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=652"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=652"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/sundaymanagement.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=652"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}