No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Corvette DP Wins Sahlen's Six Hours

WATKINS GLEN, N.Y. (June 28, 2015) – The final hour of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen at Watkins Glen International saw its fair share of action and excitement, not least of which was the first repeat Prototype (P) class winner of the 2015 season by the No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP driven by Richard Westbrook and Michael Valiante.

The team’s first victory of the year came at the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca in May.

After a 14-minute stoppage for rain with less than two hours remaining, then-race leader Ricky Taylor in the No. 10 Konica Minolta Corvette DP made contact with the tire barrier at the exit of Turn 10. Needing fuel to make it to the finish, Christian Fittipaldi pitted the No. 5 Mustang Sampling/Cedar Tree Corvette DP under green anticipating a caution due to the large debris left on the track from No. 10. The caution did not come until later, and the No. 5 team also was penalized issued for speeding through pit lane. The No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP of Joey Hand inherited the lead. He led under a lengthy full-course caution in wet conditions and took the the green flag on a restart with 16 minutes left, running low on fuel. Hand lost the lead to Westbrook when he pitted for fuel. Shortly thereafter, the race’s final full-course caution came out for an incident involving the No. 007 Aston Martin Vantage GT Daytona car of Kuno Wittmer. Westbrook took the checkered flag under caution.Hand and co-driver Scott Pruett finished second, followed by Fittipaldi and co-driver Joao Barbosa in the No. 5 entry. The result enabled the No. 5 team to continue to lead the Tequila Patrón North American Endurance Cup Prototype standings after three of four races.QUOTEBOARDRichard Westbrook, Driver – No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP "We had plenty in the tank actually. When Michael pitted the last time when he came in under his own, I knew we’d be in good shape and that was it until the end. It was super fun out there, especially when it was raining out there and we were on slicks. I think the officials did a great job today, with the red flagging and the standing water. They made some great tough calls today. But without the wiper at the end, it was tough to even see the safety car at the end. Then when it came out with the caution at the end, it was all about keeping if off the paint and just bringing it to the end."Michael Valiante, Driver – No. 90 VisitFlorida.com Racing Corvette DP “I wasn’t feeling great over the last three days, but Richard and I were talking before the race just to stay safe during these conditions. We didn’t have the pace, but we tried to keep our head down and keep out of trouble. At one point we lost a windshield wiper and it made it hard to see. Then we had some electrical issues, but we kept trying, and took advantage of the (No.) 01 car there at the end.  It’s great to be leading the championship now, but I’ve learned from past years of racing that you can’t focus on that.”Joey Hand, Driver – No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing with Felix Sabates Ford EcoBoost/Riley DP"We ran dry; we couldn’t have done our last lap. We did as much as we could leading up to the yellow. So at that situation we decided to try and build a gap and they told me to build one as big as possible. But it was so bad with the water on the mirrors, you couldn’t see out the back. It was so weird in the wet, I really like the rain, when they said go for it, I could just go for it. When I woke up this morning, I thought, today’s the day. It was crazy and it was hectic, but that’s what I live for, that’s why I like to race."