IMSA: Van der Zande signed for Visit Florida P2

Reigning IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship PC champion Renger van der Zande has been signed to drive the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Riley Mk 30-Gibson P2 entry in 2017. The rapid Dutchman will join Belgium's Marc Goossens in the new chassis; VFR's third driver for the Tequila Patron North American Endurance Cup will be named at a later date.

"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."

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A nine-time winner in PC with Starworks Motorsport, van der Zande's demonstration of talent in IMSA's pro-am prototype class has resulted in a well-deserved call-up to the WeatherTech Championship's top category. He replaces Ryan Dalziel, who is expected to concentrate his efforts with Tequila Patron ESM's Nissan-powered Ligier DPi program.

"I've known Renger for quite some time – we raced for the same team in The Netherlands back in 2009 but we were in separate cars," Goossens said. "I've kept an eye on him ever since, and I do rate his talent very highly. I am very happy to be back with Visit Florida Racing. Continuity is very often a key to success and I'm feeling very positive about the new prototype."

Goossens' longstanding relationship with constructor Riley is another positive for the program as it moves away from the Corvette Daytona Prototype.

"It is a new platform for everybody, so everyone essentially starts from scratch," he added. "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."