By alley - Jul 24, 2017, 10:29 PM ET

Visit Florida Racing trades Riley for Ligier

Visit Florida Racing team owner Troy Flis has made the second bold change within IMSA's Prototype paddock in the span of a week. Following Mazda's call to curtail its season and place its Riley/Multimatic RT24-P Daytona Prototype international chassis in the hands of Joest Racing for redevelopment, Flis has gone one step further by pulling the plug on his Riley/Multimatic Mk 30 chassis altogether.

RACER can confirm that the team will park its recalcitrant Mk 30 in favor of a Ligier JS P217 for the remainder of the season. This comes after a year of running towards the bottom of a class filled with DPis and WEC P2s manufactured by Dallara, Ligier and ORECA, and little hope that the Mk 30 would overcome its deficiencies before the end of the WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season.

The timing of the switch comes at a critical point for Flis after questions regarding the longevity of his Visit Florida sponsorship were

raised in June

. Although the team has continued carrying branding from the Florida state tourism initiative, the need for stronger race performances – to keep VFR, or to attract new sponsors – has become a pressing item as the championship heads into its final months.

Although it's believed Multimatic, which has taken over the development of the car, is working with the ACO and FIA WEC to implement a wide array of improvements for the Mk 30, the fruits of that work and any approvals from the sanctioning bodies would not come before the last IMSA race of the year in early October.

Faced with an immediate need to improve its fortunes, the move to Ligier should help VFR and give the French constructor another strong team to showcase its WEC P2 model.

Unable to secure a deal to buy a DPi, Flis told RACER in 2016 that the choice of the Mk 30 would at least give VFR a chance to upgrade the car to Mazda RT24-P specification if and when the Japanese brand makes its engine and bodywork available. With that option looking unlikely for at least another year while Joest sorts the Mazdas in concert with Multimatic, Flis had few reasons to believe brighter days were ahead.

In the hands of French ace Olivier Pla, the PR1/Mathiasen Motorsports Ligier JS P217 has been fast. Armed with a veteran in Marc Goossens and the impressive Renger van der Zande, VFR could surprise with its Gibson V8-powered Ligier before the season concludes at Petit Le Mans.