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Burnaby racer on podium streak

Michael Valiante helped the Spirit of Daytona Racing Team to a third-place finish at the Idianapolis Speedway last weekend
Michael Valiante
Burnaby racer Michael Valiante earned a four consecutive podium finish at the IMSA sportscar championship series at Indianapolis Speedway last Saturday.

Sports car racer Michael Valiante is riding a four-race podium streak in the IMSA Tudor United SportsCar championships.

Valiante and co-driver Richard Westbrook finished among the top three for a fourth consecutive race in the Daytona Prototype division, following a third-place finish at the Brickyard Grand Prix at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway in Indiana on Saturday.

The finish left the Spirit of Daytona Racing team just 11 points back in the overall driver’s standings behind co-leaders Joad Barbosa and Christian Fittipaldi, who took the checkered flag in the race in the Action Express Racing team’s No. 5 Corvette on the 2.435-mile circuit.

Valiante opened the race in third place and remained in podium contention through a long stint before handing the No. 90 Visit Florida Corvette over to Westbrook on the 67th lap of the 108-lap race.

“We were close,” said Valiante in an online press release. “(We) wanted to make sure we got on the podium today because we didn’t think we had the car to win. We achieved that goal, but we are going to have to roll off the truck better the next couple of rounds if we want to contend for a championship. … We want to be back on top.”

Next up for the team is the Road America event at Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin in two weeks time.

Barbosa and Fittipaldi finished 48 seconds ahead of runner-up Scott Pruett in the No. 01 Chip Ganassi Racing EcoBoost Riley Ford car. Westbrook was another four seconds back in third place.

In Round 8 of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge, Remo Ruscitte helped the Autometrics team to a fifth-place finish in the street tuner class at the Indiannapolis Speedway. Valiante also finished two laps back in the HART team’s Honda Civic.