Michael Valiante of Burnaby signed with 8Star Motorsports to drive the No. 3 Chevrolet Corvette DP with Stephane Sarrazin and team owner Enzo Potolicchio for the balance of the Rolex Grand-Am Series Daytona Prototype season.
Valiante, 33, helped 8Star during its May test at Sebring International Raceway in Florida before subbing for Sarrazin in the June 15 race at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. A masterful drive by the Canadian resulted in 34 laps led and a second-place finish, 8Star's first podium in just the sixth race of its existence.
Two weeks later, in the six-hour endurance race at Watkins Glen, New York International, Valiante helped the team to a second consecutive runner-up finish, moving the team to within 17 points of the lead in the team championship point standings.
Valiante is one of only a handful of drivers in Grand-Am history to win two professional races in one day, capturing a Daytona Prototype victory, as well as a win in the Street Tuner class of the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge last season at Mid-Ohio. He has two wins and 11 podiums in 83 Grand-Am Series Daytona Protoype starts since 2005.
Valiante owns and operates MV Motorsports Driver Development and MV Motorsports Management in Vancouver.
"I'm really pleased to have signed with 8Star for the rest of the season," said Valiante in a press release. "The races have gone very well. We're actually not too far out of the championship hunt now, so I'm looking forward to the next five races."
The No. 3 8Star Corvette DP team is currently sixth in the 2013 team point standings.
"Michael has done an unbelievable job for 8Star Motorsports," Potolicchio said in the release. "He's been a great help to the development of our Corvette DP program and has given us amazing results every race weekend." [email protected]
