Dalziel shines in PKV test

The 22-year-old produced four victories and five pole positions in the junior series this season battling eventual series champion Jon Fogarty of Pacific Coast Motorsports down to the wire, finishing just 18 points adrift.

PKV Racing offered Dalziel the opportunity to test a Champ Car following his strong performance in 2004 and the speedy Scot did not disappoint, posting some very fast times over the last two days while putting the No. 12 Gulfstream Champ Car through its paces on the 2.3-mile Barber Motorsports Park road course in Birmingham, Ala.

"We're happy to give Ryan this opportunity, but he truly deserves this test," said PKV Racing co-owner and driver Jimmy Vasser, who is also a graduate of the Toyota Atlantic Championship. "He's done a fantastic job. Ryan knows what he wants and he's a very confident driver. We're still evaluating our (driver) situation for next season but we're very happy with what we've seen."

Dalziel, who owns six career Atlantic victories and finished on the podium 19 times in 36 series starts from 2002-04, was happy to have a veteran and former Champ Car champion in Vasser as a guiding hand at the test session.

"I'm pretty pleased with the way I've driven over the last two days and it's certainly good having Jimmy here as a guy who knows these cars inside and out," said Dalziel, who shared track time with 2003 Formula 3000 champion Bjorn Wirdheim, also testing for PKV over the two-day period. "I want to thank Jimmy, (team owner) Kevin Kalkoven and everyone at PKV Racing for this opportunity and hopefully I've proven that I'm ready for the challenge at the next level in Champ Car."

Two-time series champion Fogarty also was scheduled to test with Forsythe Championship Racing at the end of November in Sebring, Fla., but he's had to put those plans on hold after recently shifting his focus to sports car racing beginning next season. However, Forsythe will test Atlantic regular Alex Figge of Pacific Coast Motorsports at Sebring at the end of the month.