Marc Goossens will be back behind the wheel of a Prototype in 2016, joining Ryan Dalziel in the No. 90 Visit Florida Racing Corvette DP in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.

The 34-year-old resident of Belgium drove a Daytona Prototype for Riley/Matthews Motorsports in the GRAND-AM Rolex Series, winning at Miller Motorsports Park in 2007 and Mexico City in 2008. Since then, he raced with the SRT Motorsports Viper program in the ALMS and TUDOR Championship – giving the team its first ALMS victory at Road America in 2013 – but was left without a ride when that program concluded following the 2014 season.

Goossens was an 11-time competitor in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, finishing fourth overall and second in the Le Mans Prototype class in 1997. His impressive resume also includes three victories in International Formula 3000 competition, a record four triumphs in the Zolder 24 Hours, and appearances in both the NASCAR Sprint Cup Series and NASCAR XFINITY Series.

Marc, what brought you to Visit Florida Racing?

“First of all, at the end of 2014 when SRT decided to pull out of the GT [Le Mans] program, it was pretty late in the year. They compensated by honoring their agreement with us for last year, and allowed us to do a few races which I did with the Ben Keating/Riley Technologies organization. It was a limited program, but I was still around in the paddock, and I knew I was a free agent for 2016. So I started talking to a lot of teams.

“One of them was Troy Flis (Visit Florida Racing). Once we started talking, we had a good feeling about each other. Our personalities matched, and we came to an agreement soon after that. For me, it’s great. I was looking for a full-time ride, and to have it happen in the Prototype class is an early Christmas gift.”

Will your past experience racing a DP help?

“It’s been a while. It’s changed a lot since then. The technology part of racing went through a big development phase, but not only in Prototype, it also happened in GT as well. I was fortunate to go through those changes through a certain similar extent when I was in the GTLM program. I told the guys recently it’s been seven years since I last drove a full DP program. The last time I drove one was in 2011 with Shank (finishing 10th overall). But after only a few laps at the Daytona test I came into the pits and told the guys it was almost like I was never away from a DP. It’s still similar in a way, but technology has moved forward. But it did in GT as well, so it wasn’t too hard to adapt to it.”

How was your first time out with the team in the two-day WeatherTech Championship open test?

“This was a good test for us. It gave us the opportunity to see how these guys work, and how the drivers and engineers communicate on this team. It gave us a feeling of how the program is put together. So far, I’m one of the happiest guys in the paddock!”

Do you expect Visit Florida Racing to be fighting for the championship again in 2016?

“I can’t see any reason why not. They still have the same chassis and engine package, with the same group of engineers behind it. The only thing that changed – and that’s not a very common thing – is that they changed both drivers at the same time. But both Ryan and I both have the right amount of experience to adapt to that. We’ve worked together in the past; we understand each other, and know what each of us likes and doesn’t like. Ryan is still active in Prototypes, he’s proven it’s just as good in DPs as he is in LMP2. It was a matter of me getting to re-adapt to it, and that’s why I was testing at Daytona. I can’t see why we shouldn’t be there to win races.”

Anything new with your personal life?

“I moved back to Belgium [from North Carolina] five years ago, so I’ve been traveling back and forth. I’m used to it – I’ve been traveling a lot between the U.S. and Europe for the past 15 years. Back home, I’m helping raise babies. We had twins 15 months ago, so it’s pretty busy at home. Other than that, it’s full-time racing.”