|
|
Hot
News & Press from Doran Racing
Theys, Magnussen to Share Cockpit of Doran-Lista
DORAN
JE4 Lexus #27 at
Homestead
LEBANON, Ohio, Feb. 21
- One of the most popular
drivers in the American
Le
Mans Series (ALMS) will pinch-hit on one of the most
popular teams in the Grand
American Rolex Series at the Grand Prix of Miami
on Saturday, Feb. 28 at
Homestead-Miami Speedway in Homestead, Fla.
Former Formula 1 driver Jan Magnussen, who has won
three popularity awards
connected with the ALMS, will join the 2002 Grand
American SRP champion, Didier
Theys, behind the wheel of the Doran-Lista Racing
DORAN JE4 Lexus #27.
Magnussen, a Danish driver who currently lives in
both England and Gainesville, Ga.,
is substituting for Swiss driver Fredy Lienhard Sr.,
who drives in selected
Rolex events as his business schedule permits.
Magnussen has the most starts (45) of any driver
in the history of the ALMS.
He plans to drive a limited schedule in that series
this year with the
factory Chevrolet Corvette team. Last year he
drove the Prodrive Ferrari and a
Riley & Scott for Jim Matthews Racing, but he is
perhaps best known to American
road racing fans for his accomplishments as a member
of the Panoz Motorsports
team.
The 30-year-old Magnussen was the ALMS' "Personality
of the Year" in 2001; he
received the "From the Fans" award in 2002 and he garnered
the "Most Popular
Driver" award last year.
Although he'll be getting his first taste of Daytona
Prototype racing at
Homestead, Magnussen certainly will be with a team
with a long list of
accomplishments both in the Rolex series and at this
track. Two poles and two victories
in three starts at Homestead is an impressive record,
indeed.
In its last appearance at Homestead-Miami Speedway,
Doran-Lista Racing ended
up in victory lane with its Dallara, and the Lebanon,
Ohio-based team hopes
for similar results this year with its new car, the
DORAN JE4 Lexus. The
chassis, designed and built by Doran Designs, finished
first and second in the
Daytona Prototype class at the Rolex 24 at Daytona
earlier this month.
In the team's last appearance here, in 2002, Theys
and Mauro Baldi won the
race from the pole with the Doran-Lista Dallara. They
did exactly the same
thing in 2000 in a Ferrari, and the pair qualified
fourth and finished third here
in 2001 in a Crawford.
Gianpiero Moretti and Baldi were the drivers of the
Doran-prepared MOMO
Ferrari in 1998 when it qualified third and finished
second at Homestead.
The competition will be stiff this time too. The
Daytona Prototype class has
more entries than any other, with 18 of the 45 cars
on the preliminary entry
list. Four of those 18 are DORAN JE4s. In
addition to the famous Bell
Motorsports DORAN JE4 Pontiac #54 which won the Rolex
24 at Daytona earlier this
month and the equally famous Doran-Lista DORAN JE4
Lexus #27, Michael Shank
Racing's DORAN JE4 Lexus #6 which debuted at Daytona
is entered, as is a DORAN JE4
making its first start ever, the G&W Motorsports
DORAN JE4 BMW #81. All use
Goodyear Eagle tires.
Getting used to a new team and a new car are challenges,
but Magnussen is no
stranger to pinch-hitting. In the past he has
substituted for both Paul Tracy
and Emerson Fittipaldi in CART champ car events when
he was running in that
series. He has also been one of the most highly-regarded
'subs' in racing
during his years when he was a Formula 1 test driver,
a role he performed for
McLaren in the nineties before he landed a F1 ride
with Jackie Stewart's team in
1997-1998.
Theys and Magnussen have never driven together and
don't know each other
well, but they are both looking forward to changing
that at Homestead.
"He has one of the best reputations in the business," said
Theys, a Belgium
native who lives in Scottsdale, Ariz. "From Formula
1 to sports cars, he's
driven everything. He is a very good sports car
driver."
Much has been written about the recent changes made
to the Homestead track.
Theys hasn't seen it since then, let alone drive
on it, so he's not sure what
to expect.
"I've seen pictures of it, that's all," he said. "Before
[the changes],
going fast on the banks was a challenge, but now
I heard it's not as challenging
for the drivers," he said. "But I will confirm that
to you after the race," he
quickly and wisely added with a chuckle.
The Rolex series race, which is being run in conjunction
with the Indy Racing
League IndyCar season opener, the Toyota Indy 300,
will be shown on a
tape-delayed basis on SPEED at 4 p.m. Eastern on
March 7.
Rolex series practice will be held from 2:45 p.m.
until 4:30 p.m. on
Thursday, Feb. 26. The following day there is
a one-hour practice session at 9 a.m.
followed by another one from 12:45 p.m. until 1:30
p.m. Qualifying for the
Daytona Prototype class will be held that Friday
from 4:55 p.m. until 5:10 p.m.
On race day a final 45-minute practice session will
be held at 8 a.m., with
the start of the 250-mile, 109-lap, two-hour-and-45-minute
race beginning at 3
p.m., after IndyCar quals.
For more information, see Lista's Web sites at www.lista.com and
www.listaintl.com ,
and Doran-Lista Racing's recently revamped site at www.doranracing.com .
Jan Magnussen's Web site is at www.janmagnussen.com .
For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
E-mail: [email protected] |
|