Hot News & Press from
Doran Racing
Teams Work Together Following
Accident at VIR Last Sunday
BIRMINGHAM,
Ala., Oct. 8 - If it wasn't for the hard work of the team
which
fields the Doran-Lista DORAN JE4 Lexus #27, two other
Daytona Prototypes
wouldn't be able to compete in Sunday's Rolex series race
at Barber Motorsports Park
here: the Michael Shank Racing #6 and the G&W Motorsports
#81.
Both
of the later two cars were damaged extensively in a violent
crash at
Virginia International Raceway in Alton, Va. last Sunday.
The
reason the crew members of the #27 car are involved is
because members of
that team also work for Doran Designs, the firm which
built all three of the
cars already mentioned as well as the car that won the
race at Barber
Motorsports Park last year, the Bell Motorsports/Kodak
EasyShare DORAN JE4 Pontiac.
Kevin
Doran heads Doran-Lista Racing, which fields the Doran-Lista
DORAN JE4
Lexus driven here this weekend by Didier Theys and Andrea
Montermini, as well
as Doran Designs, which designs and builds the DORAN JE4
Daytona Prototypes.
Doran's
own car suffered uncharacteristic engine problems last
Sunday at VIR
and was out early. But when two of the other DORAN JE4s
were involved in that
race's biggest accident, he and many other members of
the Doran-Lista team
went into over-drive in order to help the Shank and G&W
teams repair their cars
so they could compete at Barber Motorsports Park this
weekend.
"Without
a doubt, if it wasn't for the Doran organization we wouldn't
be here
this weekend," said Michael Shank, owner of Michael
Shank Racing. "I
actually don't know how they did it. Kevin and Jeff [Graves,
Doran-Lista's crew
chief] and everyone jumped in and burned the midnight
oil, or we wouldn't be here
in the paddock today.
"It's
part of the whole package that you get when you buy a
DORAN JE4," Shank
continued. "It's a complete commitment to get your
car on the track. We
talk it over with Kevin and if he thinks it's fixable
and we think it's fixable,
then we all agree to go to his shop and it gets fixed.
That's all there is to
it. Their service is outstanding."
Doran's
shop is located in Lebanon, Ohio, outside of Cincinnati.
Six
members of the Shank team left VIR at 6:30 p.m. Sunday
night after that
race and arrived at the Doran shop at 6:30 a.m. Monday
morning with their car.
"We
all worked until midnight for three nights in a row, and
then we left for
here," an obviously tired Shank continued. "We
got here Thursday morning, and
we got the last 40 minutes of yesterday afternoon's practice
session in."
Shank
said his car required new framework around the motor and
throughout the
rear. "All the rear bodywork was gone too, as well
as miscellaneous plumbing
and electrical lines that got sheared off," he said.
Shank
said that the accident was "like a bomb going off"
in his car. "Doran
has proved several times this year that their cars are
plenty strong," he
said. "They are built with every safety precaution
in mind. They are more than
up to the task."
On
Friday afternoon some members of the Doran team were still
at the shop in
Ohio working on the G&W Motorsports #81, while others
were at Barber
Motorsports Park working on their own car.
"Everybody
has really pitched in and done a remarkable job,"
said Price Cobb,
G&W Motorsports' team manager. "We got to Doran's
shop in Ohio around 10
a.m. Monday morning. The plan is for our car to leave
Doran's shop between noon
and 2 p.m. today [Friday], and be here tonight to run
tomorrow and Sunday."
In
addition to its Daytona Prototype, G&W is fielding
three Porsches here at
Barber Motorsports Park this weekend.
"Getting
a tow-behind trailer was one of our immediate problems
right after
the accident at VIR, because we had to have our transporter
here with the other
cars," continued Cobb, whose team is headquartered
at VIR. "We borrowed an
enclosed tow-behind trailer from a paint company in our
complex, American
Detail, and three of our guys headed to Cincinnati. Another
one of our trailers
will pass through Birmingham this weekend so the drivers
can switch off; it will
have our two Star Mazdas in it, headed for a race at Laguna
Seca [in
California] next weekend."
As
just another example of what a small world the racing
community can be,
the three G&W Motorsports crewmembers who have been
working at the Doran shop
this week are Richard Binzer, Noah Bailey and Gary Grossenbacher.
The latter,
who is G&W's engineer, used to work with Kevin Doran
at Al Holbert Racing.
Like
Shank, Cobb said he was pleased with the way his DORAN
JE4 held up in
the crash.
"It
really got into the front of our car, but there were no
safety issues
with the driver," he said. "Our car had to be
cut apart, which is why it had to
be at Doran's shop longer than the Shank car. And if we
weren't racing so many
other cars, we could have sent more people too,"
he added.
"We
had to machine a front bulkhead for the 81 car, and that
took 24 hours of
machining time," Kevin Doran noted. "Everybody
came together as a group and
did a fantastic job, working long and efficiently. I'm
proud of all of them."
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