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Hot News & Press from Doran Racing

Doran Racing Entries Qualify Seventh and Tenth
For This Weekend's Rolex 24 at Daytona


DAYTONA BEACH, Fla., Feb. 3 - Jan Magnussen qualified the Doran Labonte
Racing DORAN JE4 Pontiac #44 in seventh place and Fabrizio Gollin qualified the
Doran Racing Crown Royal Special Reserve DORAN JE4 Lexus #77 in tenth place
Thursday at Daytona International Speedway in preparation for this weekend's Rolex
24.

The top 30 positions in the 64-car field were locked in Thursday, with the
remaining spots to be filled tomorrow morning.

Both Magnussen and Gollin got right to business and set their fastest laps on
their second passes around the 3.56-mile road course during the 15-minute
qualifying session.

Magnussen's best of seven laps was clocked in 1:47.646 (119.057 mph).  Gollin
made five laps, with his best lap being a 1:48.022 (118.642 mph). 

Scott Pruett won the pole with a 1:46.928 (119.856 mph).

Joining Magnussen in the #44 will be Indy Car star Bryan Herta and NASCAR
NEXTEL Cup stars Bobby Labonte and Terry Labonte. The Labontes have been testing
their NASCAR cars and will arrive here tomorrow. Gollin's co-drivers are
Matteo Bobbi and Didier Theys.

In the first practice session this morning the #44 was second with a 1:49.059
(117.514 mph) and the #77 was 14th with a 1:51.400 (115.045 mph).  In the
second practice session the #44 was third with a 1:48.459 (118.164 mph) and the
#77 was again 14th with a 1:49.739 (116.786 mph). A two-hour night practice
session will be held later today from 6 p.m. until 8 p.m.

Fourteen and a half hours of the race will be televised live on SPEED
starting at noon Saturday.

For more information, please see www.doranracing.com and www.crownroyal.com
Magnussen's Web site is at www.janmagnussen.com ; Herta's is located at
www.herta.com and Bobby Labonte's is at www.bobbylabonte.com .  Gollin's is at
www.fabriziogollin.com and Bobbi's is at www.matteobobbi.com .

Other interesting information can be found at www.grandamerican.com ,
www.speedtv.com and www.restartcommunications.com .

Driver quotes follow:

Jan Magnussen: "We were hoping for better in qualifying.  We improved quite a
bit from the test; time-wise we're a lot closer.

"This morning we had a better position and it would have been nice to stay
there for qualifying.  But we have a good car for the race."

Bryan Herta: "I'm here for two big reasons. One, when I saw the entry list
and it started to become a who's who of motorsports, I really wanted to be here
and be a part of the race. Secondly, it's been a couple of years since I've
done any road racing. Now that the IRL is going road racing, I really wanted to
get some miles in on a road course again."

On the stellar field:

"It's incredible who's here. It's a big motivating factor to compete against
the best. This weekend a lot of the best are right here in Daytona Beach, so I
wanted to be here. In a 24-hour race a lot of things can happen, but
hopefully our car will hold together and we'll be right there at the end."

Fabrizio Gollin:  "We have a good car for the race, and Matteo and I are
learning the way things are done here in the States.  We need some time to u
nderstand everything, but sooner or later we'll get there!"

Matteo Bobbi: "The car is better than last time [at the test]; the car is
fine.  We're just working on our set-up and trying to find more speed while still
keeping our tire wear good."

Didier Theys:  "When I was in this morning we had old tires, so the car was
loose."


 
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