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Hot News & Press from Doran Racing

Details of Qualifying Race Format
Put a Different Spin on Things at VIR Friday


ALTON, Va., April 21 - Friday should have been just a normal practice day at
VIRginia International Raceway, but instead a buzz was generated in the
paddock after details of the format for tomorrow's qualifying races were discussed
at the drivers' meeting and then in turn were related to members of the press
and other interested parties.

Tomorrow's 30-minute Daytona Prototype and GT qualifying races will be the
first such events the Rolex Series has run, and the format that was detailed
here today effectively changes the schedule from 14 to 19 races.

When the 2006 Rolex Series schedule was announced last Oct. 9 here at VIR,
the series press release that day noted that the 2006 schedule would consist of
14 races. Asterisks on the schedule noted "Points-paying heat races to set
field for final event" at VIR, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, Phoenix International
Raceway, Lime Rock Park (which is a GT race only), the Mid-Ohio Sports Car
Course and Barber Motorsports Park.

Further details did not become general public knowledge until today, although
a technical bulletin issued on Jan. 10 outlined some more of the details and
more were disclosed to the teams in an additional sheet of paper dated
yesterday.

Although the new qualifying races are covered on page 17 of the 2006 series
media guide, what many people, including virtually all the members of the press
and some drivers, didn't realize until today was that the heat races will pay
full points just like the headline race at the venues mentioned, effectively
making them doubleheaders. Many people were under the impression that a bonus
point would be given to the winner of the qualifying race, but actually just
as many points will be up for grabs for the fields in tomorrow's two 30-minute
Daytona Prototype and GT qualifying races as the teams and drivers can earn in
Sunday's two-hour-and-45-minute race, effectively increasing the number of
races this year for each class to 19.

(The Daytona Prototypes ran alone at Long Beach, where the traditional
qualifying format was used, and they'll also run alone at Watkins Glen, N.Y. Aug.
10-11, which is not one of the races tabbed for a qualifying race.  The GT class
will run alone at Lime Rock Park, where the heat-race format will be used,
according to that October 2005 release.)

Details spelled out in yesterday's notice say that the fastest time set by
any of a car's drivers during the 9 a.m. practice session Saturday morning will
be used to determine the starting order of the qualifying races that
afternoon.  The driver nominated to qualify the car by 10:30 a.m. tomorrow must start
the qualifying race.  In the event of rain, which is predicted here tomorrow,
the qualifying race grids will be determined by points.

The finish of the qualifying races will determine the starting line-up for
Sunday's longer race, with the Daytona Prototypes all starting before the GT
field as has been the practice in the past.

According to the details that became clear to the press today, the driver in
the qualifying race and his co-driver (who won't compete in that event because
it's so short) will both earn the same number of points in their heat race,
provided that both also compete in the regular race.  Full team and
manufacturer points will be awarded for the qualifying races too.

When a traditional qualifying session is used that driver must be the
starting driver in the main race, but the drivers in the qualifying races will not be
allowed to be the starting drivers in the longer race on Sunday.

All teams in the Hoosier Pacesetters program are guaranteed a position in the
feature race, but if a PaceSetter doesn't race in the qualifier it won't get
any points from that event and it will have to start at the rear of its
class's starting grid the following day. Doran Racing is a Hoosier PaceSetter team.

As far as the on-track activity went on Friday, the Feeds the Need
Racing/Doran Racing drivers, Terry Borcheller and Harrison Brix, both practiced  and the
team worked hard to set up the Kodak EasyShare/Amp'd Mobile/SIRIUS DORAN JE4
Ford No. 77 for the weekend's challenges.  Brix spun in the last turn near the
end of one practice session but didn't hit anything, although the car's left
sidepod was damaged when it bounced along the dirt berms.  The team repaired
the bodywork very quickly and all systems are "go" for tomorrow.

The time charts showed that the team was 13th in the first practice session
Friday with a fastest lap of 1:47.345 (109.665 mph).  It was 15th in the second
session with a 1:48.378 (108.620 mph).  Oswaldo Negri was fastest of the day
with a 1:45.838 (111.227 mph) set in the morning in the Michael Shank Racing
No. 60. It was warm and overcast most of the day but the rain that was
predicted turned out to be only a few scattered drops.

Rain is also predicted tomorrow, but the skies are to be clear Sunday.

The 30-minute DP qualifying race and its pre-race and post-race activities
are slated for 1:15 p.m. to 2 p.m. tomorrow.

If it doesn't rain tomorrow morning, the 9 a.m. to 10 a.m. practice session,
where both the Daytona Prototypes and the GT cars will run together, will
actually be a qualifying session for the first half of the Rolex Series
doubleheader (or tripleheader, depending on how one looks at it since there is a
30-minute qualifying race for both classes tomorrow).

Series officials said the qualifying races will occur rain or shine.

Borcheller said that if there are no yellows in the Daytona Prototype
qualifying race, it'll be about 12 laps long.

"Tomorrow will be very interesting," Brix summarized.


 
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