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Doran Racing's Nissans to Start Tenth and 14th In Very Tight Field

MONTEREY, Calif., May 2 — Doran Racing's No. 14 Nissan NISMO 370Z will start tenth and its No. 41 Tower Events Nissan 370Z will start 14th, unofficially, in tomorrow afternoon's IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Brad Jaeger of Charlottesville, Va., who shares the No. 14 with Cincinnati's B.J. Zacharias, turned his fastest lap during qualifying Friday on lap four of five with a time of 1:36.612. That was an average speed of 83.393 miles per hour for the 2.238-mile, 11-turn road course. The top-10 cars were within six-tenths of a second of the pole, which was won by Trent Hindman in a BMW in 1:35.948 (83.970 mph).

John Farano of Toronto, Ontario put the No. 41 firmly in the field with a time of 1:37.079 (82.992 mph). His fastest lap was lap four of seven. His co-driver is David Empringham, also of Toronto.

"I think we're where we need to be for the race," Jaeger said. "I think we were hoping for a little bit better lap in qualifying. We're in the top 10, but we had hoped to be a little higher up in the top 10. The car was pretty good, but I made a couple of small mistakes on my flyer. But we're the leading Nissan, so hopefully B.J. and I can have clean stints and move up in the field tomorrow. So far both of our cars have been clean this weekend, which is what we want."

Both Nissans prepared by the Lebanon, Ohio-based team also did well in the two practice sessions on Friday.

During the first practice session the No. 41 Tower Events Nissan was just 0.419 of a second off the time of the car that topped that session and later won the pole. It recorded the third-fastest time of that session with a 1:36.600, while the No. 14 was 16th with a 1:37.447.

The No. 14 then turned the second-fastest time of the second practice session with a 1:36.907. That was just 0.268 of a second off the fastest time of that session, which was a 1:36.639. The No. 41 was tenth in that session with a 1:37.315, two positions above the eventual pole winner's best time.

Saturday's race, part of the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda, is scheduled for 3:45 p.m. to 6:15 p.m. Eastern time.

The race will be broadcast on a tape-delayed basis at 10 a.m. Eastern time on Sunday, May 11 on Fox Sports 1.

For more information about the series, see imsa.com.
For more information on Doran Racing, see DoranRacing.com.
The team also has a Facebook page.

 

 
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