Grand-Am Finale
at Daytona
November 1-3, 2001
Photo Coutersy:Grand-Am
Three practice sessions on the 3.56-mile road course has made one thing clear - this car is bloody fast! "This car" being the Doran/Lista Dallara Judd and its debut this weekend at the Daytona International Speedway has fans talking.
A new car to the series always instigates a buzz so it's is no surprise that the talk of the weekend is how fast can the Dallara go? After taking numerous spins around the track, the #27 Lista sponsored car is only two seconds behind the leader… and the crew is still working on the new car's setup. Dyson's #16 Ford Riley & Scott has a lap time of 1:43.157 to Doran/Lista's best lap time of 1:45.144.
"We of course are very, very happy with the car so far," said Didier Theys. "It's a lot of hard work to get a car race ready, let alone a new car. We still have a few setup issues but this car has a fast, fast future."
Two Friday sessions and one Saturday session have had promising results for the Dallara. After a shortened first session after a hydraulic-related leak forced the car back into the garage, it came out full-force for its second go-around. The evening practice had Dyson #16 as the leader(1:43.643) , the Robinson Racing's Judd-powered Riley & Scott slipped into second with a quick lap time of 1:44.507, racing great Hurley Hayward piloting Champion Racing's Porsche Lola took third with a lap time of 1:46.199. Didier Theys and Fredy Lienhard took the Dallara out for its first full-session run and landed in the fourth position with a lap time of 1:47.132.
The Saturday session proved to be the best yet by dropping two seconds off Friday's best time.
"If we continue to progress at this race, we will be flying by James Weaver!" said Didier. "Really, we are improving at a good race and this weekend is a great start for our team."
"Tomorrow's race is going to be fun for us. This is a car we don't know well but we are really excited about its possibilities. We know it's fast. We have more session to work on setup so that's one more chance to make it even faster. This race is just the beginning of a great run with this car. This is what makes racing fun!" Kevin Doran said.
The green flag will fall on the debut of the Dallara Judd in the Rolex Series three-hour finale race at 6 p.m., on Saturday, Nov. 3 at Daytona International Speedway.
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