Grand-Am
VIR: Doran-Lista Racing preview
LEBANON, Ohio, Sept. 30 - Doran-Lista Racing, the same team that was so impressive in the inaugural Grand Am Rolex Series race at Virginia International Raceway, will return to the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course in Alton, Va. for the second running ...
Published: Oct 1, 2003, 2:44 PM
Copy link
Share on Viber
LEBANON, Ohio, Sept. 30 - Doran-Lista Racing, the same team that was so impressive in the inaugural Grand Am Rolex Series race at Virginia International Raceway, will return to the 3.27-mile, 17-turn road course in Alton, Va. for the second running of the VIR 400 this weekend with a totally different car.
Last year the team's lead driver, Didier Theys of Scottsdale, Ariz., set the fastest race lap in the event in the Doran-Lista Dallara enroute to a second-place finish. This year he has a different car - the Doran-Lista DORAN JE4 Toyota #27, which was designed and built by Kevin Doran at the team's headquarters in Lebanon, Ohio - and a different co-driver, Bill Auberlen of Hermosa Beach, Calif. Auberlen was the co-champion of the series' GT class last year, while Theys won the driving championship for Grand Am's Sports Racing Prototype class in 2002.
Last September Theys' fastest lap of the race was run in 1:39.618 for an average speed of 118.171 mph. He started second after qualifying was rained out for his car's class.
That race took five hours to run. This year's event will be much shorter, as it carries a time limit of two hours and 45 minutes. It is scheduled to start at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.
This is only the Doran-Lista DORAN JE4 Toyota's third race ever, although a Chevrolet-powered DORAN JE4 fielded by Bell Motorsports has been competing since the season opener, the Rolex 24 Hours of Daytona in February. Doran Enterprises is currently second in the car manufacturer point standings in the Daytona Prototype class with 311 points to Fabcar's 335. The Doran-Lista DORAN JE4 Toyota #27 is for sale, as are similar cars just like it that are being produced at the team headquarters.
The bright red Doran-Lista DORAN JE4 Toyota finished third both in class and overall in its first race ever, which was held at Watkins Glen, N.Y. in August. It suffered some teething problems in September at Mont-Tremblant, Quebec in its second race, but still placed fifth in the Daytona Prototype class.
"I believe our chassis will be very good at VIR," said Theys. "Every time we go out we make improvements on our set-ups."
"It's the same on the engine side," he continued. "At Mont-Tremblant we had a different Toyota engine configuration than we had at the Glen, and it was a better package. The engine had more driveability and better mapping."
"VIR is a race track where we were very competitive last year," he added. "We were the fastest, but we had a problem. It's a very challenging track because there are both slow areas and fast areas. It is not easy to pass there, so qualifying well will be important, especially now with the sprint race configuration."
The VIR 400 will be broadcast on a same-day, tape-delayed basis on SPEED Channel from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.
A promoter's test day is scheduled for Thursday. Practice will be held from 10 a.m. until 11 a.m. and from 2 p.m. until 3 p.m. on Friday.
Another one-hour practice session will start at 10 a.m. on Saturday prior to qualifying for the Daytona Prototype class from 1:25 p.m. until 1:40 p.m. that afternoon.
There will be a half-hour warm-up session at 9:15 a.m. the following day prior to the 400-kilometer, 77-lap race getting the green flag at 12:30 p.m. Eastern time on Sunday.
We want your opinion!
What would you like to see on Motorsport.com?
Take our 5 minute survey.
- The Motorsport.com Team
Read and post comments
Read also :
Share Or Save This Story
Copy link
Share on Viber
Previous article VIR: G & W Motorsports preview
Next article Ferrari of Washington to run second car at VIR
Top Comments
There are no comments at the moment. Would you like to write one?
View More & Comment
More from
Bill Auberlen
Zanardi, Auberlen to be inducted into Long Beach Walk of Fame
IndyCar
IndyCar
Long Beach
Zanardi, Auberlen to be inducted into Long Beach Walk of Fame
“We made our own luck,” says Turner after win at The Glen
IMSA
IMSA
Watkins Glen
“We made our own luck,” says Turner after win at The Glen
Auberlen drops out of Sebring 12 Hours
IMSA
IMSA
Sebring 12 Hours
Auberlen drops out of Sebring 12 Hours
Latest news
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Formula 1
F1 Formula 1
Brazilian GP
58 min
On this day: Fernando Alonso wins the world title, Michael Schumacher retires from F1
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
1 h
Raul Fernandez still compromised after Indonesia finger injury: “I’m not at 100%”
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
MotoGP can’t simply copy F1’s Drive to Survive success – Chase Carey
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
MotoGP
MGP MotoGP
Australian GP
2 h
Marc Marquez's mind games with Jorge Martin: "If you're fast, you don't need team orders"
Subscribe and access Motorsport.com with your ad-blocker.
From Formula 1 to MotoGP we report straight from the paddock because we love our sport, just like you. In order to keep delivering our expert journalism, our website uses advertising. Still, we want to give you the opportunity to enjoy an ad-free and tracker-free website and to continue using your adblocker.
You have 2 options:
- Become a subscriber.
- Disable your adblocker.
Subscribe now Already subscribed? Sign in here
Already disabled your adblocker?
Reload page
Manage Alerts
Subscribe