For more information:
Linda Mansfield, Restart Communications
Cell: (317) 201-0729
E-mail: LKMRestart@gmail.com

Doran Racing Nissan 370Zs
 Are One-Two in First Practice Session
But Qualifying Is Rained Out at Road America

ELKHART LAKE, Wis., Aug. 7 - The Doran Racing Nissan 370Zs were first and second in the first Grand Sport practice session for the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series Friday morning at Road America. Qualifying was rained out on Friday afternoon, so the field for Saturday 's 2.5-hour race will be set by the point standings. That puts the Lebanon, Ohio-based team's #14 in the sixth starting spot and its #41 11th, unofficially, in the 42-car field for the drop of the green flag at 1:20 p.m. Eastern time, 12:20 p.m. local.

Brad Jaeger of Charlottesville, Va., will drive the #14 initially and then hand it off to B.J. Zacharias of Cincinnati. Nic Hammann, a hometown boy who hails from Elkhart Lake, Wis., will start the #41 and then hand it off to Steven Doherty of Plainfield, Ill.

Doherty set the fastest time of the class overall on Friday when he was timed in 2:22.205 on his eighth lap of the nine the #41 turned in the first practice session for an average speed of 102.477 miles per hour. That was 0.399 of a second faster than the #14 ran to earn the second-fastest time of the session with a 2:22.604 and an average of 102.191 mph. 

Rain continued to fall in the afternoon. Neither Nissan went out for the second practice session, and none of the Grand Sport cars tackled the third practice session that replaced qualifying.

"It was a dry session in the morning, and the car was feeling great!" Doherty said. "The team made some positive changes from yesterday's test. I'm not sure if

anyone else was on new tires in the first session, but it was nice to see our two cars at the top of the board!

"The weather forecast looks good for tomorrow," he added. "Starting towards the back is a bit of a bummer because I'm sure we could have been up near the front. However we have plenty of time during the race, so Nic will have plenty of time to work his way up front. We're looking forward to a good result!"

"We have two really strong cars at Road America," Zacharias said. "It's my second home track and I love coming here.

"Kevin and the entire crew have given us two solid cars, and the tweaking that we were able to get done on the test day helped a lot.

"It will be an interesting race for sure, and outright speed may not be the key. Many times this has come down to a fuel-mileage race, but we will just wait and see.

"Hopefully the weather clears up and we stay dry. We need clean stints, swift pit stops, and a little luck never hurts."

Saturday's race will be carried live on IMSA.com. It will also be broadcast on Fox Sports 1 on Monday, Aug. 17 from 8 p.m. to 10 p.m.

Additional information is available on DoranRacing.com and the team's Facebook page.