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JUNE
4, 2006
SAHLEN'S SIX HOUR PROVES TO BE WET WATKINS WEEKEND
FOR LAW
Phoenix, Arizona –—
After the dust had settled over early court action that cancelled
qualifying for the Rolex Grand American Series’ Daytona Prototypes
in last weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen at
Watkins Glen International Raceway in upstate New York, the Grand
American machines got down to business and treated the fans to some
world class driving and race action. Porsche endurance racing specialist
Darren Law and teammate David Donohue dodged a few bullets, but
ended up catching one as they finished 17th overall in the soggy
conditions for the six hour endurance event at one of the country’s
greatest and most demanding race tracks.
Qualifying and Race Action
Law and Donohue’s #58 Brumos Porsche Fabcar Daytona Prototype
was slotted 11th on the grid based on the team’s accrued 2006
points, and Law was tapped to start the race. The green flag was
thrown at 2:37 pm EST for the start of the Sahlen’s sponsored
event, and Law settled into a consistent pace in the dry conditions
that saw him gradually moving forward in the field. Law finished
his first stint after 90 minutes, and turned the car over to Donohue
with a strategic stop for fuel and tires as rain began to fall.
Roll of the Dice
Conditions continued to change throughout the event, and several
teams were caught changing from rains to slicks and back again.
Pit strategy was anybody’s guess, and often came down to a
simple roll of the dice.
Approaching the 3.5 hour mark with Donohue still at the wheel of
the Red Bull sponsored Brumos machine, the #58 made light contact
with the #60 Lexus Riley of Oswaldo Negri and Mark Patterson. The
contact damaged Donohue’s left rear wheel sufficiently to
allow the tire to lose air and as David started hard braking a shower
of sparks revealed that the tire had fully deflated and the wheel
was hitting the pavement. David struggled to maintain control of
the #58 entry and it is credit to his ability that he was able to
keep the Red Bull machine off the wall and instead settled for the
gravel trap. The car was removed from the trap and after a stop
for fuel and tires Donohue set out again.
Law took over from Donohue at another
stop with 90 minutes left in the six hour enduro and drove to the
end. Despite being several laps down to the leaders due to the earlier
incident, Law drove hard and was able to turn consistent and quick
laps that would have easily placed the Brumos within the top five
cars at the finish. Despite his efforts, Law was forced to settle
for 17th as the checkered flag flew on lap 154.
Darren Law Quote
We’re still searching for a bit more speed, but toward the
end of this race we were turning some solid laps. Unfortunate about
the incident with David. He was hustling the car well, and it looks
like it was just one of those racing situations. I’m glad
that he kept the car off the wall and we had a chance to get back
out there and try and get some points from the race. Realistically,
we probably had a top ten car today, and hopefully we can get something
like that done at Mid-Ohio.
Info and Sites
Log onto www.grand-am.com
for more info on the Sahlen’s Six Hour and to see scheduling
info for the upcoming EMCO Gears Classic at Mid-Ohio the weekend
of June 23-25. Finally, to see pics of the awesome Red Bull Brumos
Porsche Fabcar Daytona Prototype, log onto www.brumosracing.com.
Sponsors and Supporters
Look for Darren to be wearing driving gear from CDOC, who has agreed
to support him for the 2006 season. Darren depends on CDOC’s
racing expertise for all his racing, safety and performance equipment
needs. CDOC is a world leader in the distribution of OMP, Alpinestars,
Bell and HANS brands as well as over 100 other performance lines.
View the entire line of CDOC performance and racing products at
www.cdoc.com.
In his quest to be in top physical shape, Darren has also been maintaining
a strict workout schedule as prescribed by Carmichael Training Systems.
You can find more information on how
Carmichael allows some of the world’s best drivers and other
top-flight athletes keep the competitive edge at trainright.com.
Release Contact:
Sylvia Proudfoot
sylvia@spurcom.ca
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