Daytona report: Doran Dallara wins

They won the American sportscar classic by seven laps after their main opposition, the Intersport Racing Lola-Judd of Jon Field, Michael Durand, Rick Sutherland and Duncan Dayton, retired with just three hours to go.

Poleman Theys led the race away, but struck power steering problems in the second hour, which gave the lead to the Risi Competizione Ferrari 333SP of Eric van de Poele, David Brabham, Stefan Johansson and Ralf Kelleners. That car then encountered gearbox woes after five and a half hours and dropped out of the running, handing the lead to the Jim Matthews Racing Riley & Scott of Matthews, Guy Smith, Scott Sharp and Robby Gordon.

At the six-hour mark, the Doran Dallara was back in the lead, with the Matthews Riley & Scott also losing second to the Intersport Lola when it struck an electrical hitch. The Doran car was the next to hit electrical gremlins, losing a lot of time to the Intersport Lola which inherited the lead due to a sequence of lengthy pit stops to change batteries.

The Intersport Lola built an impressive nine-lap lead over the Doran Dallara at this point, which it kept constant throughout the morning, but then broke a driveshaft at the 18 hour mark, losing 17 minutes while the problem was rectified. In the meantime, the Doran squad moved four laps clear at the head of the pack.

Unfortunately, however, the Lola's transmission problems were not limited to the driveshaft breakage, and the car was retired at the 21 hour mark when the gearbox's input shaft failed, leaving the Doran Dallara well clear of the Matthews Riley & Scott.

Rand Racing's SRP2 class winning squad of Anthony Lazzaro, Terry Borcheller, Bill Rand and Ralf Kelleners finished an impressive third overall, despite spending half an hour in the pits on Sunday morning with a gearbox problem.

Champion Racing's Lola-Porsche was being repaired in the pits when the race started, but bounced back to finish fourth in the hands of Andy Wallace, Hurley Haywood, Sascha Maassen and Lucas Luhr.

The Rocketsports-run, Trans-Am-spec Jaguar of Paul Gentilozzi, Brian Simo, Scott Pruett and Michael Lauer won the GTS class after the Bytzek Motorsports Porsche 911 GT1 blew its engine on Sunday morning.


1, Doran Lista Racing, Dallara-Judd
2, Jim Matthews Racing, Riley & Scott-Elan
3, Rand Racing, Lola-Nissan
4, Champion Racing, Lola-Porsche
5, Rocketsports Racing, Jaguar
6, Archangel Motorsport Services, Lola-Nissan