DORAN SCORES SECOND GRAND-AM WIN

The Sargento/Road America 500 was the seventh race in the inaugural Grand-Am schedule, held at Road America at Elkhart, Wisconsin, on July 9. The Doran Lista Special, driven by Didier Theys, Fredy Leinhard and Mauro Baldi won its second victory of the season, just 63 seconds ahead of the Risi Competizione Ferrari 333SP of Mimmo Schiattarelli and Eric van de Poele. The Doran led for 46 of the 125 laps of the circuit.

"We changed the car Sunday morning to gain more downforce, and we came up with a good set-up, "explained Baldi. "We were down on speed on the straights but it really helped us in the corners, along with tire wear. Unbelievable, the lesser (sic) I revved the engine, the quicker were my lap times."

"This race was good because we used all our strengths-good drivers, Kevin Doran's strategies, and a hard working crew, "said Theys.

Butch Leitzinger in Creighton Motorsports Ford Lola, led the race for thirteen laps but was forced out of the lead along with fellow team driver Scott Schubot, when the car began to smoke and spun into a gravel trap. Later they recovered enough to come back in and place seventh.

Dyson had its share of problems also and had to be pitted for brake work on lap 91, which caused James Weaver and Andy Wallace to come in fourth just behind teammates Rob Dyson, Elliot Forbes-Robinson and John Paul Jr. Even with that, Weaver remains the point's leader, with Theys 13 points behind and Jack Baldwin minus 14.

The new Lola Judd of Oliver Gavin and Jon Field had a great race. They ran near the front and even lead for five laps twice, and finished fifth even after a spin into the gravel cost them several laps.

Larry Schumacher and Martin Snow of Snow Schumacher Racing, won SportsRacer Lights (SRII) in a Nissan Lola, ending Larry Omberto and Ryan Hampton's five race winning streak for Archangel Motorsports. They came in third place and managed to hold onto to their point leads in the driver's championship.

Darren Law and Mike Fitzgerald scored their third consecutive GTU victory and fourth of the season, in the #81 G&W Motorsports Porsche. Once more it was a battle between Porsche and BMW #50 of Genesis Racing driven by team owner Rick Fairbanks and Andy Pilgrim. The two German manufacturers have dominated the season.

Irv Hoerr joined Roger Schramm and Werner Frank to win AGT in a Camaro. Spirit of Daytona, so far the dominating team of the class, came in second, in a Chevrolet Camaro driven by Doug Goad, Troy Flis and Craig Conway.

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