Doran racing 2013...
 

Doran racing will once again campaign the 370Z RC in the 2013 Conti Tire Sport Car Challenge Series GS class.
Things resume next week when the team heads to Daytona Int Speedway for Roar Before the 24 Jan 4/5/6.
Further details will be announced later.

Can't wait to see y'all on track again. Can't believe it's already time!

Awesome! Look forward to seeing you guys on TV. Make sure and let us know when we should be watching for you.

Best of luck for the new season!

Daytona 24, COTA, and then cya in Alabama!

I'll wait until after Daytona to buy COTA tickets just to make sure the Doran Z is still in one piece :) I'll be instructing at COTA Jan 13th-14th with The Driver's Edge.

Oh so jealous.

I might be the first Z on COTA :)

Awesome news BJ, looking forward to seeing you guys podium this year!

Do you guys offer a military discount? I'm in northern kentucky, where would you recommend for location? I commute to St. Louis frequently. Thanks

I think we'll be seeing more than that :tup:

Best of luck in 2013!

fixed :)

:woot: good luck BJ!

Any word on who your co-driver will be BJ?

Has the season started yet? Looking forward to it. :D

Well I haven't heard back from them yet so I assume i'm not the second driver.. :mad:

Grand-AM rules dictate that there must be a second driver. They must do a mandatory driver change and multiple pit stops. I am curious as to who the second driver may be.

I weigh more than 10% of the car, so probably not me :tup:

Heitkotter? Skeen? Doran had both of them in the car for stints this year, and both are excellent drivers.

And don't forget the newest GT Academy winner (can't remember his name).

First race is Friday Jan. 25. I'm sure they're super busy with pre-season work already.

Also Jan. 24 and 26 is testing in Daytona.

I don't think there has been an official announcement as of yet. After that.. I can say.
There is hope that we could possibly be fielding a 2nd car after Daytona but we shall see.
We test next week at Daytona during the Roar before the 24. Not sure if they will have live timing.
We have had some time off and will need to shake off a little rust. Since we haven't had the Z at Daytona yet...we will def be trying a thing or two.

B.J. Good luck!

Is the second car also a Nismo Z?

It will have to use all Nismo aero so yes. :eagles:

Very cool. Good luck guys. Really enjoyed following you last season.

Right now there is not a second car but.... If the funding is in place to run it... Then it will be a 370Z built to spec.
It will not be an official RC....but it will be built from the ground up to current class specs....which include the Nismo body kit.
I believe the RC edition we currently have will be the only one ever... That makes it into North America.

Your RC is far different than the other examples of 'Nismo RC' 370's I've seen around the interwebs.

Even the WC cars are vastly different than the Doran GrandAm car...

The Doran car is a lot more 'serious' with a lot more custom-looking carbon work and more exotic hardware, haha.

Pretty confusing on what constitutes an 'RC' now..

Doran's car is the only true "Nismo RC" to come from the factory. all of the world challenge cars are production cars converted, tho Doran's car needed heavy modifications to meet Grand-Am specs. what BJ's talking about is since they are the only one to ever buy one, Nissan is going to quit offering the RC as a factory package.

Correct, that is due to the fact that the RC shown in the press photos and on NISMO's website were designed for the European/Japanese sports car series. The Doran car had to be completely stripped apart and redesigned to make it legal for for the Grand-AM: Conti Tire Series.

From talking to "others" at Nissan. The RC that Doran has will be the last RC ordered for the North American market due to the fact that A) they are so expensive, B) they did not meet the rules of US sanctioning bodies and C) there are slight differences between racing series.

The designation of "RC" is only given to Nissan vehicles prepped, designed, built and delievered by NISMO Japan. The new style race car I mentioned above will not wear the RC badge as far as I know.

From what I have been told, Nissan will basically be ordering bare, "rolling" chassis with powerplant and drivetrain. Undercoatings, interior, wiring will all be bare bones and ready for a build. I am not sure if fuel cells will be included or it will be up to the end builder. Other things like Glass, Cooling systems and so forth are also unknown.

So Nissan is going to start offering a rolling chassis basically with motor/trans (and needed accessories)?

From what I was told yes, that is the idea. Similar to ordering a an old Mopar roller from a Dodge Dealership years ago during the horsepower wars for club and professional level drag racing.

correct^ i had heard the same thing... at the same time :tup:

That sounds like a solid plan (and Dodge has started that again also to compete with the Mustang/Camaro versions). Glad to see Nissan doing that for those wanting to avoid the stripping and adjusting a street car for racing.

Now if they an avoid the pitfall of having those rolling chassis with motors cost MORE than a complete street car...

I'm not sure what it will entail and can't speak for Nissan Motorsports USA... But I believe you will have to convince them your are going to race it in a series to order a chassis.
Time wise ... I believe it's about 4-6 weeks to obtain a bare chassis.
The official "RC" editon has a serial number and plate in the engine compartment designating it an RC.
The current one we are campaigning is chassis RC001.

Tim Bell to Drive Doran Racing NISSAN 370Z in 2013

Glad to see Tim will be back in 2013!

I am excited to see the 2013 season unfold! I think without a doubt Doran has a strong shot at big success this year in the 370Z. A car that is far more competitive then the 2011 seasons underpowered BMW that they put on the podium twice!

Also, I noticed this
http://www.grand-am.com/News/GA_News...cid=6383&sid=1

I am glad things have come together for the Doran team especially given the current economic conditions!