Watkins Glenn : Conti Challenge
 

The Doran Racing crew will once again be heading to Watkins Glenn next week for the Continental Tire Sports Car challenge series.
The Nismo 370 Z RC should once again be extremely quick as it showed great speed last year leading the race until "the incident" turned a sunny day dark.
The last two outings with the Doran RC have produced two track records for the GS class ....but a W would taste sweater.
The Doran crew welcomed Brad Jaeger onboard who had a terrific 1st run with the RC ...qualifying 5th , keeping the car inside the top 10 and in absolutely perfect condition at the halfway point.
The action gets started next Thursday during the test day, practice and qualifying on Friday, and the race on Saturday.

Good luck!

You should pointedly ask at the drivers meeting about the light and "anything else we need to know?"

Let's get that W!

:iagree: with both posts above :tup:

:driving:

I'll be cheering for ya man.

Good luck!! And remember to sacrifice some virgins or whatever is needed to remove the curse.

Good luck and make sure to watch out for those BMW's.

:tup:

Good Luck !

Good luck!

Good luck BJ and team! As long as you come out better than last year @ the glen I'll be pleased :)

Rooooodger that... Loud and clear

Were you able to get a practice session in today with all the rain? Looks like there may be more of the same for the weekend. Rain or shine I'll be there shooting pics and cheering for you guys. Best of luck!

Actually pretty interested in wet test day results. I think their setup should kick *** in the wet.

We ran well in the 1st session (dry)... Second session we went out to do systems checks , defroster , wipers and general handling.
We didnt push it at all in the rain as it may not be wet on Saturday.
(fingers crossed)

My fingers are crossed too. Scattered t-storms forecast for the afternoon. Like driving, shooting in the rain presents different challenges. I couldn't make Saturday last year but here are a few of my images from the 2012 6 Hour event. I hope to make some nice images of the #14 Nismo tomorrow - hopefully one involving the checkered flag!

http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...KcQsDZc-XL.jpg
http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...qCMcZRm-XL.jpg
http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...bHndBDt-X2.jpg
http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...NkLrGTh-X2.jpg

Parked in the garage today.
Tomorrow is quali and the race.

So, fastest lap again, and it says you finished a lap down? :(

Yea...not sure what happened today to be honest. The wet/dry changing conditions were very difficult for racing and for strategy ...deciding for rains or drys.
We were the fastest GS car again during the race....just can't get the stars to align.

Changing conditions were the theme of the day. Not quite sure how I managed to get sunburned despite both myself and my cameras wearing full rain gear for much of the day! Nice job out there BJ in challenging conditions. I'm sure you and the team were happy you avoided the carnage during that last gully washer. Not all the teams were so lucky (Roush 61 car in particular).
Best,
Mick

http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...cqfqcs7-XL.jpg
http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...9Lxhpjv-XL.jpg
http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...6WntPpD-XL.jpg
http://michaeloconnor.smugmug.com/ph...JxpWFBr-XL.jpg

Nice meeting you during the fan walk Mick...that last shot is really awesome!!
The changing conditions were bad...really bad...just got caught out.
:(

Here's a couple I managed to get between showers.

Attachment 72142

Attachment 72143

During the fan walk.

Attachment 72145

Attachment 72146

Dwnshift, what chassis setup changes do you guys make for the wet conditions?

To be honest we havent "nailed" tw wet set up yet.
Partially because every time we go into a race weekend we look at the weather.
If race day has a very small % of rain....any session that is wet will most likely be skipped...especially at Watkins Glen with ZERO run off.
If its full rain ... and we are going out ..disconnect rear bar , soften front bar and soften shock dampening....go from there

ok cool, ive done similar tricks in wet weather events, i was just curious :D

It was nice meeting you too Dwnshift. I appreciate the kind words on the photo. I have a lot more but haven't had the time to do anything with them yet. If you are interested I'll shoot you a PM if there is anything decent to look at.

You weren't the only guys to have changing weather conditions. The DPs and GTs also got wet yesterday - although none of the gulley washers like on Saturday. A few photos from yesterday's 6 Hours of the Glen

6 Hours of the Glen 2013 - Michael T O'Connor Photography

Best,
Mick

Watching the Watkins Glenn Race now! OH? Who's this? Who is ahead of the Porsches? Hmmmmm? Could it be? Wait, yep its #14.
[IMG]http://www.the370z.com/members/coon-...y-daughter.jpg[/IMG]
As of right now my daughter and I are watching #14 JAEGER in 6th position! My daughter is becoming a gear head; oh Gog help me. I'm laughing cause she is yelling at you to, "hurry up they are catching up to you!" and cheering you on. We love it. She says she likes the cool black and red colors you all selected; better than mine. LOL. Anyway, we are big fans and hope to see you in person on the track some day.

Is there anyway to get to see the car in person someday at one of the events; like in the pit or something? Just curious. Ok, going back to watch the race. :tup:
Coon-azz and daughter

Just go to a race and get garage/paddock access. I've seen the car in person twice now. All the Doran guys are real nice and friendly.

We have 5 Conti races left this year;
Indy, Road America, Kansas, Laguna Seca and Lime Rock.
Indy is next .... and it's going to be interesting. We are once again running with Rolex, Nationwide and Sprint Cup.
There will also could be a big surprise coming up veeeery shortly after Indy.
But have to get through Indy first.
Stay tuned
;)
Thanks for the support
Gomer if you come to the raves ..dont be shy about asking if I am around.
:)

Bwaaahahha
That's awesome!!
Don't forget your glow sticks n whistles!
RACES!!!!

Awesome! we are all set to catch the Next few races. I can't believe how well you all did at Watkins...seems like due to the rain, there were so many crashes. That Z seemed to just stick to the track...great race and we are supporting you all. :) :tup:

After shooting the Conti Challenge, 6 Hours of the Glen the next day and the SCCA Double Nat'ls at the Glen the following weekend I've had a whole lot of images to work through and not a lot of time. Although I'm still not done I just posted a bunch more pics from the Conti Challenge, including a bunch of the #14 Doran Racing Z on my site. Lots of carnage towards the end of the race.

Mick

2013 Watkins Glen Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge - Michael T O'Connor Photography

Those are some great shots!!
Thanks for sharing.