Cayman Interseries - Lee Davis Tops Opening Practice At Watkins Glen

WATKINS GLEN, June 11, 2011: Reigning Cayman Interseries Champion Lee Davis topped a full field of competitors Friday in the opening day of practice for this weekends’ SVRA Historic Enduro 200 at Watkins Glen International.

Davis, who drives his sharp black and red No. 33 Cayman S that carries the colors of the Advan Porsche 956s and 962s and Luna C Clothing, turned the day’s top lap with a time of 2:07.439 on the legendary 3.4-mile Watkins Glen circuit. This weekend marks the first official appearance of the Cayman Interseries at The Glen.

“It’s great to be here at Watkins Glen,” said Davis, who co-drives with regular coach and teammate Ryan Eversley this weekend. “What a great place, and great track, and a lot of history, which totally fits in with what we are doing with the Caymans, so great to be here. Good number of cars this time and really happy to be here with the show.”

Although threatening and cloudy skies this morning never produced any rain, the day’s first practice sessions were still scrubbed when a competitor in another class coated the majority of the track with oil. Cayman competitors only had a pair of afternoon practices but made the most of the available sessions.

“Didn’t have a whole lot of track time today,” Davis said. “But everybody is in the same boat and we are looking forward to a really good weekend.”

Second fastest Friday was Mark Sandridge in his No. 49 Cayman S with a second-session lap time of 2:09.914. Sandridge drives, with coach and co-driver Joe Varde, a white, red and yellow car themed after the IMSA championship-winning 1994 Team Salad Porsche 911 RSR that made several appearances at Watkins Glen during its title reign.

Porsche Napleton Racing (PNR) prepares both the No. 33 and No.49 Caymans but a pair of entries from SpeedSport Tuning was also on form Friday and third fastest in each practice session.

Chuck Smithee, driving his SpeedSport-prepared No. 25 Mobil 1 Porsche GT-1 themed Cayman S, clocked in third fastest in the final practice with a lap of 2:13.257, which was also the third quickest overall lap of the day.

Debuting SpeedSport driver Wayne Nykyforchyn (pronounced “Nicky-Fortune”) highlighted a strong opening day with the third fastest time in the first practice session with a lap at 2:14.816. Nykyforchyn drives a white and red No. 11 Cayman that displays the livery of the Marlboro/Joest Racing Porsche 956 that was driven to victory at Monza in 1983 by Thierry Boutsen and Bob Wollek.

“It’s going real good,” Nykyforchyn said. “The track is great, the car is comfortable, and it’s interesting and exciting to be out there with the level of cars that are out there. This is my first race, I have been doing DE (driver education), track days and racing schools for about the last 16 to 18 months, so this is my first step into real racing. It’s very gratifying, I have been a race fan for a long time, and to step over the line to actual racing is something I have always wanted to do, and now I am here. It’s really quite thrilling.”

The Cayman Interseries is running in the SVRA’s top-tier Group 12 class this weekend, which means competitors share the track with everything from authentic Porsche 962s to big-bore Trans-Am cars and near-current Audi R8s and a Lola B0718.