Defending Champions Among First 50 Entrants for Rolex 24 Test Days

5 January 1998

ENGLEWOOD, Colo. -- Defending race champions Dyson Racing are among the first 50 entries for the annual Rolex 24 At Daytona Test Days, the January 9-11 warm-up for the 1998 Rolex 24 At Daytona.

Ernie Irvan

Dyson Racing has entered two Riley & Scott Can-Am racers for the three-day test event, including drivers James Weaver and Perry McCarthy, of England, team owner Rob Dyson, of New York, Elliot Forbes-Robinson, of Sherrills Falls, N.C., John Paul Jr., of W. Palm Beach, Fla., Dorsey Schroeder, of Osage Beach, Mo. and Butch Leitzinger, of State College, Pa. Dyson's No. 20 Goodyear/Bosch/Hella Riley & Scott entry won overall at the 1997 Rolex 24, as well as the ensuing season championship. Rohr Motorsport, defending champions of the GT1 category and Prototype Technology Group, defending champions of GT3, are also among the entries. Rohr Motorsport will introduce the exotic Porsche 911 GT1 to Daytona's high banks with strong factory support and lead driver Allan McNish, of Scotland. Prototype Technology Group returns with two cars entered, led by Bill Auberlen, Boris Said III and NASCAR Winston Cup star Ernie Irvan.

Other notable entries in the Can-Am include two Ferrari 333 SPs from Scandia Engineering with drivers Andy Evans, Yannick Dalmas, Bob Wollek and Ron Fellows; 1996 Rolex 24 winner Doyle-Risi Racing with Wayne Taylor, Eric van de Poele and Fermin Velez piloting its Ferrari; two Riley & Scott Fords from Colucci/Matthews Racing with five-time Rolex 24 Champion Hurley Haywood and David Murry slated as lead drivers; and the familiar No. 30 Ferrari of Gianpiero Moretti and Didier Theys.

Robbie Buhl

Joining the Porsche 911 GT1 making its Daytona debut is the radical Panoz GTR, with a world-class driver line-up for the two entries including CART drivers Scott Pruett and Raul Boesel, Andy Wallace, Doc Bundy, David Brabham, Eric Bernard and Jamie Davis. Trans-Am Rookie-of-the-Year Mike Borkowski is joined by open-wheel stars Robbie Buhl and Tony Kanaan in a Tom Gloy-entered Ford Mustang Cobra, setting up a best-of- America versus best-of-Europe showdown in GT1.

Other top GT entries include Shane Lewis and the Mosler Raptor in GT1; Porsches from Alex Job Racing, AASCO Performance, Technodyne, The Racers Group, Team A.R.E. and G&W Motorsports, Inc.; and Phoenix American Motorsports Pontiac Firebirds.

"The excitement is certainly building as we near Daytona, and the entries have begun to pour in for both the test and race," said USRRC Operations Manager Alan Wilson. "With nearly 50 entries already processed for the test, we expect to see another 10 to 15 before we hit the track. The new entries and rules adjustments will make this years race a competitive battle for the overall and class wins."

Set to begin Saturday, January 31 at 1:00 p.m. (EST), the 1998 Rolex 24 At Daytona will be the 36th such event, and is revered with LeMans and Monaco as the greatest road races in the world. 1998 marks the beginning of a new era, as SCCA Pro Racing, and its subsidiary USRRC, takes over sanctioning duties from the International Motor Sports Association. Daytona was the site of the first-ever USRRC race in 1963, and 1998 marks the return of both the USRRC and Can-Am franchises to International motorsports.