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Since
September of 2000, Champion Racing has done a total of nine days of testing in
preparation for Daytona 24 Hour of 2001 with the Lola B2K chassis powered by
Porsche's GT1 engine. At the inception of the Lola/Porsche project, Champion
Racing anticipated both growing pains and engineering issues. After debuting the
car at the Sebring event in 2000, Champion chose to run a limited schedule in
the AMLS and focus on testing in order to be well prepared for the Daytona
event. The nine test days at Daytona yielded an extensive amount of progress for
the Lola, running close to 2000 miles of test laps. The testing was completed
using both the same engine and transmission. Champion also used the test days to
acclimate to the Goodyear tires that will be used during the Daytona event. The
Grand-Am series has leveled the playing field for the Lola by permitting it to
run with a set-up that will allow the bi-turbo Porsche enging to be competitive.
The driver line-up for the testing at Daytona, as well as for the event,
literally has a lifetime of racing and endurance experience to draw upon: Hurley
Haywood, Dorsey Schroeder and Bob Wollek. They will be joined during the event
by Sassha Maassen who drove the Konrad Lola during the 2000 Daytona 24 hour. The
drivers have worked closely with the team on engineering issues since the
genesis of the project and have contributed greatly to the progress of the car.
Hurley Haywood, Porsche racing veteran, turned consistent and controlled laps
throughout the testing. Bob Wollek, who has driven the Champion Lola/Porsche
since its creation in 1999, is very pleased and encouraged by the progress that
has been made in the last year.
While Champion has not been out front in the last year, they have been
working very hard. The Lola was viewed by Dave Maraj, owner of Champion, as a
project to be fine tuned in order to run the Daytona 24 Hour. The preparations
have been intense and productive. Champion views the Daytona event as the
perfect milieu for the Lola: the chassis has proven its dependability for
endurance and the Champion team has extensive experience and success running
Porsche's in long events. Champion's goal is to put a car on the grid that will
turn strong consistent laps that will be there in the end.
For the die hard fans among you, tune into Speedvision for complete coverage
of the event. There will be a half hour before and a half hour recap at the end.
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