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Lee Davis Scores
Hard-Earned Flag-To-Flag
Cayman Interseries Sprint Race Victory at Rennsport Reunion
Luna-C Clothing Driver Pressured To
Finish; Will Conniff Takes Sportsman Win
MONTEREY,
Calif. (October 16, 2011) – Lee Davis drove
straight from the pole to a Cayman Interseries sprint-race victory Sunday
morning at Rennsport Reunion IV but the flag-to-flag win was far from easy.
The 20-minute sprint was the first race of a Sunday Cayman Interseries
doubleheader at Rennsport and will be followed by a 45-minute finale this
afternoon.
 Davis
led into Turn 1 at the race start in his black and red No. 33 Cayman S that
carries the colors of the Advan Porsche 956s and 962s and Luna-C Clothing, but
immediately felt what was going to be race-long pressure from debuting driver Jack
Kachadurian. Driving a No. 14 Cayman S in the theme of a Richard
Lloyd Racing Canon Porsche 956, Kachadurian jumped from third to second at the
race start and kept the heat on Davis for the majority of the race.
“It feels awesome, it really does feel awesome,” Davis said. “It was one
of the longest sprint races for a little bitty short race that I have ever been
in. Jack was right in my mirrors for most of the time, and he got into me
a little bit going down into the Corkscrew, I just corrected and kept going,
and fortunately it was a light hit. I gapped him a little bit but then the
track was coated with oil later in the race. I am glad everybody made it
through that with no major damage.”
Davis crossed the finish line just ahead of Kachadurian while Mark
Sandridge, driving his white and red-and-yellow striped No. 49 Cayman
S that is modeled after his 1994 IMSA Champion Team Salad Porsche 911 RSR,
prevailed in a great battle with Henry Davis to take the final
podium spot. No relation to Lee Davis, Henry Davis finished fourth in his
No. 21 Cayman S that carries the memorable markings of the silver Martini
Porsche 917s. Bob Schneider completed the top five in his No. 40 Cayman S
that pays tribute to the Martini “Baby” Porsche 935.
In Sportsman class action, Will Conniff led early on and again
when it counted to score the victory in a yellow No. 55 Cayman S that is themed
after a David Piper Racing/Sandeman Porsche 917K. Conniff waged a great
mid-race battle with Mike Cassling, who drives a blue and
yellow Cayman S in the colors of a Hydro Aluminum/Brun Porsche 962, and scored
the win when Cassling spun off course in the oil that coated the track in the
final laps of the race.
“It’s great to be back, I miss it badly,” said Conniff, a series regular
the past two seasons. “Personal reasons are why I am not out here more
because I love the guys and I love the format. Really, it’s just
getting back in the car. When you are out of that car you just really lose a
lot of your feel and momentum. I felt good about coming back after being
away for almost a year and it was a blast.”
Conniff didn’t even know he was passing for the victory when he saw
Cassling’s stranded car off course in the downhill run out of the Corkscrew.
“I had no clue,” Conniff said. “I was just focused on what I needed to
do, stay on the track and try not to do anything stupid.”
David Gronke finished second after a strong run in his white
and blue No. 8 Blaupunkt/Joest Racing Porsche 962-themed Cayman S. Randy
Cassling, at the wheel of his black, yellow and red No. 18 Cayman S
that pays tribute to the Le Mans winning factory Shell/Dunlop Porsche 962,
finished third to salvage a podium finish for the Cassling family after his
brother spun out of the lead.
The Cayman Interseries schedule at Rennsport Reunion IV wraps up with the
weekend’s featured 45-minute race Sunday afternoon.
Noteworthy
- Davis spread some wide credit for his victory. “It was really a fantastic
race and it was fun having all of these cars out there,” Davis said. “It
was great to get the win for Children’s Tumor Foundation (CTF), really happy
with that, Ryan Eversley my coach did a great job on the
radio, and Adam Twinley did a great job preparing the car.
Just a really good race for us.”
- While a series-record field is racing this weekend at Rennsport Reunion IV,
the Cayman Interseries has also been in action this weekend in the HSR event at
Sebring International Raceway in Florida.
 Jim
Thomason
won the pole in qualifying in his pink and white No. 9 Cayman S, which is
themed after the 1989 Blaupunkt/Joest Racing Porsche 962C, and then joined
co-driver Tim Lewis Jr. in winning the weekend’s one-hour
enduro race. Lewis passed Bill Riddell, driving his green No.
80 Cayman S that pays tribute to a David Piper Racing Porsche 917K, just two
laps from the finish.
“That was fun,” Riddell said. “Yeah, I was trying to do everything I
could, if I had had a grease bomb I would have thrown that out there. This is
Cayman racing. A great car, a great set up and a lot of fun.”
Riddell quickly rebounded from the narrow loss and came back to win the
weekend’s first sprint race less than an hour after the enduro finished.
About
Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV:
Porsche Rennsport Reunion IV will be the world’s greatest gathering of
Porsche race cars and the drivers that drove them to victory, held at Mazda
Raceway Laguna Seca from October 14 to 16, 2011. Hosted by Porsche Cars North
America, it will assemble the wide variety of Porsche’s most historic racing
models from the nimble 550 Spyder of the mid-1950s through the mighty 917 and
956/962 of the 1970s and 1980s to the highly successful RS Spyder of the last
decade.
About Porsche Cars North America: Porsche Cars North America,
Inc. (PCNA), based in Atlanta, Ga. is the exclusive U.S. importer of Porsche
sports cars, the Cayenne SUV and Panamera Gran Turismo. Established in 1984, it
is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Porsche AG, which is headquartered in
Stuttgart, Germany, and employs approximately 220 people who provide parts,
service, marketing and training for 196 dealers. They, in turn, work to provide
Porsche customers a best-in-class experience that is in keeping with the
brand’s 63-year history and leadership in the advancement of vehicle
performance, safety and efficiency. At the core of this success is Porsche’s
proud racing heritage that boasts some 30,000 motorsport wins to date.
About The Cayman Interseries: Established in 2009 by Napleton
Porsche of Westmont, Illinois, the Cayman Interseries is North America’s only
auto racing championship featuring the exclusive use of the 320-horsepower
Porsche Cayman S. Sanctioned by Historic Sportscar Racing (HSR), the
Cayman Interseries conducted its first official season in 2010 and crowned a
pair of champion drivers in both the sprint and endurance racing formats. Races
are run on legendary circuits such as Daytona, Sebring, Mid-Ohio, Watkins Glen,
Road Atlanta, Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca and other premier venues, primarily on
HSR and SVRA event weekends. Every competing Porsche Cayman S is exclusively
supplied and prepared by Napleton Porsche and each car competes with an
assigned and specific heritage livery themed after a famous Porsche race car
from the past. Learn more about the Cayman Interseries at www.CaymanInterseries.org.
Phone calls direct to Napleton Porsche may be made at (630) 725-0911 and email
inquiries can be sent to racing@napletonmotorsports.com.
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