|
 LEXINGTON,
Ohio (June 26, 2011)
– A Sunday sweep of both races by Mark Sandridge – including a
second-consecutive enduro race win with teammate Joe Varde – closed
out the final day of Cayman Interseries action at this weekend’s SVRA
Mid-Ohio Vintage Grand Prix.
Sandridge
also won his third straight pole earlier in the weekend in his No. 49 white and
red-and-yellow striped No. 49 Cayman S, which is themed after his 1994 IMSA
Champion Team Salad Porsche 911 RSR.
“What
a fun day and a great weekend,” Sandridge said. “The pressure from Lee
Davis was incredible. Every time I would turn a great lap he was
right there with me, we had a great time racing each other today and it is just
fun to end up in first place here.”
Sandridge
and Davis, along with their respective teammates and pro coaches Varde and Ryan
Eversley, were the main players in one of the closest enduro races in the
history of the Cayman Intereseries.
“At
the start of the enduro it was pretty neat,” Sandridge said. “Lee Davis got
ahead of me, I followed him for a lap or two, then we went up through the
Keyhole Turn together and he got sideways just a little bit. So coming
out of the Keyhole, we were toe-to-toe, tail-to-tail, and I just got him there
on the straight. From there on I just put my nose down and boogied. I had
a great time.”
Sandridge
later turned the No. 49 over to Varde just after Davis handed off his black and
red No. 33 Cayman S, which pays tribute to the Advan Porsche 956s and 962s, to
Eversley.
“Ryan
got in some traffic from some of the fast cars that go down the straight pretty
quick but then kind of brake check you in the brake zone,” Varde said. “I
kind of took advantage of that and that’s how I go by him on the last lap at
the end of the straightaway.”
Varde
led only the race’s final lap but it was amazing, as it turns out, that
Eversley was able to hold him off as long as he did.
“I
had contact with a slower Sports 2000 car that hurt our right front and we
later found out that the rear sway bar had a broken mount and was just kind
dangling there too,” Eversley said. “The car was a real handful and
now we know why. It felt good holding him off like I did but now we know why
the car was so diabolical.”
Davis
finished second in both Sunday races but scored a victory of his own in
Saturday’s opening sprint race of the weekend. That race also came down
to a duel with Sandridge.
“I
was able to get by Mark at the start and managed to stay in front of him the
entire race,” Davis said about his Saturday victory. “It wasn’t easy, but
it was really fun, and it is an absolute blast racing with Mark and Joe these
days. It seems like every time we have a race the two of us are right
there battling it out.”
 While
Davis, the reigning Cayman Interseries Champion, and Sandridge have become the
standout series regulars this year, a new threat may have emerged this weekend
at Mid-Ohio. Racing newcomer Bob Schneider drove the first three
races of his career at Mid-Ohio, including co-driving with Jack Baldwin in the
enduro, and finished on the podium in all three races.
“This
was just all about learning the track and learning to race and I had a ball,”
Schneider said. “Everybody was great, Jack Baldwin is a great teacher,
and it was a wonderful experience. It was a lot more than what I
expected. This was my first race. I actually started driving on tracks
just six months ago.”
Schneider
gave the Porsche Cayman S used in the Cayman Interseries high marks. The No. 26
Cayman S he drove this weekend carries the livery of the 1998 Le Mans-winning
Porsche GT-1.
“To
be able to get in this car for the first time, never having driven a Cayman
before, only having come to this track a couple of times, and to be able to get
it around at a pace that was competitive has everything to do with the car and
very little to do with me,” Schneider said. “
Among
the highlights of Schneider’s weekend was a great battle with Bill Riddell
for third in Sunday’s sprint. Schneider slipped by Riddell’s green and
white striped Cayman S, which pays tribute to a David Piper Racing Porsche
917K, for the final podium spot just two laps from the finish.
Riddell
finished fourth in both Sunday races, including a solo run in the enduro, and
joined Schneider as the recipients of the weekend’s Hoosier Tire Performance
Awards. Schneider was awarded a pair of Hoosier R6 tires for hitting the
podium in his debut race on Saturday while Riddell was presented with his pair
of tires in recognition for the strong showing in the enduro.
Randy
Cassling
in his yellow, black and red No. 18 Cayman S in the colors of the Le Mans
winning factory Shell Porsche 962s, completed the top-five in both Sunday
races. Cassling was competing this weekend alongside his wife Lori Cassling,
the couple’s first race together since the Sebring opener, although Randy
Cassling did compete on his own at The Mitty at Road Atlanta in April. Lori
Cassling drives the popular No. 23 “Pink Pig” Cayman S that carries the
distinctive pink livery of the unique, one-off Porsche 917/20 that raced in the
1971 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Another
top-five showing during the weekend was turned in by Jim Thomason who
drove his pink and white No. 9 Cayman S, themed after the Blaupunkt/Joest
Racing Porsche 962C that was driven to at third-place finish in the 1989 24
Hours of Le Mans by Hans Stuck and Bob Wollek, to a fourth-place
finish in Saturday’s sprint. Riddell finished fifth in that race.
Among
the upcoming events scheduled for the Cayman Interseries is the Porsche
Rennsport Reunion IV, at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, October 14 – 16. North
America’s premier celebration of Porsche’s illustrious racing history, the
Rennsport Reunion promises to be the biggest race event to date in the brief
history of the Cayman Interseries. The weekend offers a unique and rare event
that reunites the cars and drivers that together have written Porsche’s
motorsports history during the last 60 years. The Cayman Interseries is an
ideal addition in that it symbolically continues the rich history of many of
these famous race cars. The deadline for any submitted entries is June 30, just
a few days away. Visit the Competition section of www.CaymanInterseries.org
for additional information and online registration forms.
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 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.
|
