Utah: Doran Racing No. 78 race report

Ave, Kuttner and Gue Finish 19th In Rolex Series Season Finale At Miller Motorsports Park Saturday In Doran Racing's DORAN JE4 Pontiac No. 78

TOOELE, Utah, Sept. 2 - After starting 23rd, the red Doran Racing DORAN JE4 Pontiac No. 78 finished 19th in the nine-hour Discount Tire Sunchaser Rolex Series season finale Saturday on the longest road course in the nation at Miller Motorsports Park.

Drivers Tony Ave of Mooresville, N.C., Oliver Kuttner of Charlottesville, Va. and James Gue of Athens, Ga. experienced some brake problems with their car, which carried advertising for two Web sites: yououghttoknowthis.com and nycshuttle.com, as well as Venom Synthetic Lubricants. Ave had a little contact and Kuttner spun once, so all three drivers were glad that they were able to soldier on and finish the grueling race on the 4.486-mile road course.

The car ran in 18th or 19th place for a full two-thirds of the race, which was broadcast on SPEED.

The Michael Shank Racing No. 60 of Mark Patterson and Oswaldo Negri won. For more information see doranracing.com and grandamerican.com.

Driver post-race quotes follow:

Tony Ave: "I didn't have any incidents to speak of during my first stint. The No. 17 GT car ran into the side of me, but it didn't hurt us. It just bent the wheel a little but we were OK.

"The track got dirty. You really couldn't go off line; there was a lot of rubber and trash off line.

"In the afternoon I was passing the 21 BMW in the kink over there and he got into my left rear. I think it bent the toe-in a bit, and I had to get a new tire.

"The problem we had was no brakes. I didn't have any at the beginning of that second stint and they got worse. I'd do one relatively fast lap and then I had to slow down and try to get the brakes back.

"That last stint was the hardest one I've ever had driving at night. I was thinking at the end of an ATV race I was in once when I was a kid, and all the track lights went out. That was the only time that was worse than this."

Oliver Kuttner: "I spun off. I never hit anything, but I couldn't see and I ran off the track two more times because I couldn't find the track. The crew teased me and said I shouldn't try to take soil samples from each corner.

"The brakes came back for me. I think they got better as my session went on because there was less heat in them because I was going slower than Tony and James.

"I was put in my place today, but that's OK. I had plenty of fun."

James Gue: "We had a few brake issues and some contact that didn't help. The car ran flawlessly. It was a little off the pace, but the crew did a great job."

-credit: doran racing