Napleton Racing completes Daytona 24H testing
The debuting No. 16 Napleton Racing Porsche Cayman S sets the pace all weekend in new GX Class; David Donohue, Shane Lewis, Dr. Jim Norman and Nelson Canache leave Daytona with confidence.
#16 Napleton Racing Porsche Cayman: Nelson Canache, Shane Lewis, David Donohue, Jim Norman
Eric Gilbert
DAYTONA BEACH, Florida – Napleton Racing and drivers David Donohue, Shane Lewis, Dr. Jim Norman and Nelson Canache capped off a great weekend, January 4 - 6, in the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series GX class at the Roar Before the Rolex 24 with the fastest lap of three-day test session in the new No. 16 Napleton Racing Porsche Cayman S.
The Rolex 24 debuting team turned the top overall GX lap of the weekend with Lewis at the wheel of the No. 16 in Saturday morning’s first test session of the day.
The time of 1:56.167 (110.324 mph) was .425 of a second ahead of the similar BGB Motorsports car and held as the fastest lap of the weekend.
“I couldn’t ask for a better test,” Lewis said. “We went through all kinds of weather conditions and temperature conditions. We tried a lot of different things on the race car and I think we are going to come back with a great package come race day.”
Bringing four new teammates together didn’t slow the No. 16 Porsche Cayman S down. The Napleton Racing team led nearly every practice session at the Roar Before the Rolex 24.
“I’m really excited about the Rolex 24 because the team chemistry is coming together really well,” Norman said. “The team is jelling well, working together well and we are really excited.”
After a great weekend on track in the new GX class, the Napleton Racing team will continue developing the new car until the GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Racing Series season opening Rolex 24 At Daytona, January 26 – 27.
“It was a very valuable test,” said Donohue, the 2009 overall Rolex 24 At Daytona winner. “The car shows speed. There’s a lot of things Napleton needs to do when they get back to the shop, but when we come back at the end of the month we should have a really good kit to go earn another Rolex timepiece.”
Napleton Racing, a fulltime sports car team based out of leading Chicago-area dealership Napleton Porsche of Westmont, earned a pair of GTS-class victories and numerous podium finishes with two different Caymans last year in Pirelli World Challenge competition.
The team updated to GX specifications its Cayman S that was victorious in its first weekend of Pirelli World Challenge competition at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course this past August.
The Napleton Cayman S won Sunday’s final race of the Mid-Ohio weekend’s doubleheader after earning a third-place finish one day earlier in the debut race for both the car and driver Kevin Gleason.
In addition to the Mid-Ohio Pirelli World Challenge success, Napleton Racing also built and at the time maintained the No. 68 Team Hot Wheels™ Cayman S that Jack Baldwin drove to the Pirelli World Challenge GTS victory in April at Long Beach.
The Napleton/ Hot Wheels® combination also produced several other podium finishes and Baldwin and the No. 68 went on to finish third in this year’s GTS season championship.
Napleton Porsche of Westmont also owns and operates the Pirelli Cayman Interseries Endurance Cup Championship that completed its third full season of competition last month at Daytona.
Napleton Racing
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