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< Back to News Home Team Sahlen Tests Successfully In Preparation for ROLEX 24 Hour At Daytona

Posted (01/20/2007) - Team Sahlen recently headed down to Daytona for a very successful practice tests on their four cars in anticipation for the ROLEX 24 Hour. Their two Porsche GT3s, their Pontiac GTO and their brand-new Hoerr Racing GBM Corvette all tested great!

Because the team plans to bring both of their Hoerr HRPWorld.com Corvettes to the ROLEX 24 Hour, drivers Joe Nonnamaker, Will Nonnamaker, Wayne Nonnamaker and Joe Sahlen focused mostly on racing the No. 43 Corvette.

The four drivers also tested with the No. 49 Pontiac GTO. Because of its tube frame platform and General Motor V8 engine, the GTO mimics the feel and drive of the Corvette. It was previously raced by Horizon Motorsports and was the original car built to Spec 2 rules for the Grand American Rolex Series..

In response to the testing, Will Nonnamaker was confident in what the Corvette can do at the ROLEX 24 Hour and acknowledges the success Hoerr Racing cars have had in the past. "This is a brand-new chassis," Nonnamaker says. "This is the first car Hoerr Racing built to Prep 2 rules. Everyone's talking about the new Crawfords, Rileys and Pratt & Millers in GT, but they can't forget the success Hoerr Racing has had in the past in American Challenge, GTO and Trans-Am. They were dominant for many years."

Wayne Nonnamaker responded just as confidently to the car's success and gave more background to what still needs to be done before the Corvette races in the 24 Hour. "This chassis was built by Georgian Bay Motorsports off of the Hoerr Racing design platform. They did an excellent job of getting it right the first time. The packaging of the parts in the car and the overall aesthetics are excellent," he said. "The car had never turned a wheel before this weekend but it performed great this weekend. We fine tuned some handling issues and by the end of the weekend we had a car that was extremely stable. With some additional little tweaks I think we can have a very fast car."

The drivers in the Porsches got plenty of seat time to acclimate themselves with the track and their car for some very good testing results.

Drivers Robb Brett, father-son team Jim and Bob Michaelian, Tom Malloy and Ernie Becker tested in the No. 41 Porsche.

John Mayes, David Kaemmer, Michael Auriemma and Chris Wilcox tested in the No. 42 Porsche.

Matt Varsha, son of long-time Motorsports announcer Bob Varsha, will also drive for the team.

With such a large group of drivers everyone walked away with a good taste of what to expect from their vehicles come the ROLEX 24 Hour.

Mike Thomas, the team's Crew Chief for fourteen years said, "We rotated through a cast of over ten drivers this weekend. Our regular cast of drivers was joined by some new faces as well as some drivers that are returning for their second or third race with the team. They all did an excellent job of getting up to speed. We ended the weekend with no significant crash damage on the two Porsches which will allow us to go home and replace nearly every rotating part on the car so we are ready for a 24 Hour race."

As the 24 Hour nears and both drivers and crew prepare, Team Sahlen can show up race day confident in how they can perform with these cars.

Team Sahlen's races with the support of HRPWorld.com, GOJO, Kempthorn AutoMall, HAWK Performance, Forgeline, Cool Suit, TheRaceSite.com, TheRaceMarket.com, Grassroots Motorsports, HOTSEAT, Holliday Canopies, CORSA, Alcon, CM Racing, Endurance Karting and Racetech Seats.
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