GT Academy team takes solid sixth place finish in Doran 370Z NISMO at Daytona CTSCC opener

DAYTONA, Fla. – NISMO athlete and 2011 Nissan GT Academy champion Bryan Heitkotter was looking for a solid start to the 2015 season. With a new co-driver in his first American race and a new car at the 3.56-mile Daytona International Speedway course, however, he wasn’t sure how it would all turn out.

After 150 minutes of racing, Heitkotter brought the Doran Racing GT Academy #41 Nissan 370Z NISMO home a solid sixth in the opening round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (CTSCC) season. The team was happy with the result.

“The 370Z was even more competitive against the V8-powered cars here at Daytona than I thought it would be,” said Heitkotter. “Doran sets the car up very well, as always, and Nick (McMillen) had a solid stint and left a strong car for me to take home to the finish. This is a very competitive class with a lot of good cars. I think we’re going to have a good year.”

For 2013 GT Academy North America Champ McMillen, his first U.S. race exceeded his expectations.

“The start here was crazy with all those cars spreading out all over the place, and I lost a few positions right away,” the 22-year old Oregon native said. “Once I settled down and got into my rhythm, things went much better and I was able to gain the track position back and stay out of trouble. It was fun out there.”

Doran Racing’s sister car, the #14 Nissan Z piloted by Brad Jaeger and BJ Zacharias was running strong, setting the race’s fast lap with Zacharias driving, shortly before a throttle connector broke and sidelined the car for several laps until the pedal could be replaced. With the car back on the track, the team managed a 15^th place finish in class, gathering valuable points for the season-long championship.

Tim Bell Racing’s (TBR) fortunes were not as good, with Bell starting at the back due to a fire requiring repairs that kept the team from qualifying. After an hour of racing, however, Bell had the car into the top 10 with a strong drive. The car was looking to pull off a great comeback when Bell’s co-driver Charles Espenlaub lost braking on lap 43 due to a broken caliper at the track’s fastest turn, the “Bus Stop” chicane, ending their day in 18^th position. The TBR sister car #29 driven by Bran Kleeman and Brett Sandberg developed cooling problems and retired on lap 40.

The next CTSCC race will be at Sebring in Florida on March 20.

For more information and the latest news about IMSA Racing and the CTSCC, follow the series online at IMSA.com/.

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Contact:

Steve Yaeger, Corporate Communications
Nissan North America, Inc.
615-725-4443
Steve.yaeger@nissan-usa.com