Vanderbilt engineering grad Brad Jaeger will be behind the wheel of Doran Racing’s #77 Kodak Ford Doran/Dallara at this weekend’s Mexico City 250, part of the Rolex Sports Car Series season.
Jaeger is co-driver with Memo Gidley, who won this race in 2005. This gives the Gidley-Jaeger team the advantage of a driver who has raced previously – and done well – on the highly-technical 2.5-mile, 14-turn Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez road circuit.
On-track action for the Mexico City 250, round two of the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series, begins with several practice sessions on Thursday, April 17.
Doran Racing is putting a second car in the race – #47 BSI/CDOC/Anasten Plus Ford Dallara.
“I’m excited to be racing at the Autodromo Hermanos Rodriguez this weekend because I always enjoy the challenge of learning a new track,” says Jaeger.
“I downloaded a video game of the track which seems quite detailed and should help me get up to speed in the limited amount of practice time available. We had a really fast car in the last race at Miami and with the team running two cars this weekend, it doubles the amount of setup data we generate and increases the competitiveness of both cars,” he says.
Jaeger’s co-driver Memo Gidley says the track is interesting. “It’s a really challenging track that is quite modern with lots of runoff areas, good curbing, a really long and technically challenging series of esses and the ‘parabolica’ banked turn,” says Gidley.
The #77 car is a Doran chassis fitted with Dallara bodywork featuring enhanced aerodynamics and increased downforce. Both cars are powered by 500 horsepower Roush-Yates Ford V-8 engines.
On-track action for the Mexico City 250, round two of the 2008 Rolex Sports Car Series begins with several practice sessions on Thursday, April 17.
The unique Rolex Series qualifying session – expanded from its usual 15 minutes to 20 minutes for Mexico City – takes
place from 11:40 a.m. to 12 noon on Friday, April 18, with the 250 mile/1900-laps/2 ¾-hour race scheduled to take the green flag at 3:15 p.m., Saturday, April 19. TV coverage on SPEED begins at 4 p.m. EDT.
Jaeger, a Cincinnati native, studied mechanical engineering at Vanderbilt University, graduating Magna Cum Laude in May 2007. He is a member of the Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) and while at Vanderbilt, Jaeger was an active member in Vanderbilt’s Formula SAE program, designing and fabricating an open-wheel race car each year. Since graduating, he has worked as an engineering assistant for Doran Racing.
His racing resume includes karting, Sports 2000, Skip Barber, F2000, Star Mazda and the Indy Pro Series. He co-drove his first prototype race for the Doran team in the 2007 season finale at Miller Motorsport Park.
Media Contact: Brenda Ellis, (615) 343-6314
Brenda.ellis@vanderbilt.edu