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Barber Dodge Competitor Testing Starts Feb. 2 & 3

30 January 1998

SEBRING, Fla. - With competitor testing scheduled to begin February 2 and 3, Martin Stenshorne, Gregg Borland and the latest "Big Scholarship" winner, Shane Donley, head the list of the first group of Barber Dodge drivers to begin Reynard Dodge testing prior to the March 21 Sebring season-opener. Said Pro Series Manager Steve Sewell, "Ive booked the Sebring test circuit for every Monday and Tuesday of February so that every driver will get four test days prior to the opener." There are no vacant seats as all 30 Reynard Dodges have been accounted for through at least the first six events.

Rocky Moran, Jr., 1997 Rookie of the Year Nicolas Rondet and Todd Snyder are set for the first days in their cars Feb. 16 and 17, along with "dark horse" Giovanni Anapoli, while Alex Gurney, Jon Fogarty, Samer Hindi, Will Langhorne and 1996 championship runner-up Thomas Schie get their first taste a week later.

The FIA-standards crash test in England of the Reynard Dodge is scheduled for April but an unscheduled "test" has already occurred: two weeks ago, one of the test drivers, in middling damp/dry conditions at Moroso, stuffed it in the fast (120 mph) Esses complex. Broke the car in halfbut exactly where and how it was supposed to. "Yep, it was a big shunt, but the motor sheared from the tub exactly as it was designed to, said Sewell. "We had the car back together less than 30 hours later, no tub damage. Over the years, whenever we crashed one of the space-frame Barber Dodges in that corner, invariably they were write-offs."

Round 1 of the 1998 SCCA Pro Racing-sanctioned Barber Dodge Pro Series is Saturday, March 21, just before the start of the 12 Hours of Sebring Presented by the Chrysler Corporation. The ESPN2 telecast of the Barber Dodge race is TBA.