Upcoming Race!

This interview was conducted between Gabrielle St. Angelo and Daniel Orr. With his hectic schedule, it's a great way for his fans to catch up with him.

Q. I know that the end of the season is coming up, how many races do you have left?

A. " I have 4 races for sure. My team and I at Daniel Orr Racing are working on a few more."

Q. When is the end of the season?

A. "The last race in the Koni is October 2nd-4th. It's going to be a good one. A 6 hour race at VIR."

Q. In how many classes?

A. " As of now I will be in 2 different classes in 2 different series".

Q.What's your next race?

A. " My next race is Mid Ohio in my first World Challenge Series. I'm excited for that."

Q. Do you get nervous before qualifying?

A. " I think we all do". It's what keeps the edge on.

Q. What do you do to prepare before your race?

A. " The night before I eat as much pasta and drink as much water as I can. The day of the race I try to stay loose. About an hour before I go off myself with my ipod and go over the track in my mind, corner by corner. It helps me to listen to music to almost get a rhythm to the track. So when I'm in the car I can play that in my head and hit smooth lines on the track".

Q. Any superstitions?

A. " I always call my mom 10 minutes before I get in the car to tell her I love her".

Q. What do you in between qualifying and the actual race itself?

A. " It depends. Some races they are both in the same day. So less time to loosen up then get mentally prepared. When qualifying is the day before I just relax and watch other races".

Q. How do you celebrate after a race?

A. " I don't really do to much. Just happy that I finished and it was a clean race".

Q. How much downtime do you have between races?

A. " Normally about 2 weeks, but since I'm trying to run in 2 series about a week.

Q. What do you enjoy doing after the season is over?

A. "I take the first month to see family. The next month and a half I travel to places that I have always wanted to see. Then when I get back I have about a month and a half left to get more sponsors as we get closer to the start of the season in January".

Q. When does the following season begin?

A. " The season for most of us starts in the middle to the later part of January".

Thank you Daniel for letting us know about your next race. You can also follow Daniel Orr Racing on Twitter, http://twitter.com/OrrRacing and on his facebook page, Daniel Orr Racing! Check him out! Til next time race fans..

BMW of Americas Car Control Clinic

This interview was conducted between Gabrielle St. Angelo and Daniel Orr. With Daniels busy race schedule, this is a great way to get in touch with his fans, and hopefully answer all of your questions!

Q. Daniel tell all of your fans what you did last weekend?

A. "This weekend was quite interesting. I was asked to be an instructor for the BMWCCA driving school at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit. The first day out was just instructors and advanced students. Come to find out, I was the engine to the train. What I mean by that, not to many of the instructors or the advanced students knew the correct lines on the track. So by the middle of the second session the whole field was following me. I do have an unfair advantage over them, because I have driven this track for the past 8 years. I have to say, I wish the Koni Challenge would come here".

Q. At which race track is Stephen Brothers?

A. "Stephen Brothers is exclusively at Hallett Motor Racing Circuit in Oklahoma. Over the years I have gotten to know Scott and Connie Stephens very well. So, they offer me subcontracts for the people that want a 1 on 1 lesson".

Q. What qualifications does one need to take the class (if any)?

A. "Really, there aren't any. As long as you have 101 octane in your blood you can join. No really, BMW's are preferred, but not necessary. You do have to have a legal drivers license and just the desire to drive".

Q. How long have you been an instructor at Stephen Brothers?

A. "I have been going to Hallett for about 9 years now off and on. I just started instructing there about 2 years ago as private instructor. Not for Stephens Brothers".

Q. How many people did you instruct? What ages?

A. "There was a large age group at this event. Ranging from 18-45 I would say. What I did at this event was give pointers. Since I was on the track at the same time as the students I would follow them for a few laps then pull them into the pit to let them know what they were doing wrong.

Q. What is included when people sign up for the class?

A. "This event included 2 classrooms. 1 after lunch and 1 at the end of the day. For the most part this is typical for this type of event".

Q. I know the weather was hot in Florida, what were the temperatures at the track?

A. "To be honest, it felt like we were in an oven. Friday the temp was about 100 which made the track temp about 115. As the weekend progressed it just became even more hot. By the time Sunday rolled around the temp was 112 and 120 track temp".

Q. How does that effect your driving and instructing?

A. "Surprisingly enough, we didn't have any major car problems. After a few laps you could feel a little brake fade, but the sessions were only 30 minutes long with 4 groups, so they had time to cool before your next session. As far as the physical part of it. You just had to make sure you drank alot of water. We were not in race cars, so most of the students had their A/C running".

Q What kind of techniques did you teach during the demonstration?

A. "Since this was a car control clinic. I was concentrating on over steer and under steer. These are 2 key points. The reason is because this could happen to you in everyday driving. Those that were advanced and want to learn more about racing. With the limited time I had I started teaching corner entry, corner exit and how to look ahead. Now some of this can't be taught. For example, if you have ever been involved in an accident you say " I was in an accident" not " my car was in an accident". What I'm trying to say here is you are 1 with the car and that's how you have to be when you are racing. You have to know what the car is going to do before it happens. That can't be taught".

Q. How much time is actually spent driving on the track? How much time is spent in a classroom?

A. " This clinic was more track then classroom. We spent 2 hours in the classroom and 5 hours on the track per day".

Q. How many days was the class?

A. "Three 8 hour days".

Q. Any exciting happenings you wanted to mention?

A. "The one thing that stuck out in my mind was that I got black flagged. The last day I put my R compound tires on my BMW to put on the demonstration. Well I guess I scared one of the students that was there on Sunday and did not know who I was. Going in to corner 1 which is a high speed corner. I got 2 wheels off and had just passed him on the front straight in his Corvette. So he came in to complain. After the session was over I found him and said, the reason I went 2 wheels off was to keep the car in control. And if he was present the first 2 days he would have learned that. You never want to go off at an angle if at all possible. You want to keep your wheels straight. Come to a controlled speed where your car is able to turn out of it safely. The reason for this is to reduce the possibility of a rollover, especially in a street car".

Q. How can people find you for a demonstration? Or to teach a driving class?

A. "My website will have the weekends that I'm available for instructing or what tracks I will be attending during my off weekends for DE events".

Q. What kind of certification can people expect after attending your class?

A. "My classes are more geared toward the people that buy high powered cars and want to learn to drive them correctly on the street or track".

Q. What upcoming races do you have scheduled?

A. "My next race will be Mid Ohio August 7-9 in the World Challenge Series. I will be driving a TSX for Branden Peterson Racing. I'm pretty excited for that. The ALMS and IRL will be there as well".

Daniel, thank you for sharing with me and your fans your exciting weekend! Stay tuned for more news from Daniel Orr Racing!

Most Competitive in the U.S.

Just got back from the MidOhio KONI race weekend. Those of you who know the race track know its tagline is, “most competitive in the US.” To some it may be a just tagline, but last weekend I learned there is a bit of truth to it…

For the KONI Challenge, I was paired with John Bosch, who commonly races Next Generation’s #127. We’d been talking about driving together for a while now, and I’m glad Next Gen’s crew chief Jeffrey [Bock] made it happen.

Our first practice session on Friday was rained out. When I finally took to the 2.5-mile, 13-turn MidOhio track for the first time, the track felt great, but I underestimated the power of corner 11. The car got loose on me and I made contact with the tire wall. This caused cosmetic damage to the car. Most competitive indeed! During the next practice session, John also made contact with the wall due to wet track conditions. We were both bitten by MidOhio--but we came back ready to race!

John qualified the car P26 on Saturday. On Sunday, John made up 14 positions, entering the pits in P12. I rejoined the race P 22, advancing to P19. The race went well. I had a few heated battles during my stint. Next Gen set the car up perfectly, though corner 11 kept challenging me.

One big challenge last weekend was the temperature. The day was sunny, warm and humid, and the car was extremely hot inside. Wearing NOMEX full coverage plus a race suit and gloves meant that I was uncomfortable, and this caused me to loose focus (and probably a few lbs!). Gratefully, my team and I are looking at solutions for future races.

Although I felt I could have done better, I was very happy to finish a clean race and earn our 20^th place.

I’ll next join Next Generation Motorsports for the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge at Barber Motorsports Park on Saturday July 18^th, 2009. Come out and see it! For more information, please visit danielorrracing.com.

 

MidOhio

Hey race fans,

Well MidOhio is here and I'm looking forward to a great finish. I think we have all the bugs worked out of my 128 BMW. I bought the crew a few cans of Raid and I think that will do the trick.(smile) S

Stay tuned in to get updates during the race weekend.

Murphy’s Law for Race Car Drivers?

As many of you know, I drive Next Gen’s #128 BMW 330i in the KONI Sports Car Challenge.

Last weekend, there seemed to be a bit of Murphy’s Law going on. First, I found out my scheduled co-driver would not be joining us after all.  Then, after Next Gen handed me a car that felt fantastic during Thursday’s 2-hour practice, the #128 experienced severe engine troubles and it soon became apparent that an engine swap would be needed. For a while it seemed that although I was at the historic Glen and there was a race going on, I may not be racing after all.

Well, teamwork and persistence turned what could have been a disappointing weekend into a solid race experience. First, Next Gen team owner Jeffrey Bock secured Shane Lewis as my co-driver, and I could not have been more pleased. Shane’s pedigree at the race track speaks for itself, and I was elated to have him be my co-driver.

Then, the Next Gen team proceeded to swap out an engine in a matter of hours, so that I did indeed have a car ready to race by the time the checkered flag fell on Friday at 4 PM. I have to hand it to the Next Gen guys--they worked incredibly hard. We didn’t make it to the pre-race autograph session (too bad for me!), but we were there for race start, ready to go. 

Shane started the #128 and got to work, driving very well considering the rain and on-track incidents. There were three cautions in the first 40 minutes! I hopped in during that third caution and drove the rest of the race. I returned to pit row shortly before the end of the race for a bit more fuel, and then it was all the way to the checkered flag, where we landed in 26^th place.

This race was tough for me, but I am very aware that it could not have happened at all had it not been for Next Gen and Shane. I know they gave 110%, and I’m proud to have worked with them at Watkins Glen. I’m not to dwell on past races, so I’m already thinking about MidOhio on June 20^th, 2009. Come by and say hi!

(For more information, please visit danielorrracing.com)

Lime Rock Park Race Lesson

Last weekend's race at Lime Rock was full off-track excursions and on-track incidents. For those of you who don't know, I race with Next Generation Motorsports in the KONI Sports Car Challenge, and last weekend we were at Lime Rock Park, CT. Lime Rock is gorgeous. It was also built over five decades ago, so it's short and challenging.

Team Next Gen worked really hard to get our BMW 330 ready. But, as is often the case with race cars, there were some challenges: we had some suspension and electrical issues. It wasn't really anything major, but the car had a lot of push mid-corner under throttle. Every practice session (there are three) had a challenge to it. The suspension did not feel right; I melted a coil. We spend practice day fine-tuning and the team did great work to figure out what was causing the problems. After that, the car felt very strong.

The day before the race, once the car was ready to go, we applied our sponsor stickers, including my OGRacing stickers. This was the final step -- we were ready to race!

My co-driver for this race was Bob Newman. Bob was scheduled to driver the 128 BMW first (the faster. more experienced driver usually goes 2nd in the KONI Challenge). Bob was not too comfortable with the car, and qualified the car 23^rd of 23 entrants. Part of the challenge of KONI is sharing the car, and dealing with the cards your driver deals you. I was very happy with the car and excited about the BMW’s performance. I love challenge and was looking forward to the good bit of work ahead of me.

Once the race started, Bob came in after 45 minutes for a driver change (KONI races are 2:30 hrs long, and teams generally have each driver complete 1:15 hrs of driving before trading drivers; however, this can vary based on strategy). After hopping in, I focused on working steadily to make up positions. By the time I hopped in the car, there had already been two cautions, and drivers kept dropping wheels and making contact. I just focused on running a clean, incident-free race.  

When I got in the 128 car, we were in 20^th place and 10 laps down. I worked my way up to P18. My best lap was 1:01.032. Considering the circumstances, I was pretty happy with the outcome!

Here's another bit of race wisdom: there is no wasted race. My time on track at Lime Rock was instrumental for me to get familiar with my new car, and to prepare for the Glen in two weeks.

I'm really looking forward to the Grand-Am KONI Sports Car Challenge race at Watkins Glen on June 4-5! I hope you can join me there. In the meantime, check out my web page (danielorrracing.com) or visit my Facebook Page, "Daniel Orr Racing"

See you at the races!

 

 

About me

Hmmmm, about me. Where should I start. Im a laid back, fun loving guy. I have learned over the years that life is to short to be angry all the time. Besides it takes more effert to frawn then it does to smile. When faced with a hurdle, I tend to analyze every situation before I responed. I NEVER jump to conclusions unless my agent forgets my coffee in the morning. On a more personal note, I get dressed from bottom to top. With the exception of shoes of coarse. I tried that a few times, but again to much effert and I have torn a few pair of pants. When I brush my teeth, I start from right to left. I have tried holding the tooth brush still and shaking my head from side to side really fast, but I tend to get slobber and toothpaste all over the batroom and neck pain. Since I'm single, that means I have to clean it up and it's really hard to give yourself a neck massage. So I do it the traditonal way. It might sound like I'm lazy, but I'm really not. I just try to find the easy way to do things. I have some great sponsors. I tried to get Starbucks, but they thought I was a little to relaxed. As you can probally tell, I'm a very positive person and live life to the fullest having fun with every breathe I take. With that I will leave you with a quote I live by " The future belongs to the people that believe in the beauty of their dreams" Thank you for stopping by.