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Dempsey, Doornbos in, but others look on

by Lynne Huntting

Actor Patrick Dempsey and Champ Car rookie of the year Robert Doornbos will both have berths in this year's Rolex 24 at Daytona, but other equally recognised names continue to hang around the circuit's paddock looking for a ride at the end of the month.

Dempsey has a lot of spare time these days, with the ongoing Writer's Guild strike shutting down production of his popular TV series, Grey's Anatomy. While he can be seen on the big screen in his latest movie, Enchanted, Dempsey reckons he'll have a lot more time for racing given the current strike situation. He is running with the #40 Hyper Sport Mazda RX-8 in the GT class at Daytona, alongside Joe Foster and Charles Espenlaub and said that, having tested in Florida two weeks ago, he is looking forward to running his first 24-hour race. He will then see how things shake out after the Rolex 24 before he decides how much more Rolex Series racing he will do.

Doornbos, meanwhile, will race against Dempsey in the GT category, having inked a deal with Synergy Racing to share its #81 Porsche GT3 with Steve Johnson, Richard Leitz and fellow Dutchman Patrick Huisman.

Not racing but wistfully hanging out in pit-lane during this weekend's three-day test are several other open-wheel drivers, including Champ Car's Nelson Philippe and Jonathan Summerton, who has been racing A1GP with Team USA. Philippe, who almost went unnoticed because he has cut his long hair, was hanging out with Summerton and his fellow CCWS drivers, agreed with the sometime F3 Euroseries pilot in claiming that he's always wanted to race the Rolex and was checking with teams in hopes of something becoming available at short notice.

The open-wheel drivers hang together during down time at the test, usually in groups of three or more, regardless of which series they currently compete in, catching up after long time, no see. Most ran CART or Champ Car at one time or another, and former CCWS driver AJ Allmendinger admitted that he had really missed his former RuSPORTS team-mate, Justin Wilson, and was glad to see him after a year.

The two are team-mates again at the test, running with Michael Shank Racing, albeit in different cars. Joining Wilson in the #60 is Graham Rahal, the pair waiting to hear whether they will be team-mates with Newman/Haas/Lanigan Racing in next season's CCWS.