Memo Gidley got the call last week for what he has been waiting for a long, long time. Team owner Kevin Doran of Doran Enterprises called Memo and asked if he was interested in doing laps this week in his Doran Ford GT during the HSR Classic 24 Hour at Daytona presented by IMSA.
“My old team owner called me and asked if I was interested in doing laps back at Daytona,” said Memo. “I immediately responded YES! Some people think I have a memory of my Daytona accident and I may be hesitant about getting back on the track. In actuality, it is the opposite. I have been waiting nearly four years for this opportunity!”
Kevin built this Ford GT in 2008 and the team competed in the IMSA series. Doran Racing is competing this weekend in the Daytona 24 Hour race for classic cars and the Doran Ford GT is still one very fast 600HP race car and people like to see it run. Gidley will be sharing the Ford GT with his old Doran teammate, Brad Jaeger, and also world famous driver Lyn St. James.
“I am excited to be back on Daytona a track I love. And also to be around IMSA and the people at Daytona who I enjoy and respect so much,” said Memo. “And my past Daytona Prototype teammate and friend, Brad Jaeger, and the talented legend and my friend Lyn St. James… awesome!”
Memo was cleared to drive almost a year ago and immediately was back in his go kart running laps. Then a few months ago, a car testing opportunity opened up in a Porsche GT3R with TKO Motorsports of Reno, NV. That impressed TKO enough to sign Gidley to do the PWC season finale at Sonoma Raceway a few weeks ago. Then, a week later, Memo was asked to drive the IMSA Continental Challenge race at Laguna Seca with Seattle based team, USA Motorsports, in their Maserati GT4 car.
“My passion for racing and how I feel in the car makes me want to get back out there and show what I can do,” said Gidley. “After my accident, the recovery and what I was going through was very difficult. But my passion for racing is stronger. I am back and I just need opportunities to show this. I look forward to my future.”