Grand-Am

Phoenix: Terry Borcheller race report

early lead Terry Borcheller posted a strong performance in the Rolex Sports Car Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday. He led early and set the fastest lap in the two-hour 45-minute race, but ultimately settled for fourth in ...

Published: May 5, 2003, 7:14 PM

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early lead

Terry Borcheller posted a strong performance in the Rolex Sports Car Series race at Phoenix International Raceway on Saturday. He led early and set the fastest lap in the two-hour 45-minute race, but ultimately settled for fourth in the Daytona Prototype class.

Driving on his home track, Borcheller qualified second in the No. 54 Bell Motorsports Doran JE4 with a time of 57.3 seconds on the 1.51-mile infield road course, just two-tenths of a second off the pole position time.

He grabbed the lead on the first lap of the race and held it through most of his first stint, until contact from behind by another prototype car spun him back to third. He recovered quickly, losing only 10 seconds to the incident. Forest Barber of Fort Worth, Tex., drove the second stint and Borcheller returned for the final drive. He set the fastest race lap in the final stint and secured the fourth-place class finish.

"The first hour was excellent!" Borcheller enthused. "The frustrating part of the race was that we kind of beat ourselves. But the car ran pretty flawlessly through the practices and the race, which is a testament to the work Doran Enterprises and Bell Motorsports have done over the last few weeks. Now we're ready to do some testing to get the car faster."

double stinting

Borcheller and Barber started the day with a race in the Grand-Am Cup series, driving the No. 54 Bell Motorsports BMW M3. Barber qualified eighth and the pair finished sixth in the GS II class.

"The strategy in the Cup race is different," Borcheller explained. "The prototype car is so physically demanding to drive, it would be too tough to double-stint. But the Cup car is much easier to drive, so we can double-stint in the GSII car if we need to. We're still struggling with a fuel pickup problem, but the Bell Motorsports crew will have it fixed by the next race."

next races

Borcheller and Barber will race both cars again on May 18 at Barber Motorsports Park in Birmingham, Ala.

-sp-

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