Grand-Am
SCC: Fontana: Terry Borcheller preview
Most drivers give their sponsors race reports. Terry Borcheller gives his sponsor two races. The Gainesville, Ga., driver will compete in the Rolex Sports Car Series and Grand-Am Cup races at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on April 2 and 3 ...
Edited: Dec 21, 2009, 5:26 AM
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Most drivers give their sponsors race reports. Terry Borcheller gives his sponsor two races. The Gainesville, Ga., driver will compete in the Rolex Sports Car Series and Grand-Am Cup races at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif., on April 2 and 3 -- just 15 miles from the corporate headquarters of his primary personal sponsor, K&N Performance Filters.
"It's good to race in K&N's backyard. Both of my race cars will carry K&N stickers, and we'll have a special event with them on Wednesday after the race (April 6). I'm excited to do some things with them off the track," Borcheller said.
driver change
Borcheller will drive the No. 54 Bell Motorsports/Feeds the Need Pontiac-Doran JE4 in the Fontana Rolex Series race with Ralf Kelleners of Dusseldorf, Germany. Kelleners replaces Christian Fittipaldi of Key Biscayne, Fla., who will switch to a Pontiac-Riley for the race. Borcheller and Kelleners have driven together for many years in both the Rolex Series and the American Le Mans Series.
"The addition of Ralf Kelleners is great. He's an awesome driver and a good friend," Borcheller noted. "I'm going to miss Christian, and I'm a little bit envious that he's going to be able to drive a Riley, because I'd like to see what it's like."
weight loss
The Bell Motorsports crew is working hard to make the Bell/FTN Doran lighter and faster. Borcheller is encouraged by the team's performance in the previous race, at Homestead-Miami Speedway in Florida, but he acknowedged the competition is steep.
"The chassis is definitely overweight. It was heavy originally because it was the first chassis built by Doran. We lost weight last year, but some updates done over the winter added weight and now we're starting over again. We have gone through every piece of the car trying to shed weight," he noted.
"I know that Jim Bell [team owner] and the team have worked real hard. If we can shed the weight and keep moving forward, it's possible we could have a good result. But it's a little scary because everything that could have gone our way at Homestead did and we were sixth, so that's a little frustrating."
Cup return
Borcheller will return to the Grand-Am Cup series for two races, starting at Fontana, driving the No. 33 Nissan 350Z with Mike Cronin, Jr. of La Verne, Calif. Borcheller said the Performance Nissan Racing team met his criteria for both performance and fun.
"It seems to be a very friendly, fun atmosphere. I like that environment, especially with the stress that's happening with the [Rolex Series] prototype class. It's cool to be able to go and run the Grand-Am Cup. I've really missed it. I made up my mind at the end of last season that I wasn't going to do just anything; it needed to make sense in a lot of different directions. These two races make sense for me, and I hope it will continue."
and ...
Borcheller will do triple duty at Fontana, as driver in two series and coach in a third. In addition to his Rolex Series and Grand-Am Cup drives, he will be coaching John Krieg of Dallas, who is competing in the Ferrari Challenge Series.
details (PT)
The Grand-Am Cup race is set for Saturday, April 2 from 2:45 pm to 5:45 pm and the Rolex Sports Car Series race is scheduled for Sunday, April 3 from 1 pm to 3:45 pm, both on the 2.8-mile California Speedway infield road course in Fontana, Calif. The Rolex Series race will air live on Speed Channel on Sunday, April 3 from 1 pm to 4 pm (4 pm to 7 pm ET).
-sp-
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