Rand Racing - Virginia race 1-2

Virginia International Raceway
race, Sept. 1, 2002

notch another

Rand Racing scored its ninth victory in as many races, winning the SRPII 
class in the Rolex Sports Car Series race at Virginia International Raceway.  
Terry Borcheller and Anthony Lazzaro took the class win and third overall in 
the No. 8 Nissan Lola.  Their teammates Marino Franchitti, Niclas Jönsson and 
Ralf Kelleners were second in class, fourth overall, in the No. 7 Lola.  
After a rainy race week, dry conditions prevailed for the race, staged on the 
picturesque 3.27-mile road course in Alton, Va.

Borcheller started the No. 8 Lola from the class pole and drove the first 
three hours of the five-hour race.  Lazzaro drove for 50 minutes and 
Borcheller returned for the final stint.  Kelleners started the No. 7 car and 
drove the first hour, Franchitti took the next two hours, Jönsson drove the 
fourth hour and Kelleners took the final stint.  The No. 8 car led the No. 7 
for most of the race, as the drivers of the No. 7 car struggled with handling 
problems.  An intense wheel-to-wheel contest developed when Borcheller and 
Kelleners took their final run, trading the lead twice.

Terry Borcheller  "I was hoping that it would rain simply because I had a lot 
of time last night [during a Grand-Am Cup race] in the wet and there 
definitely are some places where you can make up a lot of time if you know 
the rain line.  I had a good race with Ralf at the beginning of the race and 
the yellows kept us close; it was just the way racing should be.  I found out 
one thing for sure - I want him on my team, I don't want to race against him 
because he's tough."

Ralf Kelleners  "Terry did a fantastic job.  To be that consistent for such a 
long time is amazing.  In the beginning of the race he was pulling much 
quicker times than he was at the end, so I guess he was getting tired and 
that's why I had a chance.  We had a little bit of a difference in the cars - 
we were running different shocks and we were down on power so whenever I 
closed up in the race, he pulled away on the straight.  But it was a great 
battle."

Niclas Jönsson  "We finished second in today's car, but I think we had a 
really, really good run today.  Ralf gave Terry a run for the money in the 
last stint, he did a heck of a job.  I just did hardly one stint today, but 
it was a nice run.  As always, the car was very well-prepared, although we 
didn't have the ideal setup today.  Congratulations to Terry and Anthony!"

Marino Franchitti  "We were down on power, so that was obviously the 
difference today.  Ralf drove a tremendous drive and so did Nic, and I think 
as a team effort it was fantastic.  We all did our jobs - the whole team, 
strategy, the mechanics, myself and my teammates - and it shows by the fact 
that even in a slower car we were right there at the end."

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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945