Terry Borcheller - Laguna Seca race

sweet podium

 

Terry Borcheller of Gainesville, Ga., scored a valuable podium finish in the
May 1 Rolex Sports Car Series race at Laguna Seca Raceway. After developing
the first Daytona Prototype car and winning the series championship, the
Bell Motorsports team has struggled to compete with newer cars. Their effort
paid off in the two-hour 45-minute race in Monterey, Calif.

 

Ralf Kelleners of Dusseldorf, Germany, qualified the No. 54 Bell
Motorsports/Feeds the Need Pontiac-Doran JE4 sixth on the 51-car grid with a
lap of one minute 25.073 seconds on the 2.238-mile road course. He started
the race and moved up to third during pit stops before settling in fifth
place. Borcheller took over at 1h40 and passed for third place on the final
race restart, just 20 minutes from the finish.

 

"The team has worked so hard to get the car competitive,  it was really
sweet. It was one of the happiest podiums I can remember – it felt like a
win," Borcheller said. "Ralf drove a killer first part of the race and we
had a really good car. The team really made some big gains with the car. We
need to make the same gains again in order to go for wins."

 

no brakes

 

Borcheller had a tough start to the weekend. He qualified the No. 33 Unitech
Racing Nissan 350Z second on the Grand-Am Cup grid, but was moved to the
back of the field when the car failed technical inspection because it was
five pounds overweight. He fought a brake problem from the start and was
finally forced off-track when the brakes failed just 27 minutes into the
two-hour 30-minute race. His co-driver, Mike Cronin, Jr. of La Verne,
Calif., did not drive.

 

"We had a great qualifying run – the team did a good job giving me a fast
car," he said. "We had signs of an issue with the brakes during practice,
but we thought we got it fixed. In the race, I had to work the brakes more
than normal because we started at the back. I didn't use them up, but the
issue was highlighted by using them so much to pass everyone."

 

medical aid

 

Borcheller fought a viral infection during the race week, but was able to
race because of the ministrations of race physician Dr. Vincenzo Tota.

 

next

 

Borcheller will drive the No. 54 Bell Motorsports/Feeds the Need
Pontiac-Doran in a Rolex Sports Car Series race at le Circuit Mont-Tremblant
on May 21.