Terry Borcheller - Mid-Ohio race

up front

 

Terry Borcheller returned to familiar territory during the Aug. 27 Rolex
Sports Car Series race at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course in Lexington, Ohio. The
Gainesville, Ga., driver came from behind to lead the 44-car field – a
position he frequently enjoyed en route to six professional racing
championships. Unfortunately, an unusual pattern of caution periods thwarted
the team's race strategy, changing the race lead to a 12th-place finish.

 

Borcheller started the No. 54 Bell Motorsports/Feeds the Need
Pontiac-powered Doran JE4 from 11th on the grid, after an abbreviated
qualifying session on the 2.258-mile road course. "We waited in the pits to
try to get an opening for a clean lap," he explained. "On my third timed
lap, I ended up catching a slower car, and then the session was over after
that."

 

The race start was more positive. Borcheller gained two positions before
pitting during an early caution period 30 minutes into the two-hour
45-minute race. He returned to the track 13th in the Daytona Prototype
class, 18th overall, then steadily worked through the field to take the lead
at 1h54.

 

Five caution periods had already slowed the race, so the team planned a
pitstop during the next. Unfortunately, it didn't occur until 2h26, leaving
Borcheller behind the wheel for almost the entire race. With tires and
energy fading, he dropped to fifth, then pitted as the caution started. Ralf
Kelleners of Dusseldorf, Germany, took over and returned to the track in
14th place. During the final 10 minutes of green-flag racing, he moved up to
finish 12th.

 

"The track was almost blocked, so we figured we could get in and out without
losing a lot of track position and lengthen our fuel window," Borcheller
said of the first pitstop. "It kind of backfired on us because there ended
up being a lot of yellows after that. I had a full tank of fuel, so it
didn't make sense to pit, but then it went green forever.

 

"We led a long time, which is good for TV and my sponsors, K&N Performance
Filters and the Bondurant School. I was in there a long time; I was getting
fatigued. And the tires – we ended up doing the whole race on one set! I was
racing with [second-place finisher Scott] Pruett when I had 60, 70 laps on
the tires, and I did my fastest time on lap 70."

 

next

 

Borcheller will cross the border to drive a Saleen S7R in the American Le
Mans Series' only Canadian race, at Mosport International Raceway in
Bowmanville, Ont., on Sept. 4.