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Virginia International Raceway 2003

VIR 400

05/10/2003

Bell Motorsports Captures Points Lead

Bell Motorsports Captures Points Lead With VIR 400 Victory

Bell Motorsports has been in search of the Daytona Prototype points lead all season long, and the team finally moved to the front of the class with its victory in the VIR 400 at Virginia International Raceway on Sunday. Andy Pilgrim started the No. 54 Chevy Doran JE4 Daytona Prototype on the pole and Terry Borcheller captured the chequered flag 400 kilometers and 77 laps later.

The No. 54 Chevy's boost into the points lead was due in part to the troubles suffered by the No. 58 Red Bull Porsche FABCAR Daytona Prototype of Brumos Racing. The Porsche fell victim to suspension damage early in the race, which dropped it several laps behind, and had its fate sealed when it was involved in a multi-car pile up with only 15 laps remaining in the race.

The Brumos Racing No. 59 Porsche had been leading the race prior to the pile-up, but ducked into the pits for a splash of fuel and a new front right tyre, giving the lead over to Borcheller in the No. 54 Chevy. Only three turns later Borcheller was able to manoeuvre the No. 54 machine around the three-car collision to smooth sailing to the chequered flag.

Haywood was able to hold onto second place overall, despite a serious threat from Darren Law in the G&W Motorsports No. 8 BMW Picchio DP. Law pressured Haywood throughout the final laps but could never get around the No. 59 Porsche and took home third-place honours.

Ferrari of Washington won the Acxiom Grand Touring Challenge bonus of $4,000 with its fifth-place finish overall and GT class victory. Drivers Brent Martini and Cort Wagner led the class for every lap of the race, sailing to a multi-lap lead over the second-place No. 69 BMW M3 of Brian Cunningham and Hugh Plumb. The No. 98 Porsche GT3 RS of Larry Schumacher and BJ Zacharias finished third in class after being involved in the late-race multi-car accident.

Two GTS teams celebrated in Victory Lane at VIR. The ICY/SL Motorsports team scored their first-ever Rolex Series victory, winning the GTS class with its No. 06 Corvette of Paul Alderman, Steve Lisa and David Rosenblum.

While David Machavern and Tommy Riggins took home second-place honours, the pair also clinched the GTS championship for the Heritage Motorsports No. 48 Mustang. The two will now try to secure a tie in the GTS driver champion at the Grand American Championship Weekend in Daytona next month.

The Derhaag Motorsports No. 40 Corvette of Simon Gregg and Kenny Wilden finished third in the GTS class. The No. 40 machine had held a strong lead in the class until losing its engine late in the race.

The lone SRPII entry, the G&W Motorsports No. 12 Nissan Lola of Davy Jones, Robert Prilika and Danny Marshall, finished eighth overall.

Terry Borcheller (No.54 Bell Motorsports Chevrolet Doran):
We were catching Hurley late in the race. When it was green, we were catching him about a half-second a lap, and I was just trying to be patient with traffic. I got together with Darren. Other than that, I had no altercations. I thought he saw me. He would have let me in if he saw me, but he said he didn't see me. Other than that, I was just being cautious and careful, and we were still catching him about a half second a lap and we would have caught him before the end. On the last restart, the words in my head were 'Don't look back.' Just keep trucking. I knew Bill Auberlen was there actually, I was glad he was there, because he had gotten around Hurley and made it a little easier for me at the end. We wanted to put both the Doran cars across the finish line at the same time. Our strategy was great, and Bell Motorsports did a great job as always. It came our way, and it couldn't have happened at a better time. I don't know what this does to the 58 car in the points, but I know it hurt them some. The car now to focus on is the 59 car, because they're now also real close.

Forest Barber (No.54 Bell Motorsports Chevrolet Doran):
I've certainly got mixed emotions, but the result is what we were looking for. We tried to put together the best program for the results. It came our way. I don't know what would have happened if I'd been in the car, but I'm really glad for the finish we had.

Hurley Haywood (No.59 Brumos Racing Porsche Fabcar):
We were just kind of hanging on at the end, and I didn't have anything left for Terry at the end. Second is good, considering everything. The car was really good and the crew did a great job. We just came up a little short. That spoiled my record here -- every race I've been in here, I've won. But second ain't bad.

Darren Law (No.8 G&w Motorsports BMW Picchio):
It went great. I've got to give a big thank you to the whole G&W crew. They worked so hard putting this car back together so we could race, and I would like to thank my co-driver Patrick, who was fast as usual. Both of us ran good and we're up on the podium again. At the end of the race, believe it or not, Hurley had me coming down the straightaway. I was working real hard, making some time on braking and cornering, but as soon as it was time to put the power down, I'd lose the space down the straightaway and couldn't make back up in the brake zone what I lost down the straightaway.

Cort Wagner (No.33 Scuderia Ferrari Of Washington 360GT):
The car was great, no complaints. Unfortunately, we had a lot of yellows, and for a small field, it's disappointing that so many people were taking chances. At the end of the year, championship points mean more now than they did back then. The whole Ferrari of Washington team put together an incredible effort.