Terry Borcheller has been a class race leader at Road America. He achieved that in 2001 in a Saleen S7R. Now he wants a podium finish at the same track in a 2005 Saleen. Borcheller, of Gainesville, Ga., will have his chance during an American Le Mans Series race on Aug. 21, sharing driving duty with Johnny Mowlem of London, England.
Borcheller believes recent results and ongoing aerodynamic development of the car should work in the team's favor on the 4.048-mile Road America road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis. He led the GT1 class at the last race, in Portland, Ore., then held second in class until he was caught in another car's crash, knocking him out of the race.
"I'm really happy with how well the car performed the last two races and how much it has improved. We've been only three-tenths [of a second] off the pole time in qualifying in the last two races. We led for 34 minutes at Portland, ran in the top two for almost the whole stint and we actually were in contention to possibly win the race," he noted.
"We've done more aero work because of the high speeds at Road America; hopefully we'll be able to implement some of those improvements. I'm pretty excited to see what we have for Road America."
Borcheller will again join his fan friends for a barbecue on Friday evening at Road America, organized by Wisconsin fan Dale Sanky. The event continues to grow as more enthusiasts attend each year. "It should be bigger and better than ever!" Borcheller predicted.
Do drivers know what's under the hood of the race car? Borcheller does. Since age five, he has been a proponent of K&N Performance Filters, the company that is now his primary sponsor. He has used the company's air filters through his motorcycle, go-kart and sports-car racing career.
"I sat on a mini-bike for the first time when I was five, in 1971. From that point on, as soon as I got into motorized vehicles, I recognized the K&N logo. I knew that was always the filter to have on my bikes. As far back as I can remember, they've always been washable filters and it's very easy to do. When I was 10, 11 and 12, I was washing my own filters and re-oiling them. They're very economical," he said.
"They're the best filters on the market because they flow the most air with the least amount of resistance and have the best filtration. They're in some of the fastest cars in road-racing with the IRL [Indy Racing League] and they're also involved in some of the most grueling races like the Baja 500 and 1000 – they always do very well in Baja on the bikes and on the trucks. They're everywhere! Anybody that runs a race and needs the best performance from an air filter and maximum protection is always going to have K&N."
details (CT)
The American Le Mans Series race is scheduled for Sunday, Aug. 21 from 2 pm to 4:45 pm (3 pm to 5:45 pm ET) on the 4.048-mile Road America road course in Elkhart Lake, Wis. The race will be televised live on Speed Channel from 2 pm to 5 pm (3 pm to 6 pm ET). Live timing/scoring and audio will be available at americanlemans.com.
