Bell Motorsports to field 2003 Daytona Prototype

Diversity, experience make up Bell Motorsports Daytona Prototype team.

DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (September 23, 2002) -- Bell Motorsports recently announced its plans to field a Daytona Prototype for the 2003 Rolex Sports Car Series season. The team's driver lineup and engineering support brings together diversity as well as expertise from throughout the world of racing.

Doran Enterprises is currently constructing the Daytona Prototype for Bell Motorsports. Principal Kevin Doran's years of sports car experience and success played heavily on the team's decision to select him as their constructor. This year he was part of his fourth Rolex 24 At Daytona-winning team.

"Kevin Doran has a lot of experience and integrity as a car owner and builder. He has built some great cars that have been very successful, and I thought it was the right choice to make," said car owner and driver Forest Barber of the team's decision.

Bell Motorsports' Doran JE4 will utilize a Chevrolet engine and bodywork stylings. "We will most likely go with a Corvette package for the esthetic properties of the car with the Chevy engine," explained Doran, who will also produce a Toyota-powered Doran JE4 for Oliver Kuttner of Pegasus Racing.

While Doran's ingenuity will go into the construction of the Daytona Prototype, it will be the engineering wizardry of Jim Bell that maintains the race car throughout the year.

"I have worked with Jim Bell since 1997 and been involved with his teams since '98. Since my involvement with him, I have won three championships with me driving and him engineering," remarked Borcheller. "For me, it's a tremendous asset to have him engineering the car. Not only is he a world-class engineer that would normally cost a team quite a bit to keep on staff, but I already have a good rapport, reputation and communication with him."

Borcheller also brings a wealth of racing experience to the Bell Motorsports driver lineup. He captured the inaugural Rolex Series GTS driver championship in 2000 and is currently on his way to this year's SportsRacing Prototype II championship, leading the driver standings by 24 points with one race remaining in the season.

When not racing around the track, Borcheller is teaching others to do so. "Terry was my mentor and coach in the Ferrari Challenge series," explained Barber. "I had never raced cars until I entered the Ferrari Challenge series. Since I was a blank page when he came along, he kind of got to mold me into a driver. He has been an extraordinary individual to work with."

Although Barber was a novice to auto racing when the two met, he was no stranger to high-speed action. Barber is a former offshore powerboat racer. "We had a terrific team and won several national championships and world championships. We set some speed records that may still be in place," Barber explained.

Having conquered the water, Barber is now ready to take on the road. "I enjoy the challenge of testing myself and finding new limits," he remarked. "The Daytona Prototypes seem like a more affordable way to be racing in the top class with pro drivers. It was the quickest way to obtain a possible dream of mine to win the Rolex 24 At Daytona."

While eagerly awaiting their first chance to slide behind the wheel of a Daytona Prototype, Barber and Borcheller are already getting a taste of victory together in the Grand-Am Cup Series. The duo has teamed in the Bell Motorsports #54 BMW M3 this season and recently picked up their second GS II win of the season at the Mont-Tremblant 250.

Information regarding the Daytona Prototypes, including complete rules, a listing of authorized constructors, renderings and photos, is available on the Grand American website at www.grand-am.com.

-grand am-