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from Doran Racing
Brian Frisselle Looks ahead to VIR
Gelling Well with Doran Racing and New Teammate, Frisselle Looking to Crack Top 5 at VIR
ALTON, Va, 11 May – Last year, after a strong qualifying effort was thwarted at race time by some bad racing luck, Brian Frisselle finished in seventh place at the Bosch Engineering 250, one of his nine Top 10 finishes on the year. Now hired to partner with Henri Richard to drive Doran Racing’s No. 77 Office Depot machine, Frisselle will look to go even better this year.
Frisselle and Richard, who currently leads the MESCO Rookie of the Year standings, finished in 10th place at the last GRAND-AM Rolex Sports Car Series round in Barber Motorsports Park. That top 10 marked progress on the season, and is their best result together after a trying start to the year in the first two races at Daytona International Speedway and Homestead-Miami Speedway.
It’s a positive sign, but for Frisselle, there still remains a feeling that the final result from Barber Motorsports Park was not indicative of their real pace.
“Barber (Motorsports Park) is a very technical circuit and totally new for Henri. We both had very good pace there, but the timing of our pit stops didn’t work out as well as we hoped it would,” said Frisselle, who got his first-ever laps in a Daytona Prototype at VIR. “10th place, while still being very good, didn’t really show what we can do.”
VIR, a natural terrain road course, should suit both Frisselle and Richard. And with a tweak to the rules that have reduced fuel capacity size, adding new strategy options to the mix with the additional fuel stops, could well play into the hands of the experienced Doran Racing squad.
“I think we are better suited to a track like VIR,” Frisselle said. “Doran Racing has always run well here and Henri (Richard) and I are gelling well as a driver line up, and with the team as well. As always pit stops and luck with yellows will be crucial, and of course the new fuel regulations will be a big unknown in terms of how it will play out strategically. I think having a team like Doran Racing is going to be an advantage as far as how everyone works to find the best strategy, because Kevin (Doran) and Gary (Grossenbacher) have seen and experienced so many rules changes, hopefully that experience will help us this weekend. ”
Should Frisselle crack the Top-5 this weekend, it would mark a career best finish at VIR with his previous best, a sixth place, back in 2008.
“I’ve driven for a fair number of teams, including some with a pretty good history, and I can say that I’m feeling good about here at Doran and driving with Henri," said Frisselle, who owns four Rolex Series victories. "It’s a new situation for me, to be trying to help him do well in the Pro-Am standings and in the Rookie rankings. So, given our result at Barber, I’m hoping that our season really starts here, at VIR and then we can keep building through the next few events and make up some ground in the championship.”
The Bosch Engineering 250 takes place May 14th with television coverage on SPEED at 5:00 PM EDT. |
