Terror Turns Into Desire for Doran
Racing’s Brix
At the EMCO Gears Classic
By Linda Mansfield
“I
am going to die!”
That
was Harrison Brix’s initial reaction
as four Daytona Prototypes bore
down on his Grease Monkey Racing Porsche
GT3 Cup car on the backstretch of the Mid-Ohio
Sports Car Course in the 2004 EMCO Gears
Classic.
Although
there was quite a bit of difference in the
top speeds of a Daytona
Prototype and the top speeds of a SGS car,
happily Brix did survive. He and
co-driver Gene Sigal actually finished fifth
in the SGS class that day.
“It
was the first Rolex Series race I’d
ever run, and it was tough,” Brix
recalled. “The car rolled out for
practice and practically burned to the
ground. They made repairs, and the first
time I drove it was during qualifying.
“The
first time I actually saw a Daytona Prototype
while I was driving was
during the race, and when that pack came
down on me it was unnerving, to say the
least,” he added. “I’d
never seen them coming at me in my mirrors
before.
“After
I got over my initial terror, I thought,
‘I have to drive one of
those,’” Brix added.
Fast-forward
two years and Brix is doing just that. He’ll
share the Feeds the
Need Racing/Doran Racing Kodak EasyShare
DORAN JE4 Ford with Terry Borcheller
here in this year’s EMCO Gears Classic.
The yellow and black No. 77 carries
the colors of the Kodak EasyShare System,
Amp’d Mobile and SIRIUS.
Although
Brix, of San Jose, Calif., is in his first
full season of Rolex
Series competition, Borcheller, of Vero
Beach, Fla., has been a star of the series
since its inception. He won the Daytona
Prototype driver championship in
2003. He and his main co-driver that year,
Forest Barber, won this race that
year in another DORAN JE4 fielded by Bell
Motorsports.
This
weekend will mark Brix’s first race
in the Daytona Prototype class at
Mid-Ohio, and he’s really looking
forward to it. He has two terrific mentors
to
help him get adjusted in Borcheller and
the team owner, Kevin Doran.
Anyone
looking for a team from Ohio to root for
doesn’t have to look any
further than the Doran Racing squad. The
team is located in Lebanon, Ohio, a
suburb of Cincinnati. The car was even built
there as part of the work of a
sister Doran Enterprises company, Doran
Designs.
“Mid-Ohio
is Doran’s home track, and whenever
you drive for a team at its
home track, it’s important to have
a good result,” Brix pointed out.
Everyone
on the team will be trying their best to
achieve just that in both
the 30-minute Daytona Prototype race on
Friday and Saturday’s EMCO Gears
Classic, when the Daytona Prototypes and
the GT cars run simultaneously.
And
this year, it’ll be Brix’s turn
to bear down on the slower class.
Internet
users can follow the team throughout the
year through its Web site
at doranracing.com. All the Rolex Series
races are also broadcast on SPEED.
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