CTSCC: Burton Racing ready to make some moves in Monterey

Monterey, Calif. – After traveling over 2,000 miles across the country and laying down laps in a quick 15-minute qualifying session in sunny Monterey California, Burton Racing is ready to tackle the 11-turn, 2.238-mile circuit and make some solid moves up the traffic-filled field in tomorrow’s Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix Powered by Mazda.

The No. 23 BMW Automotive Chemicals/Excelda BMW 128i of Mike LaMarra and Terry Borcheller will start the third round of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (CTSC) from 15th on the grid, while the sister No. 22 Gold Eagle BMW 128i of Greg Strelzoff and Connor Bloum will start from 24th.

The team’s time in California has been busy with a promoter test day taking on place on Wednesday followed by two quick practice sessions with just a few hours in between to make adjustments ahead of their ST qualifying session. However, the team made the most of the packed schedule, improving both cars between sessions, allowing the drivers to consistently improve lap times.

The packed 33-car ST field presented a unique traffic challenge for both Burton Racing BMWs.

“I just didn’t get quite the lap I wanted,” said LaMarra after qualifying. “I had a really good lap going until Turn 10 and somebody pulled out and I just lost the lap and posted my fastest lap on the third time around, but just couldn’t quite fill that gap I needed to fill. And then we started catching up to traffic and some slower cars so I just couldn’t quite get there. But the car was definitely improving as the session progressed and the guys are working really hard. The car isn’t quite where we want it but I think it is going to be a good car tomorrow. I’m confident in all of the guys and I think tomorrow we can pull some good strategy and score a solid result. Ultimately, it’s a long season and we are focused on that end result, so I have confidence we can do what needs to be done this weekend.”

“The car felt the best it has felt all weekend during qualifying today and I definitely think we are heading in the right direction for the race,” echoed Strelzoff. “I feel like we will be able to move forward during the race tomorrow just like we did during the last practice session. Obviously starting where we are is a bit disappointing, but that’s how it is and we are looking to move up tomorrow.”

“I think we have overall better handling cars than we did when we showed up here,” explained Team Manager Keith Burton. “But working through traffic in a short 15-minute qualifying session is always challenging, so it is what it is right now. But we will be ready for the race tomorrow. The cars are definitely much better and feeling good so we are expecting a solid race tomorrow for both cars.”

The green flag will drop tomorrow afternoon at 3:45 PM (ET).

Burton Racing