An Interview with Bill Auberlen and Boris Said

Courtesy Grand American

ADAM SAAL: Good afternoon everybody and welcome to the Grand American Rolex Sports Car Series Media Teleconference. Today we are joined by the two drivers battling for the GT driver championship heading into the Lexus Grand American Champions Weekend, Bill Auberlen and Boris Said. Bill drives the No. 21 Team PTG BMW M3 along with co-driver Justin Marks and Boris shares the No. 22 PTG BMW M3 with Joey Hand.

Boris and Bill shared the No. 21 car until Round 6 of the 12-race 2004 Rolex Series schedule, the Paul Revere 250 presented by Brumos Porsche.

Heading into the Lexus Championship Weekend at California Speedway, October 29 through 31, Bill leads Boris in the standings 348 points to 341 points. It's been a close championship battle all season.

Bill, talk about it. You've won eight races. Boris, you've won five. The championship is still open. We'll start with you, Bill. What are you thinking going into this final race? You're leading the championship, but it's not over.

BILL AUBERLEN: When we start back from the beginning when Boris and I were teamed up, it was fantastic and great. We won and won and won. He enabled it so that I could win this (Rolex Series record) six (class wins) in-a-row thing. I mean, Boris is a great teammate. Then they separated us and I managed to get a few more wins going into the last race.

Now what I have to do in Fontana is just finish within probably three positions of Boris, and I think that I can capture the championship. But it's kind of a bummer that we can't win it together because he helped me do this all the way through.

ADAM SAAL: It's still a team effort across the board. Both the No. 21 car and the No. 22 car - Boris drives 22, Bill is currently driving 21 - both of those cars have factored into the team championship. They may take the top two spots.

Again, Boris, it's been a good team effort. At the same time if you guys would have stayed together, you might have the championship. What is your head like heading into this final race? Are you thinking race win or championship?

BORIS SAID: Right now, I've never really cared much about championships in my career. The plan was for me and Bill to win it from the start, but it kind of got derailed at Daytona when we had problems with our cars.

I mean, it's been fun fighting with Bill. It's fun racing with him, too. You know, this might be my last race for BMW because I'm moving on to different things next year. It would be nice to go out with a win, that's for sure. Even if I can't win the championship, I'm sure I'm going to do everything I can to try to beat him.

He says he might lay back, but Bill Auberlen likes to win races. We're going to have a good fight hopefully.

ADAM SAAL: Before we open up to our media colleagues, a question for both gentlemen. It's a hometown race for both of you. Bill, you're currently living in Redondo Beach, you lived in Hermosa Beach. Go down another stretch of highway, Boris, takes you to Carlsbad, down by San Diego, where you're from. Getting pressure when you've been doing this for so long, it's kind of unheard of at this stage of your career. But is there any additional pressure just from managing all the family and friends? Bill, we'll start with you.

BILL AUBERLEN: No. There's a lot of seats in Fontana that I get to try to fill up with my family and friends.

I'm looking forward to it because I tell them about it all the time. They never get to see it. Now they get to come to a race and actually get to see it. It's going to be a lot of fun.

ADAM SAAL: Boris, how about you? You’re no stranger to California Speedway, a lot of friends coming up to see you, so forth. Any added pressure or is it just another race that happens to be in your home market?

BORIS SAID: It's just another race. Fontana is a great track. I raced the NEXTEL Cup race there a few weeks ago. It will be a little nicer without the traffic this time, that's for sure. It's just nice. At the end of the year, you get kind of burnt out of travelling on airplanes every week. It's nice to race an hour from your house, that's for sure.

ADAM SAAL: We'll open it up to questions from the media.

Q. Can you outline your plans for the future?

BORIS SAID: All I can tell you, they're going to make an official announcement in another week or two. Next year I'm going to do 12 NEXTEL Cup races, so that's more than just the road races for a first time. I'm really excited about it.

So, you know, it's hard to plan anything with BMW, even though I've been with them for 10 years. I'd like to keep some kind of relationship.

I think next year primarily -- every year I do 30 to 40 races a year in all different kinds of things. But with this NEXTEL Cup opportunity, I'm going to really concentrate on that and cut my racing way back.

Q. You say you're going to cut your racing back next year. You've mentioned that several times in the past but never been able to pull it off. The second a race opportunity comes up, you jump at it. Is it just going to be one of those things where you are going to cut back or you're going to just take what's available?

BORIS SAID: No, I'm going to cut back and I'm going to spend a lot more time, if I'm not racing, I'm going to go to the NEXTEL Cup races and sit in the spotter's stand and learn and try to absorb as much as I can.

I'm going to do a couple Busch races next year, the Mexico race, the Watkins Glen road race. Everything I'm going to do now, I'm still going to do the Homestead race at the end of the season this year, so we're going to go test next week. Everything's going to be about getting ready for the Daytona 500.

Q. Would you guys rather be battling someone else for the championship than each other or is it a case where if either one of you can't win the championship, you have no other guy you'd rather lose it to than each other?

BORIS SAID: That's true. If I couldn't win it, I'd rather have Bill win it. I'd rather race anybody but Bill, because he's so damn fast in these cars, he's tough to beat. In any sedan, whether it's the World Challenge Series, or anything, Bill is always the fastest guy on the track. He's a fun competitor to race against, but I'd rather have him on my team.

Q. How about you, Bill?

BILL AUBERLEN: From the middle of the year when they separated us, you never want to race against Boris because everybody knows he's one of the best road racers in the country and he's so calm and cool and he never makes a mistake. That's why it was so nice when I raced with him, I could walk away and come back, and the car was perfect. He's great.

I'm looking at BMW kind of cross-eyed because I can't believe they would actually let him go and do other stuff. It's amazing, you know. It will be a shame that after 10 years he leaves BMW.

Q. How does that feel for you, Boris? Sad to see this? A little disappointed to see this kind of chapter of your life closing for a while?

BORIS SAID: Yeah, I mean. It's not going to close forever. You never know what's going to happen. I might go into NEXTEL Cup and bomb out, not get asked back.

For any race car driver, you want to race against the best people in the world. There's no better racing than that right now, so it's the opportunity of a lifetime, and I'm going to take it and see if I can do it. If I bomb out, I'm sure there will be a place for me in road racing.

But I'd like to be able to make the transition and be a stock car driver.

Q. Mr. Said, last year, you raced a Mustang, I believe, at California Speedway, is that right?

BORIS SAID: Yeah, that's right.

Q. You were running away with that race. You were a major threat out there to everybody. I don't know if it was because the Mustang was that strong or you were that good. Which was it?

BORIS SAID: I think the Mustang was that strong. The way the rules were last year, the Daytona Prototypes weren't fully developed. We took our Trans-Am car out. It was very competitive. Unfortunately, we lost an alternator belt. But I think it was a little more car than driver.

Q. I know some folks that disagree with that. On a lighter side, Mr. Auberlen is not a short guy; you're kind of tall and lanky. What was it like switching out seats with Mr. Auberlen?

BORIS SAID: It's not bad. We've raced together a lot, a lot of 24-hour races. We both compromise a little bit. But the BMWs, the way they set up, the seat slides up and back, so it's not really any big deal.

Q. At the mid-season, you guys split from the same car into the competitor cars. How did you feel at the time that happened?

BORIS SAID: Mad. I was mad personally, you know, because racing with Bill, it was easy for me to win the championship. Racing with Bill, he's one of the best sports car racers in America. I'd rather have him than race with a rookie. So we both got paired with rookies. It was disappointing.

In the big picture, we're part of a team, and that's BMW North America, and they decide what's best for them, and what's best for them isn't always what's best for me personally, let's say.

But it's still a great team. We have great battles. The cars are a lot of fun to drive.

Q. Mr. Auberlen, you weren't exactly off of my radar screen because I've been following sports car racing for a long time, but you really landed on it last year when you got that ride, and I believe it was with Doran in Virginia, if memory serves. You really took that car around that track quite well. You're a sterling driver. You got into BMW this year, so you went from a Daytona Prototype to BMW this year. Give me some differences between the two styles of racing car.

BILL AUBERLEN: Well, very, very different. The Daytona Prototype is not a true prototype in the sense when I used to drive the BMW LMR V12, it was huge downforce, huge power. The Daytona Prototype doesn't make near the downforce or near the power. You have to really drive the car.

But BMW, they have this car worked out so well that it's a lot easier to drive. It's a lot more manageable and doesn't have quite as much power. The prototype car, to go fast, you need to grab hold of this thing and throw it around. They're extremely hot inside for some reason, I don't know why, but they will burn you to a crisp. Everybody's trying to get around that now.

But I think the prototype cars have legs. And BMW, in the series, they should enter in there the next year or two and it would be a very fun series for them to go to.

Q. I've noticed the team name that (PTG president and CEO) Tom Milner chose is Prototype (Technology) Group, BMW Prototype (Technology) Group. That would indicate to me that that's the direction that BMW is heading in. You just referenced that. When might we expect to see BMW-powered Daytona Prototype from you all and not from somebody else?

BORIS SAID: Bill, I'm curious, too, on that one.

BILL AUBERLEN: Boris has been pushing for it hard. I've been pushing for it hard. Tom Milner, the owner of the team, pushes very hard. They know that's the future.

BMW, they market through either image, which is like Formula 1, or through something you can identify with, which is like the M3s. To buy somebody else's chassis and put their motor in it, they don't quite get it yet, that that's what they should be doing, or maybe they shouldn't be doing it.

But next year I really wish they would. Tom is going to push very hard this year to get something going this year in order to sort of transition into it next year, I hope.

Q. Do you think there's a good possibility of that?

BORIS SAID: I think they're going to be forced into it because what Grand-Am has created. They created what in a very short time is going to be the premiere road race series in America. They've come out with a rules package that makes it so competitive, all the makes so equal, and the racing so exciting on TV, I mean, if you look to what their races were like three years ago to what they're like now, I mean, it's night and day. It's almost NASCAR road racing.

So I think eventually, I mean, for the consumers, the product is so good, they're going to be forced into having to compete. That's what we're hoping.

Q. I hope to see that, too. I'm going to get back into the GT class, which you guys run. I won't mention any names specifically, but I will mention a manufacturer. The Porsche guys have had very few positive words to say about how you guys have been whipping up on them. For the most part, you have to break in order for them to win. Do you have any thoughts on that aspect, why you guys did so good as compared to the Porsches?

BILL AUBERLEN: Go ahead, Boris.

BORIS SAID: I think right now, the BMW M3 is one of the best-handling cars out there. PTG is the most experienced team out there. We have two of the best drivers out there. So we kind of have, you hear it in racing, we have the package. We have the best of everything.

I think a Porsche could be competitive in the right team, the right drivers. But right now they don't have the full package like we have. PTG has been racing these cars for 10 years, so they know them inside and out. It's a very professional team.

So, Porsche, they're whining like a bunch of babies because we've kicked their butt so bad. But it feels good, to be honest with you. We've had our years where the rules are different and their cars are more competitive. This year we've kind of had it our way and it feels great.

Q. Tell me what it's like to work under Tom Milner.

BORIS SAID: He's a great guy. Bill has probably been there nine years; I've been there 10 years. He's kind of like, you know, we fight together, we laugh together, we cry together. It's almost like a family. I've known the guy so long.

But he's a great guy. He's committed to winning, and he's got great people that work under him.

ADAM SAAL: The GT category that we spent the last couple of minutes discussing will actually be subject to some new rules next year, and a lot of cars such as the Pontiac GTO that we've seen will be competitive, and it's already demonstrated some competitive racing skills next year as we combine this class with SGS. The Maseratis have also run well.

To kind of answer some of the points that Boris just mentioned, Porsche Motorsport North America just announced today they're going to offer a promotional program to teams that compete in the Rolex Sports Car Series GT class next year. So maybe they're already hearing what you were talking about, Boris. Porsche is always a welcome competitor. They've given you a run for your money this year, although the championship will almost certainly come down to BMW.

We'll move on to more questions from the media.

Q. Bill and Boris, can you describe what it's like when you race a road course within a superspeedway.

BORIS SAID: To me it's just another track, you know. Every track -- I like every different track for different reasons. Fontana for me is a great racetrack for an oval. Turn one and two is a very fast, very exciting corner. I mean, it just makes for great racing.

Q. Bill, what do you think?

BILL AUBERLEN: I'd agree. Every track has its good points and its bad points. You can make an oval track, converted into an oval, like Boris said, kind of boring. Daytona is great because of the history. Fontana is great. I mean, you go into Turn 1 (at) almost 170 miles an hour flat on it and the car will slow itself down in the oval because of the loads that go on it. It's a lot of fun.

Q. In terms of spectators, growing the sport, Bill, is it useful to have a situation where you can see the entire course in some of those upper grandstands when you're in a superspeedway configuration?

BILL AUBERLEN: I'm sure for the spectators, they love it. They can sit in one spot and see the whole thing. The problem, our series is not the NEXTEL Cup, which packs every seat in the house. But we have a lot of room to pack the seats. And I think the way the series is going, we're just going to get more and more and more spectators. And it is a great place to watch up there, no doubt.

Q. Boris, just want to get your thoughts on that.

BORIS SAID: Yeah, I mean, there's tracks like the Nurburgring in Germany, which is probably one of the most fun tracks in the world to drive, but it's 15 miles around. You see a car every 10 minutes. So there's something to be said for being able to sit in one seat and see all the action.

You know, I think the tracks now, in the old days, some of the infield road circuits, like Atlanta had; it wasn't that exciting for a driver. But now, I mean, Las Vegas and Daytona, you know, Fontana are great circuits.

ADAM SAAL: Earlier this year, Boris, you guys won at Phoenix, and finishing in second place was the Gunnar Racing Porsche with Kyle Petty guest driving on Easter weekend. You said on the PA you beat Kyle Petty on half an oval, which was true, because it was the stadium road course layout we had.

You're going to be running against these guys on their turf. We touched on that a little bit, but you already know a lot of these guys. Who are your best friends in the NEXTEL Cup Series right now?

BORIS SAID: I have a lot of friends. I guess Dale Earnhardt Jr., would be probably one of my closest friends right now. Of course, Ernie Irvan, he's not racing anymore, but we still talk every day. There’s just a lot of them. Everyone I've helped out on their road course stuff seems to have stayed pretty close.

You know, when I went and did Fontana a few weeks ago, a lot of those guys helped me an awful lot. Even though I qualified 36th, it felt like a win for me. Then just to run all the laps in the race, I mean, I probably couldn't have done it without the help I got from my buddies over there.

ADAM SAAL: Who are the best road course guys there?

BORIS SAID: There's a lot of them. You've got to say Jeff Gordon, Tony Stewart. I think Dale Jr. is underrated as a road racer. He's really good. You've got your veterans like Mark Martin, Ricky Rudd. There's so many now because over the last few years, they worked on their road racing so much, you know, they're all good at it. I think there's 10 or 15 that could actually win a road race easy.

Q. Bill, with the move of Grand-Am GT to basically a lower class, they're trying to bring them closer to the SGS class cars. I know you're very loyal to BMW, but are you apprehensive about racing a slower car next year?

BILL AUBERLEN: Absolutely. It’s killing me. I mean, I definitely don't -- any race car driver in your career never wants to go slower. I don't think the object is to go downhill, downhill.

They have a big marketing scheme that they look at, but they don't consider what a driver wants. They don't care about that. That doesn't matter to them. But you always want to go faster. I always want to go to prototype or something bigger.

Yeah, it is an issue, something you consider. But what do you do? Walk away from BMW? I'm still trying to figure it out.

ADAM SAAL: It won't be turned into an SGS class. Essentially GT will come down slightly, while SGS, as it's known right now, will be folded in. There's a lot of smart people involved in racing, in addition to talented drivers who want to go fast. Just like we're seeing in Daytona Prototype where they're turning increasingly fast lap times that even rival the early days of old GTP, I suspect there's enough smart people behind the fence, we'll get as much speed out of these cars as they can. We look forward to giving them that challenge.

Q. Boris, we've talked in the past about you helping the NASCAR drivers on the road courses. Which is harder? Is it harder for a road racer to learn an oval or an oval guy to learn a road course? Who's helped you the most on ovals?

BORIS SAID: I think on the ovals, I mean, I'd say Dale Earnhardt, Jr., and Joe Nemechek right now. I've torn their ear off asking them questions about Fontana and now on Homestead, and even Daytona when I did the Bud Shootout.

I think it's harder to go from something you have a lot of experience in to something you don't have any experience in. So I don't think you could say it's harder to race ovals or harder to road course race. But, you know, someone like me that's done all road courses, and then you get on an oval, it's hard because you just don't have the experience.

I think it's the same for, you know, guys like that. If you take a guy like Brian Vickers or somebody like that, all he's ever done is ovals, now road racing is all new to him.

It's teaching an old dog new tricks. I don't think either one is harder than the other.

Q. You say this is going to be announced in a couple weeks.

BORIS SAID: Yep. I think a couple weeks they're going to announce it. Then they'll announce the sponsor and everything. I can't keep my mouth shut. I'm so excited about it, finally getting the opportunity to do some of the big races. I just can't wait to get going.

ADAM SAAL: You did say you will be racing at the Homestead finale.

BORIS SAID: Yeah. Because basically that's going to be a USG Durock brand car. That was the car we were going to race at Watkins Glen, but when qualifying got rained out, they're kind of making this up as a makeup race. That should be pretty exciting, too.

Q. Same team or new team next year?

BORIS SAID: It will be with MB2 Motorsports, the same team I've been running with this year. Jay Frye and Nelson Bowers are the team owners. I think the sponsor is also going to be a team owner when they announce that.

Q. So 12 races, including the road course, Daytona. Any other tracks? California?

BORIS SAID: For sure we'll do California again just because we did decent there. But we'll do the Brickyard, Texas, Daytona, Talladega, most of the bigger tracks right now. Hopefully I can talk them into a Bristol or Martinsville. But we haven't got that definite yet on the schedule.

Q. Why did they decide to split you guys up in the middle of the season?

BORIS SAID: Bill? I don't know.

BILL AUBERLEN: I don't know. We have ideas. For me to say what it would be would be probably not too politically correct. I mean, Boris would probably be more outspoken, and he would probably tell you why.

What is it, Boris?

BORIS SAID: I think we had two rookies in one car, then two experienced guys in another car. I think they just wanted to maybe break up the rookies and see if they could get two cars up front consistently. I think that was one of the reasons probably.

Q. They never gave you anything definite, though?

BORIS SAID: I mean, we're part of a big team. They basically came down and said, "This isn't about you guys, this is about BMW, and we're making a decision for BMW that it would be better for us." We go along with that because we're team players.

But, you know, if I have to get out of a car and watch a rookie drive and worry about it or watch Bill Auberlen drive, you just feel a lot more comfortable with a guy that you know wins races every time. Not to say anything bad about our teammates, because they're doing a great job, it's just what you're used to.

Q. Bill, what is it that you see yourself doing? You've been hanging around with BMW for a while now. What is it that you see yourself doing in five years' time? You have a bit of road racing ahead of you. Do you harbor a desire to move into Cup like Boris does or do you want to just stay on those left and right turns?

BILL AUBERLEN: That's a really good question because I'm feeling like I'm right at a turning point in my career right now. If I decide to go do something like that, I've got to do it now. I can't wait any longer. I've got to get into it now.

Well, I don't know. I don't have the contacts that Boris has. I haven't really pursued it too much. The BMW thing has worked out so good for me, I've been so fortunate to be with the factory for nine years, that's been great. In the next year or two, if they decide to sort of pursue the Daytona Prototype, I can see that have some longevity to it.

I would like to run with them for a while. If not, I'm going have to make a decision as to whether or not I stay there or go somewhere else.

Q. Boris, where are you?

BORIS SAID: On the airport runway in Monterey. Just came up with Mike Davis in a little private plane. It’s a beautiful day to fly.

Q. Are you running there this weekend?

BORIS SAID: I’m running the World Challenge race with the Trans-Am team, with the ACS team in the Mustang.

ADAM SAAL: Thank you very much. I want to thank Bill Auberlen and Boris Said for taking time out of a busy schedule to join us today.

Also we will have another teleconference possibly in this same time slot next Wednesday with the championship contenders for the overall Daytona Prototype Division in the Rolex Sports Car Series. That would be Scott Pruett, Max Papis, Wayne Taylor and Andy Wallace. We hope to have all four of them available for you. If we can't get all four, we'll get as many as we can as we prepare for Lexus Championship Weekend at California Speedway.

Thanks to everybody, we appreciate it.