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RADFORD, VA (Mar 25, 2005) – The BimmerWorld Racing team started out strong this past weekend in the World Challenge Touring Car season opener. After fair starting positions, all three drivers advanced through the field to finish with three cars in the top 10. On Thursday morning as final preparations on the cars' wet setup were made due to a large storm, the qualifying session was canceled. "I was disappointed with the decision" explained team owner and driver James Clay. "I felt we would have put on a strong showing resulting in good starting positions, but I also realized while watching several cars from other groups spin after hydroplaning on the straights that it was just unsafe and a good move by SCCA." As a result, the cars were gridded for the race based on combined practice times. "We would have approached practice with different goals if we could have anticipated this, but overall the cars are capable and while not optimum for a shot at the race win, our starting positions were acceptable" stated crew chief Jason Marks.
Clay in the #36 BMW 325i took advantage of a fantastic launch on the starting grid to move from his 12th place starting position into 7th place by the end of lap one. In a race run fully under a green flag, Clay was only able to advance two more positions into 5th position. Matt Richmond in the #37 BimmerWorld car started 13th and also put his car in the top 10 in the first lap and managed to gain one position to finish 9th. Seth Thomas in the #38 325i advanced 5 positions during the race to round out the top ten. "Having all three BimmerWorld drivers finish in the Top-10 is a really good way to start out the season" said Thomas. "The crew was excellent and the cars ran flawlessly this weekend. I am looking forward to some better weather and a fantastic weekend on the streets of St. Pete!" The Sebring opener will be broadcast on SPEED TV, Sunday, March 27 at 1 PM EST. The next race of the 2005 Touring Car championship takes place April 1-3 at the Honda Grand Prix of St. Petersburg street race in St. Petersburg , FL. This new street circuit is guarantees excitement in the closely packed Touring Car field. The 2005 BimmerWorld World Challenge team is sponsored by Ground Control, Hawk Performance, StopTech, Silkolene, Eibach, Bimmerforums, and the Wheelchair Foundation. For more information on BimmerWorld Racing, visit www.bimmerworldracing.comOnly registered users can write comments. Please login or register. Powered by AkoComment 2.0! |