FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Radford, VA – James Clay
won the SPEED Touring
Car qualifying race
Saturday at Road Atlanta
as part of the inaugural
Drift Atlanta weekend
event to clinch the pole
position for Sunday's
feature race. The
Bimmerworld team put on
a strong showing again
Sunday as well,
finishing 2-3-4, with
Clay in a tight battle
with Brazilian Pierre
Kleinubing for the win
for much of the race.
Clay qualified on the
outside of the first row
for the Saturday race
and after a slow start
which shuffled the #36
Bimmerworld BMW 325i to
4th position, Clay
quickly moved up to
second and began to reel
in the #98 Wheels
America BMW of Bob
Stretch. On lap 14,
Clay passed the #98 car
and pulled out a 1.982
second lead to finish
the race. Matt Richmond
qualified his #37
Bimmerworld 325i in 4th
and maintained the
position for the race,
finishing 3.032 seconds
behind third place
Kleinubing. "I was
happy with the car and
the development we have
done recently with tire
durability paid off. I
had followed Stretch for
most of the race
watching his tires get
slowly worse. I finally
got close in the draft
and had the momentum to
pass and enough tire
left to pull away"
explains Clay.
Sunday's race grid was
set with the finishing
positions from
Saturday's qualifying
race, with James Clay on
the pole and Matt
Richmond in 4th.
Teammate Seth Thomas in
the third Bimmerworld
#38 325i started from
the back of the grid due
to an engine ignition
issue that kept him out
of the Saturday race.
Unfortunately,
Richmond's engine failed
to start on grid and he
was required to start
from pit lane at the end
of the field. Clay
jumped to a quick lead
in the race but was
never able to open a
significant gap on
second place Kleinubing
in the Realtime Acura
RSX. "Kleinubing spent
the first few laps of
the race painting my
rear bumper. Instead of
waiting for a big hit in
a non-points race, I let
him by and planned to
follow the same race
strategy from Saturday
and run the race from
second position" says
Clay. "I started losing
my front tires and then
slipped wide in turn one
and fell too far back to
make up."
Matt Richmond and Seth
Thomas both
had amazing races,
slicing their way up
from their starting
positions. Richmond
drove a flawless race
cutting through the
field to take third in
his first career Touring
Car podium finish.
"This is the best car I
have ever driven"
Richmond claimed after
the first full weekend
in the new Bimmerworld
E46 BMW chassis. Thomas
captured the B&M
Shifters Holeshot Award
for passing the most
cars in the first lap
and then was bumped off
into the gravel trap in
lap 3 by Stretch.
Thomas managed to get
the car free and
continue the race, also
winning the Sunoco Hard
Charger Award for most
cars passed in the race
on the way to his 4th
place finish.
"I couldn't be happier
for the team" stated
team owner James Clay.
"I knew Richmond and
Thomas were coming up
through the field, but I
was focusing on my
battle with Kleinubing.
When Marks (Bimmerworld
crew chief) came on the
radio and said the other
cars were right behind
me and we pulled off a
2-3-4 finish I was
thrilled! The
development has come a
long way very quickly
for these new cars and I
am glad our crew that
has worked so hard on
them has something to
celebrate." Thomas
continues, "winning the
Hard Charger, Hole Shot
Award, and all three
cars finishing like they
did really shows that we
have some great cars and
that the team knows how
to put the right package
together."
The SPEED World
Challenge Touring Car
Series will travel to
Lime Rock Park in
Lakeville, CT for the
Memorial Day weekend
next on May 28-31. The
2004 Bimmerworld World
Challenge team is
sponsored by Ground
Control, Hawk
Performance, Stoptech,
Quartermaster, Silkolene,
Eibach, Rogue
Engineering, and
Bimmerforums.
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