With high temperatures and strong competition BimmerWorld Racing once again finishes with two drivers in the top 10 at the exciting Grand Prix of Cleveland in Cleveland, Ohio.
The BimmerWorld Racing team arrived in Cleveland fresh and ready to race after the one month break in the Speed Touring Car schedule and it showed in the consistent performance of the cars throughout the weekend. Even with little time on this new course the BimmerWorld team was able to dial in the cars and help to place all three drivers in the top half of the field on the starting grid. #36 James Clay stated “the crew was amazing on getting the cars up to speed with minimal practice time – the car was very good.” The qualifying position and excellent start had all three BimmerWorld drivers in the top 10 going into turn one off the start.
Seth Thomas in the #38 BimmerWorld Racing 325i had an excellent race in Cleveland with a 15th position on the starting grid becoming a 4th place overall finish, collecting both the B&M HoleShot and Sunoco Hard Charger awards for his brilliant drive. Heat played a major role in the race. Seth explains, “the crew fought the immense heat to give me a car that handled flawlessly throughout the race. My tires started to overheat which caused me to back off for a few laps but when the tires came back I was able to turn lap times faster then my qualifying time.”
It was a homecoming race of sorts for Matt Richmond in the #37 BimmerWorld Racing 325i who placed his car in the 11th spot of the starting grid and had a smooth drive to a great finish in the race. “I always love coming back to Cleveland so racing here was a real treat. The BimmerWorld crew did a fantastic job to give me a super-consistent car that helped me to get another top 10 finish” proclaimed Richmond. Matt drove into an 8th place finish overall in a race that had few incidents and ran full green.
The #36 BimmerWorld Racing 325i of James Clay had a race with numerous interruptions but luckily no damage incurred as he qualified in 10th but was quickly moved back in the pack due to traffic at turn one. James Clay explains “I had a fantastic start, but a car parked it in front of me in the first turn and I lost the positions I gained and more.” After numerous interruptions with spinning cars in the very fast chicane Clay persevered through thick traffic to scramble his car into a finish of 12th overall. James later said “no excuses, that is part of racing and I have ended up on the good side of it also. [It is] frustrating but I am glad my team mates finished well. The crew was amazing in getting the cars up to speed with minimal practice time.”
The BimmerWorld Racing team continues to carry the flag for BMW as the leading European team in manufacturers points with all 3 driver’s now in the top ten in overall points. Matt Richmond is in 8th (85), Seth Thomas in 9th (73), and James Clay in 10th (71) after 5 races of the 2005 season.
Round 5 from Cleveland, Ohio was shown live on Speed Channel so if you missed the race be sure to catch up with the action in the next event. Speed World Challenge racing will continue in Round 6 at the scenic Lime Rock Park in conjunction with the ALMS series in Lakeville, Connecticut July 1-4.
The 2005 BimmerWorld Racing World Challenge team is sponsored by Ground Control, Hawk Performance, StopTech, Silkolene, Eibach, Rogue Engineering, Bimmerforums.com, and The Wheelchair Foundation. For more information on BimmerWorld Racing please visit www.bimmerworldracing.com
Photos by Jimmy Sykes.
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