Seth Thomas
08-19-2005, 09:43 AM
Radford, VA (August 17, 2005) - A tight street course and thin mountain air made for an interesting and challenging weekend for BimmerWorld Racing at the Denver Grand Prix in conjunction with the Champ Car series. With only two short back to back practice sessions and qualifying hours before the race, time on the track was scarce but well utilized by the BimmerWorld Racing drivers.
The #36 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 325i of James Clay experienced the highs and lows of racing on such a technical street course as a bump into a wall during qualifying necessitated serious work by the crew to get the car onto the starting grid hours later. Clay explains "I was picking up speed and positions at the end of qualifying as our setup was coming together. Unfortunately, the car got off the rubber on the track, lost grip, and went into the wall."
In spite of the impact James Clay was still able to put his car on the 10th starting position for the race, leaving the crew to scramble to get the car back on track. "The guys were amazing to be able to get my car together for the race in about 5 hours. It was not quite at 100% but the fact that we raced was a victory. Inconsistency in the performance of the damaged car cost me a few positions, but overall we finished 18 seconds behind the leader and had a great race."
Matt Richmond in the #37 BimmerWorld Racing 325i enjoyed an impact-free practice and qualifying session to put his car in the 14th spot on the starting grid. "Street races like this are unpredictable in that its hard to predict how the car will stick going between asphalt and concrete" stated Richmond. Matt had a good start and was able to avoid a first lap melee to have a trouble free drive and finish 12th overall. "While I obviously would like to have finished higher, getting out of a race like this without incident is a feat in itself, not satisfied but happy to have improved in this very competitive field" stated Richmond.
The BimmerWorld Racing 325i #38 of Seth Thomas proved to be trouble free and consistent as Seth tried to get the most out of his short time on the track. "Denver was one of the toughest tracks I have driven on. We didn't get a lot of time to learn the track and setup the car, and the track really wasn't suited to the BMWs and how we drive them" explained Thomas. Seth was able to put his car in the 13th spot of the grid and fight off the RTR RSX of Nick Esayian to maintain position and finish 13th. An enthusiastic Seth Thomas proclaimed "considering everything, it was a fun weekend and productive for us. The BimmerWorld crew once again pulled together, had fun, and kept their drivers in the top-10 in points. I can't wait for Mosport now!"
The BimmerWorld Racing team soldiers on to Canada and remains the only team with all drivers in the top 10 in overall points. Matt Richmond is currently 7th (158), James Clay 9th (128), and Seth Thomas 10th (123) after 9 races of the 2005 season. Speed World Challenge racing will continue in Round 10 in beautiful Ontario, Canada at the Mosport International Raceway for the Grand Prix of Mosport in conjunction with ALMS September 2-4. This event will be televised Saturday September 12th at 12PM ET.
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 pictures, in-car videos, and information on BimmerWorld Racing, please visit www.bimmerworldracing.com (http://www.bimmerworldracing.com)
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_9.jpg
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_6.jpg
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_1.jpg
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_11.jpg
The #36 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 325i of James Clay experienced the highs and lows of racing on such a technical street course as a bump into a wall during qualifying necessitated serious work by the crew to get the car onto the starting grid hours later. Clay explains "I was picking up speed and positions at the end of qualifying as our setup was coming together. Unfortunately, the car got off the rubber on the track, lost grip, and went into the wall."
In spite of the impact James Clay was still able to put his car on the 10th starting position for the race, leaving the crew to scramble to get the car back on track. "The guys were amazing to be able to get my car together for the race in about 5 hours. It was not quite at 100% but the fact that we raced was a victory. Inconsistency in the performance of the damaged car cost me a few positions, but overall we finished 18 seconds behind the leader and had a great race."
Matt Richmond in the #37 BimmerWorld Racing 325i enjoyed an impact-free practice and qualifying session to put his car in the 14th spot on the starting grid. "Street races like this are unpredictable in that its hard to predict how the car will stick going between asphalt and concrete" stated Richmond. Matt had a good start and was able to avoid a first lap melee to have a trouble free drive and finish 12th overall. "While I obviously would like to have finished higher, getting out of a race like this without incident is a feat in itself, not satisfied but happy to have improved in this very competitive field" stated Richmond.
The BimmerWorld Racing 325i #38 of Seth Thomas proved to be trouble free and consistent as Seth tried to get the most out of his short time on the track. "Denver was one of the toughest tracks I have driven on. We didn't get a lot of time to learn the track and setup the car, and the track really wasn't suited to the BMWs and how we drive them" explained Thomas. Seth was able to put his car in the 13th spot of the grid and fight off the RTR RSX of Nick Esayian to maintain position and finish 13th. An enthusiastic Seth Thomas proclaimed "considering everything, it was a fun weekend and productive for us. The BimmerWorld crew once again pulled together, had fun, and kept their drivers in the top-10 in points. I can't wait for Mosport now!"
The BimmerWorld Racing team soldiers on to Canada and remains the only team with all drivers in the top 10 in overall points. Matt Richmond is currently 7th (158), James Clay 9th (128), and Seth Thomas 10th (123) after 9 races of the 2005 season. Speed World Challenge racing will continue in Round 10 in beautiful Ontario, Canada at the Mosport International Raceway for the Grand Prix of Mosport in conjunction with ALMS September 2-4. This event will be televised Saturday September 12th at 12PM ET.
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 pictures, in-car videos, and information on BimmerWorld Racing, please visit www.bimmerworldracing.com (http://www.bimmerworldracing.com)
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_9.jpg
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_6.jpg
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_1.jpg
http://www.bimmerworldracing.com/data/gallery/gallery_den_05_11.jpg