BimmerWorld’s James Clay Returns on a High; Thomas Almost Scores First Win.

Clay fights back for a third place on his return to World Challenge; Thomas leads convincingly until the rain washes away his good fortune

10/09/07
Dublin, VA

Road Atlanta almost delivered a dream first-win for BimmerWorld’s Seth Thomas. The Georgia native qualified his BMW E90 on the outside pole position for the 9th round of the SPEED World Challenge Touring Car event. With rain falling just before the start, the BimmerWorld team made the choice to apply a full-wet setup to Thomas’ suspension, while opting for a more conventional dry track setup for James Clay.

Thomas’ team mate and owner of BimmerWorld, James Clay, was the more fortunate of the two, with Thomas encountering aquaplaning under braking into the gridlocked turn 10 section of the track. In command of the race from the outset, Thomas managed a comfortable lead as the track conditions worsened; a full-course caution packed the field, negating Seth’s lead while following the pace car.

With an oddly timed restart, Thomas was passed at start/finish, falling back to fourth place before turn one. Despite this frustration, he put his head down and began his attack on the cars ahead of him to reclaim the lead. With the standing water in turn 10 sending Seth sideways and into the barriers, his march forward came to a premature end.

Seth Thomas leaves Road Atlanta with the unofficial title of the “World Challenge Driver Most Overdue for His First Win.” Thomas and the BimmerWorld team will be giving everything they have to move him into the “World Challenge Driver Who’s Ready for His Second Win” category after Laguna Seca, October 19th- 21st.

James Clay, returning after almost three month out of the cockpit, proved that his time spent focusing on managing the team and recovering from a dislocated shoulder would have no impact on his outright speed and race craft. Qualifying fourth, Clay spent the early part of the race coming to grips with a BMW E90 that suffered decreased grip in the rain on his stiffer dry suspension settings. As the rain slowed and the track dried toward the end of the race, Clay went on a tear that found him sitting in third place as the checkered flag fell.

“It’s one of those things where when you have time off, you can either get rusty and slow down, or you can come back with a renewed sense of focus and determination. I’m the LAST guy you want to keep out of the car, but I didn’t have an option. We’ve done a ton of testing—not with me in the car, but I’ve been there every step of the way.”

Despite his happiness to be back, and to have made such a strong statement with a podium finish, Clay’s not out to finish 3rd; the top step of the podium is all he’ll accept for himself and his BimmerWorld team. “It was a pretty good weekend—I could have been spraying champagne as the race winner, but I’ll accept the third place and look to improve on that at Laguna.”

With Laguna Seca on the horizon, Clay also expects the momentum of he and Thomas, and their BMW E90’s to be a threat at the Monterey, California circuit. “The team has our reliability problems solved, and I think we’re out here with the best chances ever. We’re ready to win some races now and in 2008. Seth was so close today, and I’m ready to attack Laguna with him.”

With the 2008 World Challenge season just around the corner, the pace and strength of the blue BimmerWorld cars are drawing a lot of attention for their efforts in 2007.

"I'm really pleased with the direction our team is heading; everyone has worked so hard to develop the E90 into a consistent front-runner, and now with a win and a steady presence at the front of the field, next year is looking incredibly positive for our team, and our sponsors and partners."

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Courtesy: BimmerWorld Media Services mediaservices@bimmerworld.com

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