BimmerWorld St. Petersburg Race Report

BimmerWorld Leaves It All On The Track In The “Battle by the Bay�??

Tough breaks aside, team displays never-say-die tenacity

St. Petersburg, Fla. April 2: Taking every bad break the SCCA Pro  
Racing SPEED World Challenge Touring Car race handed them,  
BimmerWorld Racing drivers, James Clay, Seth Thomas and Paul Goldman,  
gave everything they had to defend BMW’s status in the touring car  
field. Today’s race was part of the IndyCar Racing League Honda  
Grand Prix of St. Petersburg.

“Certainly, the finishing positions don’t reflect our effort,�??  
said team owner, James Clay, reflecting on the day’s final  
outcome. “Given the recent ‘competition adjustments’ made by the  
Series, and the design of the track, we knew this would be a tough  
weekend for our BMWs. Once the flag dropped, things got pretty wild.�??

Seth Thomas, #38 BimmerWorld BMW 325, qualified 9th for the race and  
James Clay #36 BimmerWorld BMW 325, started 12th. Paul Goldman, #37  
BimmerWorld BMW 325, running on a street course for the first time,  
started 28th.

“Seth and I were having good runs in the early going,�?? added  
Clay. “Unlike Paul, we came through the first lap melee in pretty  
good shape. I think we ran three or four laps under caution, but then  
once the race went green, we were able to pick up some track  
positions.�??

“At one point I was having a good run with Will Turner in the #2  
car,�?? said Seth Thomas. “We were fighting for sixth place and the  
lead pack was in sight. Knowing we had run quite a while under  
yellow, and with Will in my mirrors, I was pushing pretty hard.  
Unfortunately, the way we were crashing the curbs, one of my control  
arms gave out. When I entered turn one, I just couldn’t hang on and  
Will was able to get by me. I did another lap, but then the car spun  
going into turn one. It was obvious my day was over so I got the car  
safely out of the way.�??

Around lap 17, Clay was locked in battle with #99 Courtney and #6  
Wittmer for seventh place. Although, it wasn’t long before Clay’s  
car started losing fluids and his handling began going away.

Forced to pit lane on several occasions, Clay managed to keep the car  
in the race and finish 22nd. Thomas’ early exit left him in 26th,  
while Goldman finished 20th.

“We knew we’d have our hands full this weekend,�?? expressed  
Clay. “I’m disappointed because of all the hard work we put in.  
But, by the same token, I’m proud of our effort and the fact our  
guys never gave up.�??

This will be the last event for the current E46 BMW 325’s as  
development continues on the new BimmerWorld E90 BMW 325i’s,  
scheduled to debut for round 3 at Mid-Ohio. Clay talked about the new  
E90 and BimmerWorld’s commitment to performance and the company’s  
race program: “The good news is we now can focus our attention  
exclusively on getting the new cars ready for round 3 at Mid-Ohio,�??  
said James. “Everyone at the shop has been doing double duty  
prepping the current cars while making progress on the build out of  
the new E90s.�??

BimmerWorld is the first US team racing the new E90s in North America.

The SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Series was in St.  
Petersburg as part of the IRL Indy Car Grand Prix of St. Petersburg,  
in Florida. The 2006 World Challenge Touring Car Championship next  
takes to the track May 19-21 at Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course

BimmerWorld is pleased to have support from the top performance  
companies in the industry: Silkolene, Ground Control,  
Bimmerforums.com, Performance Friction, BBS, Moton, Diffsonline, and  
JB Racing.

BimmerWorld is a leading retailer of high performance street and  
racing BMW parts. Our race program continually drives development for  
BimmerWorld’s increasing line of BMW race and street performance  
parts. BimmerWorld customers expect the very best.

To learn more about BimmerWorld and their extensive line of BMW  
performance products, go to their website at: www.BimmerWorld.com

Additional BimmerWorld Racing information and bios are available at:  
www.BimmerWorldRacing.com.

Regarded as the most relevant and top production car road racing  
series in the world, the SCCA SPEED World Challenge Championships are  
broken into two distinct sub-series that run separately from one  
another— SCCA SPEED GT and SCCA SPEED Touring Car. Each Championship  
is run in a 50-minute “sprint�?? race format, featuring recognizable  
cars, world-class drivers and standing starts. For more information  
about the SCCA Pro Racing SPEED World Challenge Championships, please  
visit www.world-challenge.com.