Ted Giovanis and David Murry in the Team TGM E90 328i finished second in the Street Tuner class in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge race at Sebring after a dramatic last-lap shootout between Murry and Mazda MX5 racer Stevan McAleer.
It was TGM’s second consecutive podium; they had finished third in the season opener at Daytona. Murry, with the 328’s exhaust pipe dragging the ground, held off a hard-charging McAleer in the waning laps. They entered the last turn side-by-side, with the Mazda gaining a slight edge as they exited. But Murry won the drag race to the checker by a nose.
The ST class win at Sebring went to Greg Liefooghe and Eric Zimmerman in the #83 Next Level European Porsche Cayman, one of the cars on James Clay’s new Porsche team. It was the first win for the new team and the first for Zimmerman. Clay and Jason Briedis finished ninth in ST in the BimmerWorld #84 F30 328i.
BMW did not fare as well in the Grand Sport class; Trent Hindman and Ashley Freiberg in the #46 Fall-Line M3 finished eighth while their teammates Tonis Kasemets and team owner Mark Boden in M3 #48 finished fourteenth. The Stevenson Camaro team dominated the race and the Grand Sport class; Andrew Davis and Robin Liddell won in the #6 Z28/R, while pole sitter Matt Bell and Lawson Aschenbach finished second in #9.
The 2 ½-hour race ran under green flag conditions for the first half-hour. Then, after three consecutive yellow flag periods, the race went back to green and stayed there for the final hour and thirteen minutes.
CTSCC competition resumes at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca on May 2.—Brian S. Morgan
[Photos courtesy of Halston Pitman, MotorSportMedia]
