Grand-Am

SCC: Daytona: TC Kline Racing race notes

Successful debut for new BMW Z4 at Daytona. After an intense 6-week effort to build two new BMW Z4 racecars for Grand Am Cup Sport Touring I, TC Kline Racing's new Z4 had a successful debut in its first race at Daytona Intl. Speedway on January ...

Edited: Dec 21, 2009, 5:26 AM

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Successful debut for new BMW Z4 at Daytona.

After an intense 6-week effort to build two new BMW Z4 racecars for Grand Am Cup Sport Touring I, TC Kline Racing's new Z4 had a successful debut in its first race at Daytona Intl. Speedway on January 30th. Although there were highs and lows during their first race weekend, the team's net result was very satisfying with the #12 Z4 finishing in 5th place with Steve Pfeffer and Don Salama driving. The sister car, the #92 car driven by David Tuaty and Branson Patch, had a difficult weekend finishing in 17th place after losing its motor late in the race. However the #92 car clearly showed its potential as well by moving up from last place to as high as 8th place before its late race failure.

According to team owner TC Kline, "since we didn't have any time to do on- track testing of the new Z4 before Daytona, we viewed this race as a development race for the car and team. The team's and drivers' many years of experience setting up and preparing BMWs helped get these cars up to speed very quickly during our two short practice sessions before qualifying." Steve Pfeffer qualified the #12 car in a very respectable 5th place.

"This was an outstanding weekend for us" said Don Salama after the race. "We almost immediately found a good short distance setup for the car and had no significant problems over the weekend. We knew due to aerodynamic disadvantages because we are not allowed to run with a hard top and that the car is the heaviest car in the class, the Z4 wouldn't be the fastest car at a big open track like Daytona. The Lexus IS300s and Acura RSXs clearly were faster than us on the high banks. However we ran a solid mistake free race. A 5th place in our first outing felt like a win to me and the team!"

The team's next race will be at Homestead in Florida on April 12-13th.

-tckr-

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