Five Questions With ... Greg Liefooghe

Subtitle:Driver Of The No. 81 BimmerWorld BMW 328i

Greg Liefooghe drives BimmerWorld’s No. 81 Johnstone Supply/Powerflex/Red Line Oil BMW 328i (E90) in the Street Tuner class of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge.

He and co-driver Tyler Cooke are currently fourth in the ST standings, 20 points behind leader Eric Foss (206-186).Liefooghe has competed in the Continental Tire Challenge since 2010, and has raced for BimmerWorld since 2011. He has two career victories – most recently at Road America in 2013 – and nine career podium finishes.The 33-year-old driver is a native of New York City. He lived much of his life in Europe – primarily in Switzerland and southern France – and now resides in San Francisco.

How is the season going so far?“Our season has been up and down. We’ve been used to running up front and having more podiums on a regular basis. We’ve been fighting some new issues with the car, but we’re working through them. I’ve been driving with Tyler (Cooke) for two years now, and it’s a great relationship. He’s really blossomed into a great driver, and I’m lucky to be with him. It’s great to drive with him, and it’s been a lot of fun, too. It’s great to be able to be with a driver who brings the car back (from the opening stint) clean and in good position. I think the end of the season is looking pretty good for us.”What’s it like returning to Road America, a track where you won last season?“Elkhart Lake is going to be a horsepower track. We don’t have the best top-end speed right now, but the way the races have been running so far, strategy has been playing a key role. Last year was actually a strategy win, when we pitted later than everyone else and we were able to finish the race without having to pit a second time. The outlook is pretty open. We would like to finish on the podium, but we’ll wait and see what happens.”Why do you think we’ve seen so many different ST winners this season?“There’s been a bit of a shuffle with new cars coming in. It’s good to see what the future is going to be like for this series. The Caymans were looking real good on paper at the start of the season, and right now it looks like they are capitalizing on what they have. On our side, we’re in a five-year-old car, and it looks like we’re ready for the next step, too. It’s probably going to be the last year for the E90, although it might have one more year, but it’s definitely a car that’s getting on the older side. There’s been a shuffle of new cars coming in, and the rules have been evolving a little bit.”Is the car that James Clay is racing (the No. 84 BMW 328i F30 the BimmerWorld owner co-drives with James Briedis) the team’s car of the future?“It’s definitely a possibility for next year. I think BimmerWorld is going in that direction, and they have been making a lot of progress with the car. It’s a brand-new race car, the first F30 being raced in the world. There have been some teething issues, but with a team like BimmerWorld, they’re working through it and the car looks stronger and stronger.”What do you like to do away from the race track?I’m a cycling fanatic. It works out good, because you need to be in great shape to race .Cycling is what I do in my off-time for fun. I also do private coaching and work at SimRaceway racing school. But I still spend most of my time at the race tracks.”