Next Level European Porsche Fast in One-Year Anniversary of Debut

Subtitle:Seth Thomas Ready In No. 38 Cayman

Next Level European has come a long way in one year.

BimmerWorld Racing’s satellite team debuted a pair of Porsche Caymans at the 2015 Roar Before the Rolex 24, launching a year that saw them win a race and finish eighth and 16th in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Street Tuner (ST) standings.

This past weekend, Seth Thomas hovered near the top of the speed charts throughout the three-day event, winding up second-fastest overall with a lap of 2:05.842 (101.842 mph). Thomas led four of the six sessions in the No. 38 Next Level European Porsche Cayman, edged out only by Eric Foss in the final session with a lap of 2:06.688 in the No. 56 Murillo Racing Porsche Cayman.

“Obviously, it went pretty well,” Thomas said. “Last year’s Roar was a learning process – we had just taken delivery of the new cars at Daytona. Now, we’ve had a year to make them go quick, and all that hard work is paying off.”

Thomas drove solo throughout the test, with long-time co-driver Dan Rogers back home in Alaska due to a family commitment. Greg Liefooghe was fifth overall with a lap of 2:06.099 in the No. 83 Red Line Oil Porsche Cayman, with new co-driver Ari Balogh joining him at The Roar.

“We’ve been coming to Daytona since 2010 as a team, and we’ve always been quick,” Thomas said. “This year, they’ve done a lot of homework to put our cars on top. As drivers, we’ve always felt we were capable, and the team is really doing the hard work to get us here.”

Team owner James Clay came away impressed with the work of the Next Level European team at the test.

“I was super happy with the way it went,” Clay said. “We had one new driver to work into the No. 83 car, and Ari certainly got up to speed very well and progressively. Both cars were fast – typically top fives on the charts – so I couldn’t be happier.”

Liefooghe was fifth in the final Roar standings, with a best lap of 2:06.099 (101.634 mph) in the final session. He scored his third career ST victory last year at Sebring, co-driving with Eric Zimmermann.

“What a difference a year makes,” Clay said. “Last year we received the Caymans at the track [at the Roar]. BGB Motorsports did a fantastic job building the cars. Now we have a year under our belts. We have a much better idea of how to run the cars, and we were able to address a few issues during the off season. Daytona worked out well, and I think we’ll be even better past Daytona as we phase in some of the work we’ve done during the off season.”

With several of the ST teams not participating in the Roar, and other teams focusing on potential changes to their driver lineups, Clay focused on working on his own cars and will worry about how they stack up to the competition when they return to Daytona in two weeks for the season-opening BMW Performance 200 on Friday, Jan. 29.

“It does feel good to be near the top of the charts, but our typical approach to the Roar is focusing on our team and improving ourselves,” Clay said. “I can tell you we have improved. The pace of our cars has improved, and in terms of our full crew and staff, in the 14 years we have been doing the testing, this was our best first weekend to our year ever. I’m certainly happy with that – we have something solid to build on. I’m confident we will have the pace to pull off a good finish to start the year when it comes to the end of the race.”

As an owner of two teams, Clay wears several different hats over the course of a race weekend – in addition to a helmet. He drives the BimmerWorld Racing No. 84 OPTIMA Batteries BMW 328i, and has a new co-driver in Tyler Cooke, who finished fourth for the team last year at Road America among five top-10 finishes.

“I’m excited,” Clay said. “Tyler’s a good kid. He was quick. I was quick. The car was quick. Everything seems to be working out pretty well there. I just can’t wait to race.”

The team has two new drivers in its No. 81 BMW 328i, and spent the Roar focusing on getting Jerry Kaufman and Kyle Tilley comfortable in the car and up to speed without worrying about lap times.

“They built a solid foundation over the Roar,” Clay said. “Now they have plenty of time to think about it, and they will have plenty of on-track time when we return to Daytona for the race. I think they’ll be solid by race time.”

Jerry Kaufman and Kyle Tilley in the No. 81 BMW 328i, James Clay and Tyler Cooke in the No. 84 OPTIMA Batteries BMW 328i.

BimmerWorld is in the process of launching a new version of their BMW performance parts web site, BimmerWorld.com, where fans are also invited to follow the progress of the team throughout the race weekend and upcoming season.