James Clay and his BimmerWorld team will return to IMSA for the eleventh consecutive season in 2020, fielding a pair of M4 GT4s in the ten-race Michelin Pilot Challenge series. The season will be Bimmerworld’s third with the M4 GT4. Clay and Devin Jones will be back in the #82 M4 GT4, while Nick Galante and Dillon Machevern will share M4 GT4 #80.
Clay and Jones piloted #82 to third in Michelin Pilot Challenge drivers’ points in 2019, scoring three podiums and eight top ten finishes along the way. The car will run the OPTIMA Batteries/Veristor livery.
Galante returns to BimmerWorld, the team that he ran with when he won his second Street Tuner championship in 2018 in a 328i. Machavern, winner of the 2017 Grand Sport title, ran in both Trans Am and the IMSA WeatherTech Series in 2019, co-driving with Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley in the Petit Le Mans GTD class-winning #96 Turner Motorsport M6 GT3 in October. The #80 BimmerWorld M4 GT4 that Galante and Machavern will drive will run in Racing to End Alzheimers livery with a focus on raising both awareness of the disease and funds to find a cure.
Clay says, “I think we have one of the strongest driver line-ups in recent memory. Devin and I will team up again, and he’s just a terrific co-driver. We work extremely well together, and we have a proven track record which we aim to improve on those last couple of spots. We welcome Nick back to the team, and not only is he fast, but he’s experienced as well. His driving will be complemented by Dillon Machavern who is also super quick and crafty. I expect these guys will be our own best competition, which will be fun. We have a couple of seasons now with the M4 with a tremendous amount of data at our disposal, and I expect us to win.”
The 2020 MPC series opens with a four-hour enduro on January 24 at Daytona International Speedway.—Brian Morgan
[Photo courtesy Brian Morgan.]
