Shelby Blackstock and Ashley Freiberg, driving the #48 Fall-Line Motorsports M3, were declared the winners of the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge series BMW Performance 200 at Daytona after the #96 Turner Motorsport E92 M3, driven by Bill Auberlen and Paul Dalla Lana, was disqualified for a technical infraction following a post-race inspection. It was the first CTSCC win for both Blackstock and Freiberg, and it made Freiberg the first female overall winner in the series.
Jeff Mosing and Eric Foss won the Street Tuner class in the #56 Murillo Racing E90 328i after a race-long battle with BimmerWorld’s Greg Liefooghe and Tyler Cooke in another 328i.
Three additional Grand Sport M3s followed Blackstock and Freiberg across the finish line. Fall-Line's John Edwards and Trent Hindman were second, Turner Motorsport's Michael Marsal and Tom Kimber-Smith were third, and Rum Bum's Hugh Plumb and his 15-year-old co-driver Kaz Grala were fourth.
Auberlen and Dalla Lana had overcome an early stop-and-go penalty to win the caution-plagued race on the track. The specific technical infraction was a weld that came loose in the intake system, leaving a small hole. The team says that no performance advantage resulted from the change.
There were five full-course yellow flag periods in the 2-1/2 hour enduro; the race ended under the final yellow, bringing an abrupt end to battles for the lead in both classes.
The Daytona ST win was the first ever for Mosing, Foss, and Murillo Racing. Behind them and the second place 328i driven by Liefooghe and Cooke a Porsche Cayman piloted by Cory Friedman and David Baum rounded out the podium. The next BMW in the finishing order was the sixth-place Burton Racing 128i driven by defending ST champions Terry Borcheller and Mike LaMarra.
CTSCC competition resumes in Sebring on March 14.—Brian S. Morgan
