Racing News

    The BMW M235i Racing made a very successful North American competition debut with a Pirelli World Challenge (PWC) Touring Car (TC) class victory in Race 2 for Toby Grahovec, driving the number 26 Classic BMW Motorsports M235iR. The day before Grahovec finished second in Race 1 as the 2016 PWC season began at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin, TX. Grahovec drives one of two US-specification M235iR cars for Classic BMW Motorsports, Classic BMW’s racing team.

    “It is awesome to win close to home,” said Grahovec. “We have about 60 family members and friends here today and to win is fantastic.” Gino Carini drove the second M235iR, number 26 car. Unfortunately, a mishap during practice caused suspension damage. Carini missed qualifying while repairs were made, but was able to compete in both races.

    The M235i Racing is a homologated BMW designed for International Touring Car racing. While successfully campaigned in Europe, this was the first competitive race in the US. Eric Maas, President of Classic BMW, said "The two cars arrived February 22nd, just nine days before practice and qualifying. Toby and the entire Classic BMW Motorsports team worked around the clock to get the cars ready. Winning this race was a tremendous team effort!" The next PWC race for the team is at Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in Ontario, Canada on May 19.

    In other PWC BMW team news: Mike Mills of Mills Racing placed second in Race 1, and third in Race 2, in the GTA Class driving their BMW Z4 GT3.

    Replay of the PWC TC Race will be on CBS Sports Network on Thursday, March 17 at 9 p.m. ET.—Mike Ura