Diffsonline BMWs kick off a strong 2015 season at the CTSCC BMW Performance 200 at Daytona

Diffsonline BMWs kick off a strong 2015 season at the CTSCC BMW Performance 200 at Daytona

Dan Fitzgerald

Diffsonline BMWs kick off a strong 2015 season at the CTSCC BMW Performance 200 at Daytona

The off-season proved to be used wisely by BMW teams knowing they'd be going up against a gaggle of Porsche Caymans in the 2015 race season with CTSCC. With a fourth-place finish in the season-opening BMW Performance 200 at Daytona, Fall-Line's #46 BMW M3 driven by Trent Hindman and Ashley Friedman was the only BMW running in GS, but it made a strong showing and was just edged out of a podium finish. With a third-place podium finish in ST, as well as three of the four BMWs running in ST finishing in the top 10, the season is off to a particularly strong start in the ST class, with what's sure to be a lot of close racing as the schedule moves forward.

Team TGM pulled off an impressive third-place finish in their #64 BMW 328i driven by Ted Giovanis and David Murry. With less than 10 seconds separating Team TGM from the class-winning Porsche Cayman, they not only managed their best finish ever in CTSCC, but they've proven that well-prepared BMWs will be able to bring a championship-worthy fight to the ST class. BimmerWorld's sister team, Next Level European, made a big impression by bringing their new #83 Porsche Cayman in a few seconds behind in 4th place with BimmerWorld's own James Clay and Jason Briedis fighting hard till the end to place the #84 BMW 328i less than a second behind in 5th place. Terry Borcheller and Mike LaMarra rounded out the best-finishing BMWs by hustling the #23 Burton Racing BMW 128i into 6th place… Just 2 seconds behind.

Most of the pre-race talk focused on the Caymans taking up all the top spots due to Daytona's favoritism for slick shapes that cut through the air. With 4 Caymans, 3 BMWs, 2 Hondas, and 1 Mazda filling up the top-10 spots, however, the season looks very promising for the great preparation, handling, and driver combinations of the BMW teams.