Competes first professional race in over a year with a 4th place finish
Devin Jones along co-drivers James Walker Jr. and Nick Galante piloted the No. 82 Racing to End Alzheimer’s / OPTIMA Batteries M4 GT4 to a 4th place finish in the Intercontinental GT Challenge Indianapolis 8 Hour event.
This was Jones' first race since a serious accident in 2020 at Virginia International Raceway.
Jones and the BimmerWorld Racing team picked things quickly, even with limited practice at the historic speedway.
"It's really been a long road to get back in a racecar here at Indy this weekend. I am really grateful to be at the track and I am having a blast doing what I love again. I have to thank James Clay and everyone at BimmerWorld for sticking with me, I am really enjoying the week here so far and I'm excited to get going and start pushing myself on track."
The #82 BMW qualified in 4th position for the 8 hour race, Jones would be elected to start and finish the event. Walker Jr. and Galante would split the middle stints of the race. Jones settled into the 4th position during the opening stint of the race, keeping pace with the leaders and running competitive lap times.
"I haven't started a race since 2018, so I was really excited to be get out there and mix it up, especially at this big of a event. I got a pretty good start and I started to get back into the flow of things during the first 20 minutes. I started to feel comfortable pushing the car and just really feeling like my old self again behind the wheel. I got out of the car with a big smile, for sure."
Walker Jr. and Galante kept the car clean and in the fight during the middle parts of the race. Maintaining a top-5 position through the changing dynamics of the long event. Jones would get back into the car for the last two hours, running his best lap times of the weekend and setting a pace that put the #82 in position for a podium finish. Unfortunately, some mistimed cautious and widespread confusion on wave-arounds relegated the team to a 4th place finish.
"We all deserved a podium here, the race went really well and we stayed in the fight all day. Our stops and calls from the pits were spot on. It was great working with Wayne again, his strategy was on point. We had the pace for a 2nd place finish and the wave-around confusion caught us and others out pretty bad. Overall though this was a big success, I have to thank James and Nick, they drove great and it was so much fun to share a car with those guys."
The Indianapolis 8 Hour was the last event for the BimmerWorld team, focus will now shift to the 2022 season.