BSI Racing kicked off its 2024 Toyota GR86 Cup season with a successful stint at Sonoma Raceway in Sonoma, California. Earlier this month, rookies Maximilian Hewitt and Maddie Aust made their series debuts, while Steven Clemons returned to the grid for his second season in the series.
BSI, series, and team partner Endava brought two Endava-branded liveries that Clemons and Aust piloted throughout the weekend. Clemons would earn back-to-back top-10 finishes and earned himself a “hard charger” award in race two, while Aust also garnered the award for the highest-finishing female in race two.
After some unforeseen repairs were made to the track, testing prior to the race was canceled, and practice was pushed back to the end of the day on Friday before qualifying on race day that following Saturday.
Maximilian Hewitt set the pace for BSI Racing with a 1:52:428 time, earning him a qualifying spot of P6. Despite running in the top four throughout practice, Clemons would find himself starting P12 with a fast lap of 1:53:042. Aust marked a 1:54:591, putting her at P23 for race one in the No. 09 Endava livery.
Clemons would work his way back to a P9 finish in race one, right behind BSI teammate Maximilian Hewitt who finished P8. Despite a spinout in turn 2 on the second lap, Aust would finish the race P21, picking up a couple spots after her start.
A wreck from Clemons in the No. 76 Endava machine would put him toward the back of the pack for race two after a collision in qualifying. Still, BSI drivers found pace and success in race two, with Hewitt earning another top-10 with a second P8 finish. Clemons earned the honor of the “hard charger" with a P15 finish, while Aust was the highest-finishing female with a clean P19 finish.
“Overall, a really fantastic start to our Toyota GR86 Cup season”, said Team Principal, Shea Holbrook.
“I’m really excited to see Steven, Max, and Maddie take away some good results here as we move forward into the season. The cars were great, the crew did a fantastic job, and our drivers responded well to the ups and downs of the weekend. We have a lot to build on here. Huge thanks to Toyota and Endava for their support in this series and for BSI Racing.”