Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 20, 2013 . . . With a 1:15.672 minute lap around the 2.46-mile, 10-turn Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (formally Mosport) circuit, GT class points leader Dirk Müller qualified the No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE in the fourth position for tomorrow’s American Le Mans Series Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix. His time was only .210 seconds from the class pole. Just .054 seconds behind Müller, Bill Auberlen qualified the No. 55 BMW Z4 GTE fifth with a 1:15.726 minute lap.
BMW stands three points behind Chevrolet in Manufacturer points and is tied with Corvette Racing in Team points. Dirk Müller leads the Driver standings by a 16-point margin. To date, Müller has scored a seventh at Sebring co-driving with Joey Hand and John Edwards, a second with Hand at Long Beach, a third with Edwards at Laguna Seca and the most recent win with Edwards at Lime Rock Park. Joey Hand, returning stateside from his DTM duties, will co-drive the No. 56 machine in tomorrow’s 2.45-hour race.
Bill Auberlen and Maxime Martin scored the first victory for the Z4 GTE at Long Beach in the No. 55 car, but a broken differential at the next round at Laguna Seca saw them finish out of the points. They began the season with a fourth (along with Jörg Müller) at Sebring and scored another fourth place finish most recently at Lime Rock Park. Without the disappointment of Laguna Seca the duo would certainly be standing higher than fifth in Driver points, 18 markers in arrears of Müller.
Dirk Müller, driver No. 56 Z4 GTE – (4th) – “I was really, really happy that I was chosen to qualify here. It is definitely a man’s track! I’m pretty sure that I had that two tenths left in my pocket, but honestly I was afraid to pull it out. We are so quick in turns 1, 2, and 8 that I could maybe have risked it a little more to get the pole. On the other hand, we also saw what can happen if you risk too much. Nevertheless, I’m very happy with P4. The car was good, the team did a great job with set-up and it was fun qualifying.”
Bill Auberlen, driver No. 55 Z4 GTE – (5th) – “I left the last practice session in P1 and in qualifying everyone showed their hands. We have the handling, but don’t quite have enough straight line speed. The car is great, the team is great and the Michelin tires are great. We are a session behind in set-up because we had some electrical problems during Thursday’s test so we still have a few more adjustments to make before the race tomorrow.”
Live streaming of the race can be found on ESPN3.com. Follow BMW Team RLL on Twitter at @BMWUSARacing for “from-the-pit-box” updates all weekend. The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix is scheduled to be broadcast on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. ET on Sunday, July 21th. ALMS.com will stream in-car footage throughout the race and the full live feed for international views. More information on the program can be found at www.bmwusa.com and www.alms.com.
BMW Group In America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 and X3 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 139 BMW motorcycle retailers, 119 MINI passenger car dealers, and 34 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet at: www.bmwgroupna.com
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
BMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and co-owned by three-time IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, has been competing for over two decades, compiling 28 victories, 42 poles and three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011) as well as claiming an Indianapolis 500 victory (Buddy Rice in 2004). In 2009 the team joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 in the American Le Mans Series. In 2010 the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category. In 2011 the team swept all three GT titles – Manufacturer, Team and Driver.