BMW Team RLL to Start Fourth and Sixth in Continental Tire Road Race Showcase; Edwards 4th, Auberlen 6th in Qualifying at Road America

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Aug. 8, 2015…  BMW Team RLL will line up fourth and sixth in the GTLM class in tomorrow’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin.

John Edwards qualified the No. 24 BMW Z4 fourth with a 2:03.062 minute lap of the 4.0-mile, 14-turn circuit. Edwards and co-driver Lucas Luhr currently stand third in GTLM class driver points. The class pole was scored by the No. 912 Porsche 911RSR, of Earl Bamber, with a time of 2:02.384 minutes.

Bill Auberlen, driving the No. 25 BMW Z4 he shares with Dirk Werner, qualified sixth with a 2:03.772 minute lap during the 15-minute session. Auberlen and Werner stand second in GTLM driver points.

The first half of 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship has seen both BMW Z4 racing cars take a victory. Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner won on the streets of Long Beach, Calif. in the No. 25 car and John Edwards and Lucas Luhr took the victory at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway in the No. 24 machine. The No. 25 Z4 and No. 24 Z4 stand second and third in team points standings respectively. BMW holds a four point lead in the manufacturer points standings.

Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL): “It was a tough qualifying session for us. I think with the BoP adjustments that were made, especially with Porsche, we are seeing the effect of that and it is clearly the fastest car here. Tomorrow is the race day, which could see things change, but we will just have to make our cars better as I don’t think we have them perfect.”

John Edwards, driver (No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM, P4): “That’s pretty disappointing. The team told me the Porsche did a 2.02.5 on its first lap, and I said okay I will go for it, but at the end of the session my last lap was my quickest and it was nowhere near to the pole. We improved the car a lot from this morning, we are half a second under last year’s pole and the car’s really comfortable. If we were by ourselves I would say we are really quick, but when you see the times of the other cars it is pretty disappointing.”

Bill Auberlen, driver  (No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM, P6): “The problem for the race tomorrow is the car is too good for us to find another second. There are a few adjustments we can make, but we’ve got a long way to go. All we can do is put our heads down, run mistake free, get all the points we can.”
The Continental Tire Road Race Showcase takes the green flag at 2:05 p.m. CT Sunday, August 9th and will be broadcast live on FOX Sports 1 from 3:00 – 6:00 p.m. ET. Follow BMW Team RLL on Twitter at @BMWUSARacing for “from-the-pit-box” updates all weekend.

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; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based 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 and X4 Sports Activity Coupes.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 148 BMW motorcycle retailers, 123 MINI passenger car dealers, and 36 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.

The BMW Group
With its three brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services.  As a global company, the BMW Group operates 30 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2014, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.118 million cars and 123,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2013 was euro 7.91 billion on revenues amounting to approximately euro 76.06 billion. As of 31 December 2013, the BMW Group had a workforce of 110,351 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

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, CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan, has been competing for over two decades. Prior to the start of the 2015 season, the team had compiled 30 victories, 47 poles, 130 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011) and claimed 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. The following year, the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category and swept all three GT titles – Manufacturer, Team and Driver – in 2011. In 2012 the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team and Manufacturer Championship. The 2014 season brought a new challenge with the creation of the TUDOR United SportsCar Championship and the team finished on the podium six times including four second-place finishes. In 2015, the team will attempt to add to their 10 wins and 49 sports car podium finishes.

Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwgroupusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com.