BMW Team RLL Motivated for More at Mid-Ohio
September 23, 2020
BMW Team RLL Finish Third and Fourth at Mid-Ohio to Increase Podium Streak to Four Races
September 27, 2020
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Sept. 27, 2020… BMW Team RLL will line up in the second and fourth starting positions for this afternoon’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. With a 1:18.36-minute lap Jesse Krohn secured the outside of the GTLM front row, only .376 seconds from the pole winning Corvette C8.R. Krohn will co-drive the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE with John Edwards. In his first drive at the 2.258-mile road course, Bruno Spengler qualified the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE he shares with Connor De Phillippi fourth with a 1:18.515-minute lap.
With consecutive podium finishes (P3 – Road America, P2 – VIR, P1, P3 – Road Atlanta) in the last three races BMW Team RLL is looking for a “home field advantage” at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course to continue its momentum. Only some 60 miles from the team’s base in Hilliard, Ohio the circuit has not delivered a win for the team as yet, but the team has reached the podium five times – the best result a second in 2018 with the BMW M8 GTE by drivers De Phillippi and Alexander Sims.
Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler celebrated their first victory of the season at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta three weeks ago and the co-drivers of the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE now stand third in GTLM class driver points. No. 24 BMW M8 GTE co-drivers John Edwards and Jesse Krohn, third-place finishers at Road Atlanta and two of the four BMW Team RLL quartet that won the 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona, stand fourth in driver points. In GTLM manufacturer points BMW continues to stand second.
In the GT Daytona class, Robby Foley qualified the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 in the fifth position with a quick lap of 1:21364 minutes, only .390 seconds from the pole time. Foley and co-driver Bill Auberlen stand seventh in GTD class driver points.
The Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio is scheduled to take the green flag at 2:05 p.m. today and will be broadcast later on NBCSN from 11:00 p.m. – 2:00 a.m. ET. Follow us on Twitter @BMWUSARacing for news from the pit box and get live scoring and in-car camera views at IMSA.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 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; technology offices in Silicon Valley and Chicago, and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 349 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 144 BMW motorcycle retailers, 117 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 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.
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, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan, has been competing for almost three decades. Prior to the start of their 29th season of competition in 2020, the team had compiled 51 victories, 62 poles, 189 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. Since 2014, BMW Team RLL has competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program and has brought their total to 21 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance races, 28 poles and 79 podium finishes as well as a second place finish in the Manufacturer, Team and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017.
