Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Nov. 1, 2020 . . . BMW Team RLL’s consecutive podium finishing streak ended today at six IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races following a fifth and sixth place finish in today’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, Calif.
John Edwards and Jesse Krohn finished fifth in the No. 24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE with teammates Connor de Phillippi and Bruno Spengler sixth in the No. 25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE. BMW Team RLL split tire strategies between the cars to try and gain any advantage possible. The No. 24 M8 stopped three times and the No. 25 M8 made one less stop, but an overall lack of pace did not allow for a better result.
Historically, Laguna Seca has been a strong circuit for BMW from its very first season of IMSA competition in 1975 with a victory by Hans Stuck in a BMW 3.0 CSL to recent BMW Team RLL wins in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Last season, Edwards and Krohn shared a runner-up finish after starting from the pole position in the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE.
Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley, co-drivers of the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3, finished second today after running in the runner-up position for the majority of the race. Foley started the race from his second qualifying spot and Auberlen finished the race 10.119 seconds behind the winning Acura NSX GT3.
The final race of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be the 12 Hours of Sebring, rescheduled from its traditional March date to November 14th. Follow us on Twitter @BMWUSARacing for news from the pit box and get live scoring and in-car camera views at IMSA.com.
John Edwards, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P5): “Unfortunately, we did not have the pace today. It was a good effort by the team to get the balance right for our car and try different strategies, but ultimately, we lacked grip. Jesse and I will look forward to closing out the Michelin Endurance Cup title at Sebring in a few weeks.”
Jesse Krohn, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P5): “No matter which way the race was going to play out today we were off the pace. The team did what they could, but today was not our day.”
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, 145 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.