After a hard two-hour-and-forty-minute IMSA MOTUL Course de Monterey race today at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, BMW M Team RLL finished fifth and eighth in the GTP class. While both BMW M Hybrid V8 machines looked strong early in the contest, unfortunately a third consecutive podium result was not to be.

The opening lap of the race saw both BMW M Hybrid V8s gain three positions in the first corner as the GTP class leaders encountered problems under braking. With De Phillippi in fourth and Eng in fifth, the race was slowed by the race's second caution period. Pitting both BMWs under the yellow flag, the No. 25 car only took right side tires and jumped to second place. The No. 24 BMW elected to take four tires and Eng returned to the race in fourth place. The planned repaving of the iconic circuit was delayed because of winter rains, so today's race was the last before the facelift. As a result, the race strategy had to focus on the tire degradation the antiquated surface has been known for in recent seasons. A third yellow flag flew just as the first hour of the race was completed with both BMWs pitting for fuel, tires, and a change of drivers to Yelloly in the No. 25 and Farfus in the No. 24 cars.

The second half of the race saw Yelloly and Farfus running strongly. With 45 minutes remaining Yelloly had the No. 25 BMW in third. Farfus ran in sixth. In the closing stages Farfus raced to No. 24 BMW to a fifth-place finish for the second top-five result by Farfus and Eng this season. A third consecutive podium was not to be for the No. 25 as the car ultimately finished eighth.

Augusto Farfus, driver No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P5): 'Our race was good. I believe we had a good tire strategy. Philipp ran the first set long so I had two sets for the finish. Ultimately, heavy traffic made it difficult to move forward and luck just was not on our side. We started P8 and finished P5 - purely on pace – so we leave with quite a few positives.'

Connor De Phillippi, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P8): 'Things did not go exactly as we had hoped for the No. 25 car. Later in the race some of the yellow flags negated the advantage of our four new Michelins and in the closing stages we had two new tires to our competitors four. We learned a great deal this weekend so I am positive those lessons will pay off at Watkins Glen.'

Round five of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen, will be held June 25th. The race will be streamed live on Peacock Premium and a three-hour condensed broadcast will be televised on USA network beginning at 2:00 p.m.

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; a technology office in Silicon Valley 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 as well as the BMW XM. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 350 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 104 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 Zionsville, Indiana 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 over three decades. Prior to the start of their 32nd season of competition in 2023 and their 15th with BMW, the team had compiled 54 victories, 67 poles, 225 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011), claimed two Indianapolis 500 victories (Buddy Rice in 2004, Takuma Sato in 2020) and two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. 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. From 2014 to 2021, BMW Team RLL competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program. In 2022, BMW M Team RLL competed in the GTD PRO class in

IMSA while simultaneously ramping up for a two-car program in the much-anticipated GTP class in IMSA for 2023. In total, the team has earned 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 30 poles and 96 podium finishes prior to the start of the 2023 season. BMW M Team RLL highlights also include second-place finishes in the Manufacturer, Team, and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017 and being named the 2020 Michelin North American Endurance Champions.

Photo credit: BMW
posted on conceptcarz.com

Related Posts