PressClub Canada · Article.
Difficult season finale for BMW Team RLL at Road Atlanta.
Mon Oct 03 14:28:33 CEST 2016 Press Release
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In the final race of the all-new BMW M6 GTLM’s debut season at Road Atlanta (US), BMW Team RLL missed another top result in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) due to technical issues.
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BMW Group
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Author.
Marc Belcourt
BMW Group
Road Atlanta (US), 1st October 2016. In the final race of the
all-new BMW M6 GTLM’s debut season at Road Atlanta (US), BMW Team
RLL missed another top result in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship (IWSC) due to technical issues.
John Edwards (US), Lucas Luhr (DE) and Kuno Wittmer (CA) came
sixth in the GTLM class after ten eventful hours of racing at
Petit Le Mans. As had often been the case this season, car number
100 suffered a dose of bad luck at the finale. After two and a
half hours the BMW M6 GTLM with Wittmer at the wheel was hit by
another competitor and spun off the track. Later on, the
alternator had to be repaired during a long stop. Although the
team completed this job under yellow, when repairs to the track
surface that had broken up were being done, the trio lost several
laps that it couldn’t make up again by the end of the race.
For several hours it looked as if Bill Auberlen (US), Dirk
Werner (DE) and Augusto Farfus (BR) could fight for another podium
result for BMW Team RLL. With two hours to go, the number 25 BMW
M6 GTLM was running in the final podium position. Unfortunately
then bad luck also hit this crew: Long repair work due to a
damaged steering rack also made them lose ground – and ultimately
forced Auberlen, Werner and Farfus to retire. Victory at the final
race of the year went to the number 62 Ferrari.
In January, the new BMW M6 GTLM celebrated its race debut at
the 24-hour race in Daytona (US) and mastered this first test of
strength at this marathon by finishing fifth. Three podium
finishes were recorded by the team during the course of the
season, at Sebring (US), Watkins Glen (US) and Road America (US).
Petit Le Mans also marked the end of the debut season in the
GTD class for the Turner Motorsport team with the newly developed
BMW M6 GT3. Will Turner (US) and his team celebrated two wins –
recording one in the IWSC race at Mosport (CA) and another coming
in Austin (US). BMW works driver Jens Klingmann (DE) and Bret
Curtis (US) topped the podium on both occasions. In Road Atlanta,
the duo was supported by Ashley Freiberg (US) and had to retire
shortly before the chequered flag with the number 96 BMW M6 GT3.
Their team-mates Michael Marsal (US), Markus Palttala (FI) und
Cameron Lawrence (US) finished fourth in the GTD class with the
number 97 sister car.
Next year’s IMSA WeatherTech Championship begins on 28th/29th
January 2017. The 24 Hours of Daytona will kick off another
exciting season, including a total of 11 races scheduled for the
GTLM class.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director):
“The race in Road Atlanta was a turbulent conclusion to a
thrilling debut season with the BMW M6 GTLM in North America.
Unfortunately BMW Team RLL missed out on another top result at
Petit Le Mans this year. However, two pole positions and three
podium finishes in the new car’s debut season is a result we can
build on for next year. The whole team, in Munich and at RLL in
the USA, worked hard to make use of the experience gained and to
improve our overall package, race by race. Thanks for all the hard
work and dedication. We will now prepare in detail for the new
season – and we will be ready to attack at the 2017 24-hour race
in Daytona. A big thank you also goes to our customer team of
Turner Motorsport. With its two wins in the GTD category, Will
Turner’s crew successfully proved the competitiveness of the new
BMW M6 GT3 here in North America.”
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team
RLL):
“It is a disappointing end to the year. The 25 car was having quite a good race and maybe could have had a podium, but it had issues at the end. The 100 car got taken out by a Ford GT early on, then we had an alternator failure because of that later on. Everyone worked so hard this year and I feel bad of the team and bad for the drivers as you hate to end it on this note. That is racing. Now we put our heads down and get ready for next year and hopefully have a much better one.”
“It is a disappointing end to the year. The 25 car was having quite a good race and maybe could have had a podium, but it had issues at the end. The 100 car got taken out by a Ford GT early on, then we had an alternator failure because of that later on. Everyone worked so hard this year and I feel bad of the team and bad for the drivers as you hate to end it on this note. That is racing. Now we put our heads down and get ready for next year and hopefully have a much better one.”
John Edwards (Number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, 6th place):
“It was a hard race and a hard season. I think we learned a
lot about the car this year, but unfortunately we don’t have a lot
to show for it. We have a lot planned for the off season in the
way of testing. I am optimistic for next year, and looking forward
to putting this season to the back of my memory.”
Lucas Luhr (Number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, 6th place):
“The season in a way ended exactly as it had started – with a
disappointing result. We wanted to finish the season with a
respectable result, maybe even a podium. But this just wasn’t to
be. Nevertheless, this is racing.”
Kuno Wittmer (Number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, 6th place):
“The race didn’t go according to plan. The accident with car
number 67 was a race changer. Maybe he didn’t expect me defending
my position that hard, then he made a mistake. We managed to go
on, but then the technical issues occurred. We will come back
stronger next year.”
Bill Auberlen (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, DNF):
“The car was good at times, but we are just not where we want
to be, as we want to be fighting up front. Right now we are not at
that point and hopefully we can get better, come back next year
and put our footsteps on the top of the podium. Today I am very disappointed.”
Dirk Werner (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, DNF):
“That was very disappointing, especially as, until we ran into
the problems with our car, we were running strong. We had the
pace. Definitely that was not the way we wanted to end the season,
as it would have been nice to end it on the podium. The team tried
to repair the car, they didn’t give up and showed that they always
give everything, but in the end the car could not be repaired in
the time we had left.”
Augusto Farfus (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, DNF):
“This was the first time since 2011 that I have been here and
it hasn’t rained. I think my stint was strong. I had good pace,
good fights on the track and made some positions up. It was all
looking good. I think Dirk and Bill did brilliant jobs and
unfortunately what happened to us is racing.”