PressClub France · Article.
La 19ème BMW Art Car termine en 8ème position aux 24 heures de Daytnona.
Tue Jan 31 09:36:00 CET 2017 Communiqué de presse
La BMW M6 GTLM Art Car, décorée par John Baldessari, entre dans l’histoire.
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BMW Group
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Author.
Jean-Michel Juchet
BMW Group
Daytona. The 19th BMW Art Car experienced an eventful
race
appearance at the Daytona 24 Hours, finishing eighth in the
GTLM
class. The opening round of the 2017 IMSA WeatherTech
SportsCar
Championship (IWSC) once again offered fans excitement
right down
to the final lap.
One of the highlights of the 24-hour race at the Daytona
International Speedway
was the BMW M6 GTLM Art Car, designed by
American artist John Baldessari
and driven by Bill Auberlen
(USA), Alexander Sims (GBR), Augusto Farfus (BRA)
and Bruno
Spengler (CAN). After 652 laps of racing, Farfus took the
chequered
flag at the wheel of the 19th member of the BMW Art Car
Collection. The quartet
of drivers, as well as team principal
Bobby Rahal’s crew, delivered a focussed
performance, despite
difficult conditions with heavy rain and a total of 21
fullcourse
yellows. GTLM victory went to the number 66 Ford.
The Baldessari car is only the third BMW Art Car in history to finish
the 24-hour
race it appeared in. The same feat was only achieved
by Roy Lichtenstein’s BMW
320i in the 1977 Le Mans 24 Hours and
the BMW M1 Art Car created by Andy
Warhol at the same event in
1979. Prior to this year’s Rolex 24, the latest BMW
Art Car
appearance dated back to 2010, when the BMW M3 GT2 Art
Car
created by Jeff Koons was sent into action at Le Mans.
In contrast, the 55th Rolex 24 At Daytona came to an early end for
the number 24
BMW M6 GTLM. Only 14 laps into the race,
first-stint driver John Edwards (USA)
came to a stop at the pit
lane entrance after suffering vibration at the rear of the
car.
BMW Team RLL tried to get the BMW M6 GTLM back out onto the
track,
and Edwards did actually rejoin briefly after a long break
for repairs. However, he
was then forced to retire permanently
just one lap later due to persisting
powertrain issues. Martin
Tomczyk (GER), Kuno Wittmer (CAN) and Nick
Catsburg (NLD) did not
play a part in the race.
The Turner Motorsport team delivered a fighting performance in the
GTD class:
Jens Klingmann (GER), Jesse Krohn (FIN), Maxime Martin
(BEL) and Justin
Marks (USA) lost ground – and several laps – due
to repair work on their yellow
number 96 BMW M6 GT3 following a
collision they got involved in on Saturday
night. Afterwards,
however, the team moved up the ranks again, eventually
finishing
eighth out of 27 GTD competitors. Victory in this category was
secured
by the number 28 Porsche.
Jens Marquardt (BMW Motorsport Director): “Eighth place for the
BMW
M6 GTLM Art Car was a relatively conciliatory ending to a
tough race for us. After
the number 24 car had been forced to
retire early with a technical issue, BMW
Team RLL never gave up.
In the end, however, a better result today was out of
reach in
difficult conditions. We had to fight with our hands tied for much of
the
race. The Turner Motorsport team also proved some good
fighting spirit,
finishing eighth in the GTD class to claim a
respectable result with the BMW M6
GT3, despite losing a lot of
time following an accident that was not their fault. On
the
whole, we would obviously have preferred a more successful start to
the new
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season. However,
it did not really
come as a huge surprise to us that it was not
easy – particularly on this track,
which poses its own unique
challenges for the cars. Everyone could see that the
balance of
performance is not yet perfect for this year’s field. Congratulations
to
Ford on this victory achieved in an exciting finale.
Regardless of the sporting
outcome of the Rolex 24, the outing of
the 19th BMW Art Car, designed by John
Baldessari, was a real
highlight. The drivers and BMW Team RLL enjoyed racing
this work
of art at Daytona. We are already looking forward to this year’s
second
Art Car, designed by Cao Fei, which will be in action in
Macau at the end of the
year. As far as the IMSA season is
concerned, we want to put on a stronger display at the 12-hour race in
Sebring in mid-March than we did here in
Daytona.”
John Baldessari (Artist, BMW Art Car #19): “Everybody gave this their
all,
which makes me a happy man. In Daytona competition is
fierce. I wholeheartedly
thank BMW Motorsport, the drivers, the
engineers as well as the mechanics. My
car has now earned its
spurs on the racetrack and has proven itself as the fastest
work
of art I ever created.”
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL): “Everyone did a great
job
on the number 19 car. It’s a shame we went a lap down,
because the opportunity
to get the lap back didn’t ever present
itself. The car ran reliably, the pitstops
were good and the
drivers did a great job. We’re very proud to have had the
chance
to compete with a BMW Art Car. We’ll forever be a part of its history.
It’s
obviously a disappointment for the number 24. The number of
mechanical
failures we’ve had during our 10-year relationship
could probably be counted on
one hand, so it’s a big surprise
when we have an issue. I’m anxious to look into it
further.”
Bill Auberlen (No. 19 BMW M6 GTLM, eighth place): “This is one of
the
highlights of my career, without any doubt. It’s going to go
down in history, the
19th BMW Art Car will outlive us. To be part
of the artwork, this vision from a
master like John Baldessari,
is a great privilege. I just wish we could’ve done
better in the
race. The BMW M6 GTLM ran perfectly, the team did a great
job,
and the drivers too. Hopefully we’ll come back fighting for
the Sebring 12 Hours,
and then for the rest of the IMSA season.”
Alexander Sims (No. 19 BMW M6 GTLM, eighth place): “It’s
thoroughly
special to race a BMW Art Car at the Daytona 24-hour
race – to be in an Art Car,
as historic as it is, is a massive
privilege. To have my name on the side of this car
is fantastic.
We obviously came here to win, so in that regard this
weekend
proved to be honestly quite disappointing. Everyone in
the team and at BMW did
a good job this weekend, but we just
lacked some pace – that’s that. I’m looking
forward to the rest
of the IMSA season. Everything is new to me, it’s a
massive
learning curve but I can't wait to get stuck in.”
Augusto Farfus (No. 19 BMW M6 GTLM, eighth place): “It was a
unique
opportunity to write my name in BMW Art Car history.
People might see my
name on the BMW M6 GTLM Art Car in 50 or even
100 years’ time. This is
something that will live with me
forever. From a sporting point of view, it clearly
wasn’t our
race. The team did a fantastic job, the set up was perfect, the
pitstops
were great, all my team-mates drove superbly.
Unfortunately, when you’re
unlucky, you’re unlucky – even the
full course yellows didn’t go in our favour.”
Bruno Spengler (No.
19 BMW M6 GTLM, eighth place): “Well, this wasn’t
exactly what we
had planned for this race. For the first time I was driving the car
in the wet during the night of a 24h race. This was an exciting
experience. However, compared to the opposition we were lacking speed.
And in the decisive
situations we weren’t lucky either. But we
didn’t give up, the drivers didn’t make
any mistakes. This fact
will stay in my memory as well as the huge honour of
driving the
BMW Art Car. I’m very proud of having been a part of this.”
Media Contact.
BMW Sports Communications
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Phone: +49 (0) 170 566 6112
Email: Joerg.Kottmeier@bmw.de
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Email: Ingo.Lehbrink@bmw.de
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Email: Thomas.Plucinsky@bmwna.com
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