Twelve Hours of Sebring: BMW Team RLL ready for the next endurance classic.

Munich. BMW Team RLL is ready for the second major endurance race of the 2021 season, the Twelve Hours of Sebring (USA) this Saturday, 20th March. The #24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE will be driven by Augusto Farfus (BRA), John Edwards (USA) and Jesse Krohn (FIN). The trio had finished the first race of the season, the Rolex 24 at Daytona (USA) in January, third on the podium, together with Marco Wittmann (GER) . Their team-mates Bruno Spengler (CAN), Philipp Eng (AUT) and Connor De Phillippi (USA) share duties in the #25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE.

Sebring International Raceway has been a successful venue for BMW Team RLL. From 2010 through the 2020 season, the team has totalled two victories, four second and three third place finishes at the Twelve Hours of Sebring. Last year, with the race’s traditional March date delayed until November because of the Covid-19 pandemic, BMW Team RLL came within minutes of adding a third GTLM class victory before being punted out of the lead by a GTD class competitor running into the rear of the #25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE with some ten minutes remaining in the race. Only four months later, BMW Team RLL is ready to redress the balance.

In the GTD class, the Turner Motorsport team will enter the #96 BMW M6 GT3 with Bill Auberlen, Robby Foley (both USA) and Aidan Read (AUS) at the wheel. The 69th edition of the Twelve Hours of Sebring will take the green flag at 10:10 a.m. local time (15:10 CET) on Saturday, 20th March.

Quotes ahead of the Twelve Hours of Sebring:

Bobby Rahal (Team Principal BMW Team RLL): “It’s hard to believe it’s our 12^th year racing at Sebring with BMW Team RLL. Sebring holds a special place for me personally having gone there with my father for many years and then, of course, I started racing there in 1976, culminating with a win in 1987. Sebring has always been very important to me personally and professionally. With BMW Team RLL, we have had pretty decent performances over the years. We’ve always been pretty strong at Sebring and so I expect that to be the case again this year. Like any endurance race, staying out of trouble is key. Last year we were hit by a GTD car when we were leading close to the finish so that was extremely disappointing because I think we had the race in the bag. I look forward to a good race and hopefully Sebring will be the scene of another victory for BMW Team RLL.”  

Augusto Farfus (BMW Team RLL, #24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE): “I believe we’ll have a competitive return to Sebring this year. John, Jesse and I finished third there in November and, with Marco Wittmann, we were third again at Daytona to begin this season.”

John Edwards (BMW Team RLL, #24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE): “Sebring is a very intense race, especially with the night-time finish. Tensions are always high, and it seems that more risky moves get made towards the end of this race than any other. We had a reasonable start to the 2021 season with a podium at Daytona, but at Sebring our eyes are absolutely on a victory. As a team we looked to be set up for a 1-2 finish last year before some late race issues, so we all have our eyes on redemption!”

Jesse Krohn (BMW Team RLL, #24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE): “We had a very strong race at Sebring last year. The #24 BMW M8 GTE finished on the podium and our sister car was fighting for the victory. I don’t see any reason why we should not be equally strong this year.”

Bruno Spengler (BMW Team RLL, #25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE): “I am really looking to our return to Sebring. In last year’s race in November, the team did an awesome job and we had a very good BMW, but quite bad luck with only minutes remaining. We certainly have good data as the last 12-hour race at Sebring was only four months ago, so I expect we’ll be able to have a fast start to the weekend. Even if conditions might be a bit different in March, I think that we have a very good base to work with.”

Philipp Eng (BMW Team RLL, #25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE): “I really hope we are luckier and can use the full potential of our package at the Sebring12-hour race. I really enjoyed driving the BMW M8 GTE at Daytona and working with BMW Team RLL is just great. The #25 car was in very good shape last year at Sebring and I hope we can be as competitive this year and finish the job with a bit more luck!”

Connor De Phillippi (BMW Team RLL, #25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE): “We’re back at Sebring for some redemption. This event is one of my favourite events in the world and I’m looking forward to building on our momentum from the last time we were on track here. I believe we have a very strong line-up to battle for a win.”