Qualifying Report: BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team Road America

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – August 21, 2010…  Today Joey Hand and Tommy Milner qualified the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3 GTs fourth and eighth in the highly competitive GT field for tomorrow’s American Le Mans Series race at Road America. Hand was the quickest of the teammates, driving the No. 90 M3 GT to the fourth spot with a 2:07.222 minute lap around the 4.0-mile, 14-turn circuit. Milner was just one-half second behind in the No. 92 M3 GT with a lap of 2:07.716.

The qualifying session was interrupted by a red flag just before the mid-point, significantly reducing the 20-minute session. When the green flag waved again, both M3s ran their two quickest laps of the weekend, but ran out of time to make further improvements.

The BMW M3 GT is the only competitor in the ultra-competitive GT class to have reached the podium in all six races this season, and the Team stands tied for the lead in Manufacturer and Team points.

No. 92 M3 GT drivers Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner stand third in Driver points, only failing to reach the podium once in the first six races of the season. Joey Hand and Dirk Müller, in the No. 90 M3 GT, are fourth in Driver points, with three podium finishes to-date.

The race will be televised live on SPEED beginning at 3 p.m. ET.

YouTube: Joey Hand, Driver, No. 90 M3 GT (fourth).

 YouTube: Tommy Milner, Driver, No. 92 M3 GT (eighth).

About BMW Rahal Letterman Racing:

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 the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes.  The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers, 336 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 143 BMW motorcycle retailers, 99 MINI passenger car dealers, and 31 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.

BMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and co-owned by three-time IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, has been competing for more than a decade compiling 20 victories, 30 poles and one series championship (Bobby Rahal in 1992 in CART) and an Indianapolis 500 championship (Buddy Rice in 2004).  In 2008 Rahal Letterman Racing again won Rookie-of-the-Year honors at the Indianapolis 500 and partnered with Andersen Racing to run two entries in the Indy Pro Series. In 2009 the team joined BMW of North America to campaign the BMW M3 as BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the American Le Mans Series.

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Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com.  Information about Rahal Letterman Racing is available via the Internet at: www.rahal.com

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