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PressClub USA · Article.
BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team Retains Winning Drivers for 2010 ALMS Season
Fri Dec 04 02:55:51 CET 2009 Press Release
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. - December 3, 2009... BMW of North America announced today that it has signed Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller to drive for the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the 2010 American Le Mans Series. This will be the second season of competition for the Hilliard, Ohio-based team.
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BMW Group
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Author.
Kenn Sparks
BMW Group
Woodcliff Lake , N.J. – December 3, 2009… BMW of North America announced today that it has signed Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller to drive for the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the 2010 American Le Mans Series. This will be the second season of competition for the Hilliard, Ohio-based team.
The experienced quartet piloted two GT-class BMW M3s to third in ALMS Manufacturer points in 2009 in a first-year season that delivered one victory, five podium finishes, two 1-2 M3 qualifying efforts, and three fastest race laps. Auberlen and Hand drove to the team’s first win at Road America on August 16th and finished the season 14th in Driver points. Milner and Müller finished fourth in Driver Points and brought home the team’s second 2009 victory on October 31st at the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series race in Okayama, Japan.
In 2010, BMW of North America will celebrate the 35th anniversary of the company’s March 1975 incorporation, as well as its first major sports car racing victory, the 12 Hours of Sebring, also in March of 1975.
“2009 was the inaugural season for this new M3 racing car and we needed to prove our competitiveness,” said Martin Birkmann, Motorsport Manager, BMW of North America. “Looking back this can be seen as accomplished. Looking forward, becoming better yet is a target. Using the well oiled machine of cars, drivers and team who all have developed tremendously over the past season is the best way to further raise the bar. And, if ‘09 is an indication then our fans should be ready for a great show delivered by the team, these four men, and the two cars.”
“Simultaneously developing a new race car and a new team is always particularly challenging to the drivers involved, but last year Bill, Joey, Tommy, and Dirk made things go much more smoothly than we had hoped,” said Bobby Rahal, Team Principal, Rahal Letterman Racing. “Continuity is a key component in building a championship race team, and we couldn't be happier to see that all four of these talented drivers will be returning with us for 2010.”
The first official test of the 2010 American Le Mans Series will be held at Sebring International Raceway on February 22 – 23, four weeks before the season-opening race, the 12 Hours of Sebring on March 20th.
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, 335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 142 BMW motorcycle retailers, 89 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 has joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 as BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the American Le Mans Series and will also serve as the organizers of the Formula BMW Americas championship.
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