Petit Le Mans - Notes and Quotes – Thursday

Petit Le Mans - Notes and Quotes – Thursday, Sept. 30, 2010

The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3 GTs finished yesterday’s Test Session third and fourth in the GT class. Dirk Werner set the third quick time with a 1:20.939 minute lap in the No. 92 M3 GT. Dirk Müller ran a 1:21.102 minute lap in the No. 90 M3 GT.

Today a light rain made for a slick track in this morning’s one-hour practice session resulting in the team running only enough laps to leak check the race motors installed yesterday. In the afternoon session the rain continued and both M3s stayed in the paddock. During the two-hour night practice, the team focused on lighting and logging more simulated pitstops and driver changes. “We got each driver behind the wheel and tested our new night lights, which I’m pleased to say are a great improvement,” said Scott Roembke, RLR Vice President of Operations. “Every lap logged improves the comfort our drivers have with the M3, and with each other as an endurance team.”

M3 History at Petit Le Mans.

2010 marks the BMW M3’s eighth appearance at the Petit Le Mans. The M3 has raced in the Petit Le Mans seven times (1998, 1999, 2000, 2001, 2003, 2006 and 2009) in previous seasons. In 2001, teams from both BMW of North America and BMW Motorsport competed, and achieved the first and so-far only win in the GT class at Petit.

BMW RLR Team drivers visit the BMW Performance Center.

Two BMW drivers made appearances at the BMW Performance Center in Spartanburg, South Carolina, in the days before Petit Le Mans. On the Friday following the Motorsports on Main event in Greenville, SC, Tommy Milner stopped by the BMW Performance Driving School to say hello and get some wheel time in the M3 street cars used by the school. This past Monday, Dirk Werner and his father Harald participated in an M School and toured BMW’s manufacturing plant for BMW X5 and X6 Sports Activity Vehicles, located across the street from the Performance Center.

Dirk Werner, driver, No. 92 M3 GT: “Monday we visited the BMW Performance Center it was definitely a great experience for me and my dad.  My dad had never been on a closed race track and driven a car like the BMW M3 or the M5 so he definitely had a lot of fun, especially learning how to drive a car on the limit. Even though he has driven cars for a long time and is a pretty good driver, I would say for sure he became a better driver with only the little time spent with the school instructors. For me it was also a great experience.  We didn’t want to leave the track!”

Pre-Petit Testing.

BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team had a very productive two-day test this past weekend in preparation for Petit, as reported by Jay O'Connell, Technical Director, Rahal Letterman Racing. “Car No. 90 completed 219 laps, 895 km (556 miles) and car No. 92 completed 233 laps, 952 km (592 miles) over the two day test, so, both cars combined mileage was more than the Petit race distance (1000 miles),” said O’Connell. “We tested in the dry on Saturday with both cars and in the wet on Sunday morning with car No. 90 only. Both cars were on track in the dry on Sunday afternoon until the rain began at 1:40 pm.  We bedded brakes for the race, got Andy Priaulx and Dirk Werner up to speed in our cars, and worked on setup changes all in preparation for this weekend.  We also tested with our new cornering lights and quick change front ends, to shake them down, with no issues.  Overall it was a productive test for us as we know clear track time will be limited before the race with so many cars entered for this event.”

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 and X3 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, 100 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.  Real-time updates at www.twitter.com.BMWNA_Racing. Video interviews and on-board clips at www.youtube.com/BMWNAMotorsport. Information about Rahal Letterman Racing is available via the Internet at: www.rahal.com.

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