BMW Team RLL – Virginia International Raceway ALMS Qualifying

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – September 14, 2012… BMW Team RLL drivers Dirk Müller and Bill Auberlen ended today’s qualifying session for the four-hour American Le Mans Series VIR240 with mixed results.

Müller, driving the No. 56 M3 GT, posted the second fastest time in the 15-minute session, only .371 seconds from the GT class pole. His fastest lap - 1:46.359 minutes - was set on his fourth lap of the 3.27-mile circuit. Jonathan Summerton, who is substituting for Joey Hand this weekend, will co-drive with Müller.

Since the fourth round of the season, the No. 55 M3 GT has been setting the qualifying pace for the team, but today was different. Auberlen struggled with grip throughout the session. His third lap time of 1:46.680 minutes was his best, .692 seconds from the pole, but it was only good enough for the seventh starting position. He will co-drive with Jörg Müller.

With two wins and an additional four podium finishes in the first eight races of the season, Dirk Müller stands third in driver points. Joey Hand stands fourth. Bill Auberlen and Jörg Müller are seventh.

Dirk M ü ller, driver No. 56 M3 GT – (second) -“In today’s second practice we were not as good as we should be, but Chris (Yancher) and the guys made changes that gave me a great car for qualifying. The car was perfect up through the esses and that is critical to a fast lap here. I know Scott is watching and I hope we can do even better tomorrow.”

Bill Auberlen, driver No. 55 M3 GT – (seventh) – “We have been struggling since we unloaded which is very uncharacteristic of the No. 55 car of late. I believe we can race better than we qualified, but I’m sure we will be making quite a few changes this evening.”

The VIR 240 race will take the green flag at 2:30 p.m. ET tomorrow with live streaming coverage available on ESPN3.com starting at 2:15 p.m. ET. ESPN2 will broadcast the race at 5:00 p.m. ET on Sunday, Sept 16th.

The Series’ website offers additional content such as live in-car cameras, and timing and scoring for all users around the world. Viewers outside the U.S. can watch all ALMS races live on ALMS.com.

About BMW Team RLL:

BMW Group In America

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 and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 139 BMW motorcycle retailers, 115 MINI passenger car dealers, and 32 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.

Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing

BMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and co-owned by three-time IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, has been competing for nearly two decades, compiling 22 victories, 31 poles and two series championships (1992, 2010) as well as claiming an Indianapolis 500 victory (Buddy Rice in 2004). In 2009 the team joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 in the American Le Mans Series. In 2010 the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category. In 2011 the team swept all three GT titles - Manufacturer, Team and Driver.

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Journalist note:

Information about the BMW and its products is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com.  

Video interviews and on-board clips are available at www.youtube.com/BMWNAMotorsport.

Follow BMW Team RLL on Twitter at @BMWUSARacing and on Facebook at BMWUSA.

Information about Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing is available via at: www.rahal.com.

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