To the extent that historical press releases reference BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC as the manufacturer of certain X model vehicles, the referenced vehicles are manufactured in South Carolina with a combination of U.S. origin and imported parts and components.
PressClub USA · Article.
BMW Team RLL: Rolex 24 at Daytona 18 Hour Report
Sun Jan 25 14:59:09 CET 2015 Press Release
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – January 25, 2015… With six hours remaining in the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona the sun has come up and put more than 13 hours of darkness behind us. BMW Team RLL currently stands third and fifth in the GLTM class.
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – January 25, 2015… With six hours remaining in the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona the sun has come up and put more than 13 hours of darkness behind us. BMW Team RLL currently stands third and fifth in the GLTM class.
Augusto Farfus drove the No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM for three stints before pitting from fourth place to hand off to Auberlen. The Californian drove another double stint. Next Spengler was back in the car for his second time. The brakes were changed during his second stint. Werner drove through the wee hours of the morning, racing the white Z4 to the front of the field for a significant time. Just as the 18th hour passed Spengler, now in the car and in the lead, had an off entering the Bus Stop and tore off the rear body work. He pitted for repairs, losing one position.
Jens Klingmann triple-stinted the No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM moving back onto the lead lap. He pitted under caution and John Edwards was the next behind the wheel. Unfortunately, just past the nine hour mark bad luck struck the black Z4 for a second time as Edwards was hit hard from behind and pushed into a car in front on the restart. The damage to both ends of the car was repaired in the garage, but 29 laps were lost. Luhr and Rahal raced through the early morning hours, regaining three of the laps lost.
Hour No. 24 Lap No.25 Lap
7 P7 209 P5 210
8 P7 238 P4 239
9 P5 267 P2 267
10 P8 269 P7 298
11 P8 302 P6 330
12 P7 332 P4 360
13 P6 360 P2 387
14 P6 393 P1 420
15 P6 423 P2 450
16 P6 453 P1 479
17 P6 485 P4 511
18 P5 512 P3 537
Augusto Farfus, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "We are suffering a bit more tire degradation than we expected, but all-in-all the car is good and we can keep up with the leaders. We will try to stay close and wait for the last few hours when the race really begins."
Bill Auberlen, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "It feels like there may be an issue developing in the rear of the car. It was bouncing quite heavily. As the temperature dropped I was losing a lot of grip so I had to drive a car that was not to my liking. I believe as the sun comes up tomorrow and the temperature rises again we'll be better."
Bruno Spengler, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "We ran out of brakes but I managed to get back to the pits. We were lucky that we kept the car on track and there was no damage, that was the most important. The mechanics did an amazing job to change the brakes so quickly and because of that we are still in the race. So that’s all right, the car is in one piece, but it is still a long way to go and anything is possible."
Dirk Werner, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "I had quite a lot of fun this time and was in a good position out there on the track following the leader in our class in my first stint. It was good fun, we were going through the field, just could do good lap times and enjoy the night. On the second stint we were leading because the others pitted to change brakes. The car was very consistent and fun to drive. I had a lot of free air, not a lot of cars around me, so I could just my time at the front."
Jens Klingmann, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "My first stint was a little difficult. I had quite a bit of oversteer and suffered a loss of power down traction. The car felt much better in the second stint so I was able to really enjoy myself. I was able to get a good rhythm going and really enjoyed the race."
John Edwards, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "I was a bit disappointed. I hopped into the car a bit early as we had a yellow as soon as I got to the pits. Unfortunately, I didn’t even make it to the second corner. There was an incident in front of me and I stopped and it was like a traffic jam on a freeway. Everyone stops for the incident and it causes one or two more incidents. I almost hit the guy in front of me but managed to stop in time and then got punted from behind. It was a hard enough hit that I was spun and pushed into the car in front of me. We had a lot of damage to both the front and the back of the car that took 29 laps to repair.
Lucas Luhr, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "Obviously our car is not the way it is supposed to be after it had the accident earlier on. It is still fun to drive, but unfortunately we are so many laps down. We'll just keep on running and try to bring it to the end."
Graham Rahal, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "Nothing special -just a triple stint trying to pound the laps out. Our times are as quick as the leader but we are still 26 laps down. Our sister car is still in the hunt and hopefully they can get it done. It is very tough out there. There is a lot of traffic, but the sun is going to be coming up here shortly and that will help."
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 and X4 Sports Activity
Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S.
through networks of 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity
Vehicle centers, 147 BMW motorcycle retailers, 122 MINI passenger car
dealers, and 35 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.
The BMW Group
With its three brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services. As a global company, the BMW Group operates 30 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.
In 2014, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.118 million cars and 123,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2013 was euro 7.91 billion on revenues amounting to approximately euro 76.06 billion. As of 31 December 2013, the BMW Group had a workforce of 110,351 employees.
The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.
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 over two decades, compiling 28 victories, 42 poles and three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011) 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.
# # #
Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwgroupusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com.
# # #