BMW Team RLL Qualifies Sixth and Seventh For Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix; Krohn P6, Sims P7.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 7, 2018… BMW Team RLL will start the Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix from the sixth and seventh positions following today’s 15-minute GTLM class qualifying session.

Jesse Krohn qualified the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE sixth with a time of 1:14.100 minutes on his seventh lap of the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park circuit. With a 1:14.213 minute time set on his fourth lap, Alexander Sims qualified the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE seventh The pole position was won by the No. 911 Porsche 911 RSR and the entire GTLM field was separated by only .711 seconds. Krohn will share the No. 24 M8 with John Edwards and Sims will co-drive the No. 25 M8 with Connor De Phillippi. Last year Sims and Bill Auberlen won this race in the No. 25 BMW M6 GLTM.

“We feel more confident going into tomorrow’s race versus last weekend at Watkins Glen,” said Brandon Fry, BMW Team RLLTechnical / Racing Operations Director.  “A good practice session this morning led to a good qualifying effort. Everybody is pushing really hard. The engineers are doing a great job and the drivers are giving really good feedback. I think we’ve made some good progress.”

Jesse Krohn, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P6):  “The guys did a great job from FP3 to qualifying and we’re definitely in the right window. We are heading in the right direction and we are positive we can fight with the car we have.”

Alexander Sims, driver No. 25 BMW M8 GTE (P7): “We got it all working really nicely in qualifying. The M8 was handling really well and the high speed corners were very good. This track is awesome and great to drive. Good fun during qualifying - new tires, low fuel and on your own to go and find the limits.”

The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix will start at 2:05 p.m. tomorrow and be broadcast on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 4:00 p.m. ET. Follow BMW Team RLL on Twitter at @BMWUSARacing for “from-the-pit-box” updates all weekend.

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; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based 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 346 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 153 BMW motorcycle retailers, 127 MINI passenger car dealers, and 36 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, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan, has been competing for almost three decades. Prior to the start of their 27^th season of competition in 2018, the team had compiled 42 victories, 53 poles, 162 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011) and claimed 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. The following year the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category and swept all three GT titles - Manufacturer, Team and Driver – in 2011. In 2012, the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team and Manufacturer Championship. Since 2014, BMW Team RLL has competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two car program and has brought their total to 17 wins, 23 poles and 68 podium finishes as well as a second place finish in the Manufacturer, Team and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017.

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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. 

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