BMW Team RLL Finishes Seventh and Eighth at Northeast Grand Prix.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 21, 2018… BMW Team RLL finished the Northeast Grand Prix, at Lime Rock Park, in Lakeville, Connecticut in the seventh and eighth positions in the GTLM class.

The No. 25 BMW M8 GTE finished seventh with Connor De Phillippi and Alexander Sims sharing the driving duties. The No. 24 BMW M8 GTE of John Edwards and Jesse Krohn finished in eighth position.

Bad luck for one BMW M8 GTE and a risky pit stop strategy for the other M8 GTE unfortunately delivered an unsatisfying result for the BMW Team RLL this weekend.

The No. 24 BMW M8 GTE experienced a mechanical issue with the front bodywork in the second half of the race forcing Jesse Krohn to make an unscheduled pit stop. The team made a quick repair and sent the car out only to have Krohn be forced to return to the pits the next time around. The team attempted to change the front bodywork on the M8 but when additional damage was discovered on the No. 24 car, the decision was made to retire it.

The No. 25 BMW M8 GTE tried a one stop fuel strategy which unfortunately did not pan out as expected when the performance of the car at the end of both driver’s stints deteriorated.

BMW Customer Racing Team Turner Motorsport did get to complete one lap of the race. On the opening lap the No. 96 BMW M6 GT3 of starting driver Bill Auberlen was collected by the No. 93 Acura NSX GT3 just before the uphill chicane and was forced to retire with right front suspension damage. Co-driver Robby Foley did not drive.

“Unfortunately, we struggled with pace from the start of the weekend,” said Brandon Fry, BMW Team RLL Technical and Racing Operations Director. “For the race, we looked for a strategy that would give us the best result. We chose to one-stop the No. 25 M8, but our late stint performance dropped off and we could not make it work. We tried pitting the No. 24 M8 GTE off sequence, but we had a mechanical issue with the front of the car and had to retire it.”

Round 9 of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the Continental Tire Road Race Showcase, will be held at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wis., on Aug. 5, 2018.

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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