BMW Team RLL Finish Third and Fourth at Mid-Ohio to Increase Podium Streak to Four Races.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Sept. 27, 2020 . . . BMW Team RLL increased their podium finishing streak to four 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races with a third-place finish by the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE of Connor De Phillippi and Bruno Spengler in this afternoon’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio. Teammates John Edwards and Jesse Krohn finished fourth in the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE. The result was sixth podium finish at BMW Team RLL’s home track and 83rd total for the team since 2009.

BMW Team RLL’s podium streak began with a third-place finish by Edwards and Krohn, driving the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE, at Road America. De Phillippi and Spengler got hot in the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE with a second at Virginia International Raceway and followed with a win at Road Atlanta. Edwards and Krohn finished third at Road Atlanta as well.

Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley shared a disappointing day in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. Starting driver Foley was hit by a prototype car on lap 24 and, following repairs by the crew, returned to the race some 25 laps down to the GT Daytona class leaders. Bill Auberlen did drive the second half of the race but was unable to make up any the of lost ground.

The next round of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will take place on October 10 at the Charlotte Motor Speedway with a 100-minute GT-only race on the track’s “Roval”. Follow us on Twitter @BMWUSARacing for news from the pit box and get live scoring and in-car camera views at IMSA.com.

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 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; technology offices in Silicon Valley and Chicago, and various other operations throughout the country.  BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 349 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 144 BMW motorcycle retailers, 117 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 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 29^th season of competition

in 2020, the team had compiled 51 victories, 62 poles, 189 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 21 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance races, 28 poles and 79 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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