Watkins Glen GTD PRO Class Pole Position for De Phillippi’s BMW M Team RLL BMW M4 GT3. Turner Motorsport to Start P3; Paul Miller Racing Lines Up P5 in GTD.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – June 25, 2022 . . . Connor De Phillippi will start the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 from the GTD PRO pole position in tomorrow’s Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. He posted a 1:44.755- minute lap around the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit to score the first GTD PRO class pole for the new BMW M4 GT3 and the second pole of his BMW M Team RLL career (Sebring, 2018). De Phillippi will co-drive with John Edwards and Augusto Farfus tomorrow.

In the GTD class, Robby Foley posted the third fastest time with a 1:45.426- minute lap. He will co-drive the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 with Bill Auberlen and Michael Dinan. The Long Beach-winning Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Madison Snow, Bryan Sellers, and will start fifth.

BMW M Team RLL has had success in previous visits to the venerable 3.4-mile, 11-turn natural terrain road course. Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims shared the 2017 GTLM class victory at Watkins Glen in the No. 25 BMW M6. Last year’s six-hour event saw BMW M Team RLL score a double-BMW M8 podium finish with Edwards, Farfus and Jesse Krohn second and De Phillippi, Philip Eng, and Bruno Spengler finishing third. Two additional third place finishes were scored by Auberlen and Dirk Werner in 2015 and 2016.

Connor De Phillippi (BMW M Team RLL, No. 25 MOTUL BMW M4 GT3 (pole!): “This feels fantastic! I am very happy for everyone on the team to score our first pole position for the new BMW M4 GT3. We have made a big step with how we work the tires with this car versus the BMW M8 from last season. The Michelins switch on quickly with the M4. With today’s hot track temps (122 degrees F) they were right there. We’ll see in tomorrow’s race how good we will be on a longer run.”

The Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen takes the green flag at 10:40 a.m. tomorrow. The entire race and will be streamed live on Peacock. A three-hour condensed program will be broadcast on USA Network from 2:00 – 5:00 p.m. IMSA Radio also provides a flag-to-flag broadcast.

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; a technology office in Silicon Valley 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 350 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 105 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 RacingBMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Indianapolis, Indiana 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 over three decades. Prior to the start of their 31st season of competition in 2022, the team had compiled 54 victories, 66 poles, 222 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011), claimed two Indianapolis 500 victories (Buddy Rice in 2004, Takuma Sato in 2020) and two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. 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. From 2014 to 2021, BMW Team RLL competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program and brought their total to 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 28

poles and 94 podium finishes prior to the start of the 2022 season. The team earned second-place finishes in the Manufacturer, Team, and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017 and were the 2020 Michelin North American Endurance Champions. For 2022, BMW M Team RLL will compete in the GTD Pro class while simultaneously ramping up for a two-car program in the much-anticipated GTP class of IMSA for 2023.

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Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com and www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa. 

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