BMW M Team RLL Heads to Michelin GT Challenge at Virginia International Raceway.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Aug. 23, 2022 . . . BMW M Team RLL will race at VIRginia International Raceway, in Alton, Va., this weekend in the Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, the second GT class-only race of the season after Lime Rock Park and the penultimate event of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar season. An 18-car GTD and GTD PRO field is entered.

Previous IMSA seasons have seen the team score a win in 2018, a second-place finish in 2020, and third place finishes in 2014 and 2018 at the 3.27-mile, 18-turn classic road course in rural Virginia.

It’s been a tough summer so far for the No. 25 BMW M4 GT3. The last four rounds of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship have seen the car disqualified from a win at Watkins Glen International , suffer an uncompetitive fifth place finish at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, not finish at Lime Rock Park due to a mechanical issue, and finish another uncompetitive fifth at Road America after early technical issues.

Connor De Phillippi (No. 25 MOTUL BMW M4 GT3): “VIR is one of our GT only events and it’s one of the best tracks on the calendar. The track always produces great racing and I feel like our M4 GT3 will fit well to many sectors at VIR. I’m looking forward to this “home” race and putting on a great show on Sunday!”

John Edwards (No. 25 MOTUL BMW M4 GT3): “VIR is the closest track to home for me, and it’s one of the best in the country! GT cars are always on the limit through the esses and the flow around this track is really special. There are only two races to go this season, including this one, so we need to make it count and get back on the podium!”

The Michelin GT Challenge at VIR weekend takes place Aug. 26 – 28th. The two-hour-and-forty-minute race takes the green flag at 2:05 p.m. Sunday, the 28^th, and will be streamed live on Peacock beginning at 2:00 p.m. ET. 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 Racing

BMW’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 LMDh 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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