BMW Performance 200 Begins 2016 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Championship; BMW M6 GT3 Debuts in North America

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Jan. 28, 2016 . . . This Friday the BMW Performance 200 will start the 10-round 2016 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge Championship. As the undercard to the 54th annual Rolex 24 At Daytona this weekend, the BMW Performance 200 has the honor of being the first race held at the new Daytona Rising - the $400 million reimagining of the iconic Daytona International Speedway.

Now in its fifth year as title sponsor, BMW of North America, LLC will support the race with the Grand Marshal, starter and pace car. In past years, fans have been among the first to see such BMWs as the 1M and M4 pace the race. This year the pace car will be a 2016 BMW M6 equipped with Competition Package and BMW M Performance accessories.

“BMW of North America is proud to once again support the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race here at Daytona, particularly as it is the first race held at the new Daytona Rising,” stated BMW of North America Motorsport Manager Victor Leleu. “The BMW Performance 200 is a great way for us to showcase our BMW M Performance Parts on the BMW M6 Competition Package pace car”.

The title sponsorship with Daytona International Speedway is part of BMW of North America’s customer racing program that will see, in addition to the BMWs entered in the BMW Performance 200 by BimmerWorld Racing and Murillo Racing, the debut of the Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 in the Rolex 24.

Returning with major sponsor IHG Rewards Club, Turner Motorsport will campaign the first two customer BMW M6 racing cars in the world at the Rolex 24. Anchoring the effort are Turner veterans Bret Curtis, Michael Marsal and Markus Paltalla. BMW Motorsport has committed three more drivers to the Rolex 24 effort in addition to Jens Klingmann who will race with Turner Motorsport all season. They include current BMW DTM drivers Marco Wittmann and Maxime Martin, BMW Motorsport Junior Jesse Krohn and BMW of North America Scholarship Driver Ashley Freiberg.

Leleu continued, “2016 marks the 100th anniversary of BMW, and certainly also the start of a new era for BMW of North America’s customer racing activities. We are excited to see the new BMW M6 GT3 makes its worldwide racing debut here at Daytona, and especially happy that it is with Turner Motorsport. Will’s team is reinforcing its effort with two cars and an amazing line-up of drivers. It was the perfect opportunity for us to give Ashley Freiberg a chance to move up to the next level in her second season as BMW NA’s Scholarship Driver, and continue to learn and grow in one of the most competitive fields in the world.”

The two-and-one-half-hour BMW Performance 200 takes the green flag at 1:45 p.m. Friday, January 29th and will be broadcast Feb. 13 at 8:30 a.m. ET on FOX Sports 1. The 54th Rolex 24 at Daytona takes the green flag at 2:40 p.m. Saturday, January 30 with the first two hours of coverage on FOX Sports 1 beginning at 2 p.m. ET. Coverage shifts to FOX Sports 2 from 4 to 10 p.m. ET. FOX Sports 1 will pick up the broadcast from 7 - 9 a.m. ET and then finish with three hours of coverage beginning at 12 p.m. ET

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; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy 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 340 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 153 BMW motorcycle retailers, 124 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.

The BMW Group

With its three brands, BMW, MINI and Rolls-Royce, the BMW Group is the world’s leading premium manufacturer of automobiles and motorcycles and also provides premium financial and mobility services.  As a global company, the BMW Group operates 30 production and assembly facilities in 14 countries and has a global sales network in more than 140 countries.

In 2014, the BMW Group sold approximately 2.118 million cars and 123,000 motorcycles worldwide. The profit before tax for the financial year 2013 was euro 7.91 billion on revenues amounting to approximately euro 76.06 billion. As of 31 December 2013, the BMW Group had a workforce of 110,351 employees.

The success of the BMW Group has always been built on long-term thinking and responsible action. The company has therefore established ecological and social sustainability throughout the value chain, comprehensive product responsibility and a clear commitment to conserving resources as an integral part of its strategy.

#     #     #

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.

#     #     #