BMW Team RLL: Rolex 24 at Daytona 18 Hour Report

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – January 25, 2015… With six hours remaining in the 2015 Rolex 24 at Daytona the sun has come up and put more than 13 hours of darkness behind us. BMW Team RLL currently stands third and fifth in the GLTM class.

Augusto Farfus drove the No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM for three stints before pitting from fourth place to hand off to Auberlen. The Californian drove another double stint. Next Spengler was back in the car for his second time. The brakes were changed during his second stint. Werner drove through the wee hours of the morning, racing the white Z4 to the front of the field for a significant time. Just as the 18th hour passed Spengler, now in the car and in the lead, had an off entering the Bus Stop and tore off the rear body work. He pitted for repairs, losing one position.

Jens Klingmann triple-stinted the No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM moving back onto the lead lap. He pitted under caution and John Edwards was the next behind the wheel. Unfortunately, just past the nine hour mark bad luck struck the black Z4 for a second time as Edwards was hit hard from behind and pushed into a car in front on the restart. The damage to both ends of the car was repaired in the garage, but 29 laps were lost. Luhr and Rahal raced through the early morning hours, regaining three of the laps lost.

Hour                No. 24 Lap      No.25  Lap

7                      P7       209     P5       210

8                      P7       238     P4       239

9                      P5       267     P2       267                

10                    P8       269     P7       298

11                    P8       302     P6       330    

12                    P7       332     P4       360

13                    P6       360     P2       387

14                    P6       393     P1       420

15                    P6       423     P2       450

16                    P6       453     P1       479

17                    P6       485     P4       511

18                    P5       512     P3       537

Augusto Farfus, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "We are suffering a bit more tire degradation than we expected, but all-in-all the car is good and we can keep up with the leaders. We will try to stay close and wait for the last few hours when the race really begins."

Bill Auberlen, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "It feels like there may be an issue developing in the rear of the car. It was bouncing quite heavily. As the temperature dropped I was losing a lot of grip so I had to drive a car that was not to my liking. I believe as the sun comes up tomorrow and the temperature rises again we'll be better."

Bruno Spengler, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "We ran out of brakes but I managed to get back to the pits. We were lucky that we kept the car on track and there was no damage, that was the most important. The mechanics did an amazing job to change the brakes so quickly and because of that we are still in the race. So that’s all right, the car is in one piece, but it is still a long way to go and anything is possible."

Dirk Werner, driver No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM - "I had quite a lot of fun this time and was in a good position out there on the track following the leader in our class in my first stint. It was good fun, we were going through the field, just could do good lap times and enjoy the night.  On the second stint we were leading because the others pitted to change brakes. The car was very consistent and fun to drive. I had a lot of free air, not a lot of cars around me, so I could just my time at the front."

Jens Klingmann, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "My first stint was a little difficult. I had quite a bit of oversteer and suffered a loss of power down traction. The car felt much better in the second stint so I was able to really enjoy myself. I was able to get a good rhythm going and really enjoyed the race."

John Edwards, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "I was a bit disappointed. I hopped into the car a bit early as we had a yellow as soon as I got to the pits. Unfortunately, I didn’t even make it to the second corner. There was an incident in front of me and I stopped and it was like a traffic jam on a freeway. Everyone stops for the incident and it causes one or two more incidents. I almost hit the guy in front of me but managed to stop in time and then got punted from behind. It was a hard enough hit that I was spun and pushed into the car in front of me. We had a lot of damage to both the front and the back of the car that took 29 laps to repair.

Lucas Luhr, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "Obviously our car is not the way it is supposed to be after it had the accident earlier on. It is still fun to drive, but unfortunately we are so many laps down. We'll just keep on running and try to bring it to the end."

Graham Rahal, driver No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM - "Nothing special -just a triple stint trying to pound the laps out. Our times are as quick as the leader but we are still 26 laps down. Our sister car is still in the hunt and hopefully they can get it done. It is very tough out there. There is a lot of traffic, but the sun is going to be coming up here shortly and that will help."

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 339 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 147 BMW motorcycle retailers, 122 MINI passenger car dealers, and 35 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.

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, Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, has been competing for over two decades, compiling 28 victories, 42 poles and three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011) as well as claiming 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. In 2010 the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category. In 2011 the team swept all three GT titles - Manufacturer, Team and Driver.

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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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