IMSA 2016

[BMW Power]

BMW Team RLL aiming for first win in Long Beach.
After the two classics in Daytona and Sebring, the next round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) takes BMW Team RLL now to Long Beach.



BMW Team RLL has had more success at Long Beach than any other venue that has played host to the IWSC. Since its inaugural season in 2009, the team has not failed to finish the race without at least one BMW on the podium. The Bobby Rahal-led team has won the race three times; once with the BMW M3 GT2 in 2011 and twice with the BMW Z4 GTLM, in 2013 and 2015.
The Long Beach contest sets a much different stage than the season’s opening 36 hours of combined racing at Daytona and Sebring. It is a street course, only 1.968 miles long and, at 100 minutes in length, the shortest race of the season.
BMW Team RLL is looking to the race at Long Beach to celebrate the first win with the BMW M6 GTLM. Introduced at the Rolex 24 at Daytona in January, the two new BMW M6 GTLMs showed strength, but succumbed to teething problems with the number 25 car finishing fifth. The number 100 car did not finish. At the 12 Hours of Sebring in mid-March the story was a different one as Bill Auberlen scored the class pole in the number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, drove the fastest GTLM lap of the race, and finished second with co-drivers Bruno Spengler and Dirk Werner. The number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, with Lucas Luhr, John Edwards and Kuno Wittmer at the wheel, finished sixth. After two races, BMW stands third in the GTLM manufacturer points.
Auberlen, who makes his home only a few miles from Long Beach in Redondo Beach, and season-long teammate Werner are looking to carry the momentum from Sebring and duplicate last season’s Long Beach performance - a win from the pole. The duo stands third in GTLM driver points, Edwards and Luhr are ninth.
The race at Long Beach takes the green flag at 4:05 p.m. Saturday, 16th April.

[BMW Power]

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[BMW Power]

P5 and P10 for BMW Team RLL in Long Beach.
BMW Team RLL had a difficult debut of the BMW M6 GTLM at Long Beach, finishing fifth and tenth in the Bubba Burger Sports Car Grand Prix, the third round of the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC).



The 100-minute race started with great promise as the number 25 car of Bill Auberlen, starting from the class pole, led the opening 13 laps of the race. A drive through penalty Auberlen served on lap 28 after contact with a Prototype Challenge car on lap 24 dropped the number 25 car down to sixth. Dirk Werner got into the car on lap 31 and rejoined the race in seventh. He raced hard, but was unable to regain any considerable ground. At the restart on lap 55 Werner was hit in the right rear by a Prototype Challenge car in the hairpin and was forced to the pits to change the cut Michelin tyre. In the end he finished the race in fifth. Victory went to Porsche.
John Edwards and Lucas Luhr were unlucky again in Long Beach. Luhr started the race from sixth, but was quickly into the pits on lap four with an electrical issue. He rejoined the race in ninth. Edwards took over on lap 49 and moved up to eighth. On the lap 55 restart contact with a competitor caused damage that was quickly realised by both Edwards and the crew. Before the team could call him into the pits Edwards was into the wall and out of the race. Finally the car was classified in tenth.

[BMW Power]

[BMW Power]

Two action-packed weeks in North America.
Following an eight-week hiatus in the 2016 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC), BMW Team RLL shifts right back into high gear with races at Watkins Glen International on the 3rd July and Canadian Tire Motorsport Park one week later.



The two venerable North American permanent road courses will surely be a challenging test for the new BMW M6 GTLM that showed early promise at Daytona and Sebring, but struggled to put all the pieces of the new package together at Laguna Seca.
For both races BMW of North America will race the number 25 car, driven by Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner, with a special livery to celebrate the 4th July as well as to pay homage to one of the most popular BMWs ever to race in North America - the BMW M3 GTR. The BMW M3 GTR raced and won with this stars and stripes livery at the October 2001 Petit Le Mans race in Road Atlanta. Auberlen, along with Boris Said and Hans-Joachim Stuck, were the winning drivers. The number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, co-driven by John Edwards and Lucas Luhr, will continue to race with its unique livery celebrating BMW’s 100th anniversary.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen is up first at the newly resurfaced 3.4-mile, 17-turn Watkins Glen circuit. The team tested twice at Watkins Glen in May, gaining experience on the new Michelin tyre that was introduced at Laguna Seca before the Le Mans break. An additional two-day test recently at Road Atlanta provided more data that will help the BMW M6 GTLM compete on the high-speed, unforgiving circuit in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen takes the green flag at 16.10 CET Sunday, 3rd July. The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park takes the green flag at 17.05 CET Sunday, 10th July.

[BMW Power]

Fourth round of the season at Watkins Glen.
After a two-month break, the 2016 Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (ICTSC) resumed this weekend with the fourth round of the season.



In Saturday’s two-and-one-half-hour race the No. 84 BimmerWorld Racing BMW 328i of James Clay and Tyler Cooke was the highest placed BMW in the field with a sixth place finish in the Street Tuner (ST) class. A tenth place finish was scored by BimmerWorld racing teammates Jerry Kaufman and Kyle Tilley in the No. 81 BMW 328i. Two additional BMWs competed in the ST class.

[BMW Power]

Podium finish for BMW Team RLL.
BMW Team RLL drivers Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner, racing the number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, finished third in Sunday’s six-hour race at Watkins Glen.



Teammates John Edwards and Lucas Luhr finished eighth in the number 100 BMW M6 GTLM. Both cars completed 190 laps of the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit during the fifth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC). Victory went to Ford.
The GTLM class headline in the Six Hours of the Glen was the battle between BMW and Ford. For virtually every lap of the race it was either a Ford or a BMW at the front of the field - usually separated by less than one second, even as the chequered flag signalled the end of the race.

[BMW Power]

The racing spectacle continues.
The fifth race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) has only just been completed, but the next race is just around the corner.



Last Sunday, Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner drove the #25 BMW M6 GTLM to a third-place finish, securing important points for BMW Team RLL, and the competition continues this weeked at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Auberlen and Werner will be aiming for the podium once again, as will their team-mates John Edwards and Lucas Luhr in the #100 car.
If there is a circuit in North America that can be considered “old school” it is Mosport International Raceway. Host to the F1 Canadian Grand Prix from 1967 to 1977, the track is finally undergoing a renaissance. The high-speed circuit requires a lot of courage of the drivers. BMW Team RLL narrowly missed out on the podium in the GTLM class in 2014. One year later, Edwards and Luhr stepped onto the rostrum after finishing second.
The Mobil 1 SportsCar Grand Prix at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park takes the green flag at 17.05 CET Sunday, 10th July.

[BMW Power]

BMW Team RLL returns to Road America.
BMW Team RLL is looking to Road America, in Elkhart Lake, for a repeat of the magic the classic road racing circuit brought to the team, when it raced to its first BMW victory in 2009, to see the BMW M6 GTLM reach the top of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class podium.



Since that first win in 2009, a BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT2 has won twice more at Road America in the remaining three years of that programme, finishing second in 2011 - the only year it failed to win. The BMW Z4 programme raced from 2013 through 2015, with the Road America highlight being a run to second from the pole in 2014.
This season’s two-hour-and-fourty-minute Continental Tire Road Race Showcase will see BMW Team RLL arrive with two newly rebuilt racing cars after both were punted off and crashed during the 23rd July race at Lime Rock Park. Both Bill Auberlen and Lucas Luhr were unable to race.
After seven rounds completed and four remaining in the season, Auberlen and Dirk Werner, with two podium finishes to their credit, stand fourth in the GTLM driver points. Luhr and John Edwards stand ninth. BMW is ranked fifth in Manufacturer points.

[BMW Power]

BMW Team RLL returns to Road America.
BMW Team RLL is looking to Road America, in Elkhart Lake, for a repeat of the magic the classic road racing circuit brought to the team, when it raced to its first BMW victory in 2009, to see the BMW M6 GTLM reach the top of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship GTLM class podium.



Since that first win in 2009, a BMW Team RLL BMW M3 GT2 has won twice more at Road America in the remaining three years of that programme, finishing second in 2011 - the only year it failed to win. The BMW Z4 programme raced from 2013 through 2015, with the Road America highlight being a run to second from the pole in 2014.
This season’s two-hour-and-fourty-minute Continental Tire Road Race Showcase will see BMW Team RLL arrive with two newly rebuilt racing cars after both were punted off and crashed during the 23rd July race at Lime Rock Park. Both Bill Auberlen and Lucas Luhr were unable to race.
After seven rounds completed and four remaining in the season, Auberlen and Dirk Werner, with two podium finishes to their credit, stand fourth in the GTLM driver points. Luhr and John Edwards stand ninth. BMW is ranked fifth in Manufacturer points.