BMW RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING TEAM M3s WILL START 3RD AND 4TH IN LONG BEACH DEBUT
Long Beach, Calif. - April 17, 2009... Making their debut on Long Beach's famous
street circuit, the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team BMW M3s qualified fourth
and fifth in the GT2 class for tomorrow's Tequila Patron American Le Mans
Series race at Long Beach. Following a post-qualifying inspection the
provisional polesitter's time was disallowed, moving the two M3s to the third
and fourth starting positions.
Dirk Müller, who will co-drive the No. 92 M3 tomorrow with Tommy Milner, set
the fourth fastest time in the 25-minute session with a 1:21.300 minute lap
around the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit.
"I was taking it easy in the beginning of the session because I wanted to feel
the track's grip level," said Müller. "I tried a confidence lap first which is
always a good thing to do on a street course because the walls are so hungry.
On my third lap I tried to squeeze a bit more than I should have and caught the
curb in turn five. I broke the front splitter and that was it."
Joey Hand, driving the No. 90 M3, set the fifth fastest time with a 1:21.382
minute lap, only .082 seconds behind his teammate. Hand will co-drive with
fellow Californian Bill Auberlen.
Hand said, "Because the team shares all information, the set up we used for
qualifying is the same one Dirk used in the last practice session. I had a few
different gears to work through before I could really get going. The front
tires did not come in as quickly as I thought they would, but by lap six I had
it worked out. I think I could have stayed out longer and gone even faster, but
I overshot turn one on my eighth lap. Overall it's a good run for the team with
both cars less than one-tenth of a second apart."
Foreshadowing a very competitive race, the top-10 drivers of the 12-car GT2
class were separated by only 2.4 seconds.
In the last round, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller drove the No. 92 M3 to the team'
s first podium finish at St. Pete in a strong performance that saw Müller race
towards the front of the GT2 field in the final minutes of the race to finish
second.
Tomorrow's one-hour-and-forty minute race is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m.
and will be televised from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19 on ABC.
About Rahal Letterman Racing:
Rahal Letterman Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and co-owned by three-time
IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and CBS LATE SHOW
host David Letterman, has been competing for more than a decade compiling 20
victories, 30 poles and one series championship (Bobby Rahal in 1992 in CART)
and an Indianapolis 500 championship (Buddy Rice in 2004). In 2008 Rahal
Letterman Racing again won Rookie-of-the-Year honors at the Indianapolis 500
and partnered with Andersen Racing to run two entries in the Indy Pro Series.
In 2009 the team has joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 as
BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the American Le Mans Series and will also
serve as the organizers of the Formula BMW Americas championship.
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
Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales
organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger
car centers, 335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 142 BMW motorcycle
retailers, 83 MINI passenger car dealers, and 30 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.
Information about BMW Group products is available to consumers via the Internet
at:
www.bmwgroupna.com
www.bmwusa.com
www.bmwmotorcycles.com
www.miniusa.com
www.rolls-roycemotorcars.com
# # #
Journalist note: Information about the BMW Group and its products is available
to journalists on-line at the BMW Group PressClub at the following address:
https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en
# # #