BMW M3s TO RACE STREETS OF LONG BEACH FOR VERY FIRST TIME

BMW M3s TO RACE STREETS OF LONG BEACH FOR VERY FIRST TIME
14/04/2009

The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team is coming off of a strong second place finish in St. Petersburg, FL, and aspires to continue the momentum for the second consecutive street circuit race in Long Beach, California.
The Long Beach Grand Prix will mark the first-ever appearance of a BMWNA M3 at one of motorsport’s premiere events and the team will look to take advantage of the lessons learned at St. Pete and continue to improve. While similar in nature, the Long Beach circuit features many faster corners that play to the M3’s strengths. A key point of the track will be the 180 degree hairpin leading onto the long Shore Line Drive start finish straight; the M3s will be required to use every bit of their outstanding traction to be able to fend off competitive attacks going into turn one.

“Southern California's car enthusiasts love BMW and especially the M3, and our team is prepared to give them a great show,” said Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsports Manager. “We picked up our pace at St. Pete and a podium finish is an excellent result. We continue ironing out the reliability issues with the new M3 and are hopeful to finish with both cars in the points."

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.

Müller said “I am very much looking forward to Long Beach. I have liked the track since my very first race there two years ago. Long Beach is a very technical circuit and I believe well-suited to the BMW M3.”

Echoing Müller’s sentiments, Milner added, “I'm really looking forward to Long Beach. Based on our pace at St. Petersburg, I think we'll be equally competitive at this street circuit.”

Californians Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand hope to use their home court advantage to give the No. 90 M3 a strong start to the season, albeit a late one. Both are looking to Long Beach to turn their luck around.

“I was very comfortable in the M3 at St. Pete and know the agility of the car will translate well to the slightly wider Long Beach circuit where the cornering speeds are higher,” said Hand. “One of the keys is to be the best off the hairpin so we can hang down the long straight. Long Beach is the race I’d like to win more than anything.”

Auberlen added, “It has been a dream of mine to race a M3 at Long Beach and I’m looking forward to the opportunity. In only two races the program has shown signs that we can run at the front end of the grid. This M3 is the most advanced ever and once we come to terms with all of the technology we’ll be right there.”

This will be the first trip to the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit for the team, but like in St. Pete, not the first time for the experienced Rahal Letterman Racing crew members or team principal Bobby Rahal, a four-time runner-up at Long Beach in Indy Car competition.

"Long Beach is a special race for a number of reasons and one that has been a focal point for me and our team for many years,” said Rahal. “We are excited to bring the M3s here and are expecting to continue the improvements that we saw in St. Petersburg. Our drivers and our team know the circuit well and we are looking forward to a great weekend!"

Two test sessions begin the weekend on Thursday, with official practice scheduled for 9:00 to 9:40 a.m. Friday. A single 25-minute qualifying session is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. The one-hour-and-forty minute race is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. Saturday 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 RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING TEAM SCORES SECOND PODIUM AT LONG BEACH
19/04/2009

With a third-place GT2 class finish by the No. 92 M3 of Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller in the Tequila Patron American Le Mans Series at Long Beach the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team reached the ALMS podium for the second consecutive race. The duo completed 70 laps around the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit in the one-hour-and-forty-minute contest.
Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand scored their first points of the season, finishing eighth in the No. 90 M3 after losing four laps following a collision with a lapped competitor just past the one-hour mark.

Today’s finish moves BMW to fourth in GT2 Manufacturer points. Milner and Müller now stand fifth in GT2 Driver points.

The race began under a bright Southern California sun with a track temperature of 100.4 F, as Tommy Milner started the No. 92 M3 from third and Bill Auberlen behind the wheel of the No. 90 M3 in fourth.

At the 30-minute mark with 21 laps completed, Milner held onto the third position in a great battle with the fourth- and fifth-place competitor’s only seconds behind. Auberlen had fallen back to sixth, eight seconds behind his teammate.

Fifteen minutes later the GT2 leader fell out with a broken suspension and everyone moved up one position, Milner now 23 seconds from the new leader. Milner lost the second spot on lap 38 as the battle for the podium got even hotter.
With one hour gone, Auberlen pitted having completed 40 laps. Hand joined the race with a full tank of fuel and new Dunlop tires on the No. 90 M3. Milner pitted five laps later, handing the No. 92 M3 over to Dirk Müller in good shape.

With all the GT2 class pit stops complete and some 30 minutes left in the race, the two M3s were back in qualifying order with the No. 92 in third and the No. 90 in fourth.

On lap 52, bad luck struck the No. 90 M3 when Hand and a lapped competitor made contact. Damage to the front splitter and fender forced him to the pits. With only around 20 minutes remaining, Hand returned his bruised and bandaged M3 to the race in tenth place. He passed one competitor and achieved another spot through attrition. With five minutes left the only yellow flag of the race flew and the race ended the field behind the safety car.

On May 15 – 17 the American Le Mans Series travels to Miller Motorsports Park, in Tooele, Utah, for the Larry H. Miller Dealerships Utah Grand Prix.

Tommy Milner, driver No. 92 M3 (third):
“Our second podium proves how strong this team is. The tires were consistent and the team called a great pit strategy. No one could beat us in the corners.”

Dirk Müller, driver No. 92 M3 (third):
“I am thrilled to be on the podium for a second time in a row. Tommy did a fantastic first stint and Dunlop gave us excellent tires. It was quite difficult with all the traffic and the lowering sun became an issue for me late in the race. We had an awesome pit stop. It was really, really, quick. The M3 had me driving to the limit and I was closing the gap to P2. Unfortunately, a slow LMP1 car held me off for five laps and I lost 12 to 14 seconds. We certainly had the potential for a better result.”

Bobby Rahal, Team Principal:
“We are certainly happy to be on the podium for a second time. It is the best evidence of progress. It looked like we could have finished even better, but on a tight track like this it is very easy to lose time to slower traffic, even slower prototype class cars.”

Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America, LLC Motorsports Manager:
“We captured a second consecutive podium, but again we were unfortunate with the No. 90 M3. This time however it wasn’t racing luck as Joey tangled with a lapped competitor and perhaps some insufficient flagging played a part. One target was to get both cars to the checkered flag so for that we can say mission accomplished. We continue to look at the glass half-full and we will see what happens at Miller.”