BMW Media Site BMW Team RLL Finish IMSA Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach in Seventh and Eighth Positions Contact: Thomas   Plucinsky BMW thomas.plucinsky@bmwna.com   Bill  Cobb BMW billcobbcommunications@yahoo.com   Oleg  Satanovsky BMW oleg.satanovsky@bmwna.com     Kathi Lauterbach Rahal Letterman Lanigan, VP of Communications 317-297-8064  (office) 317-447-4337  (cell) klauterbach@rahal.com BMW Team RLL Finish IMSA Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach in Seventh and Eighth Positions Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – April 13, 2018… Despite disappointing seventh and eighth place GTLM class finishes in today’s IMSA BUBBA burger Sports Car Grand Prix at Long Beach, both BMW Team RLL BMW M8 GTE machines showed the best pace of the weekend and the increased speed is an encouraging sign for the upcoming races. Unfortunately, the 1.968-mile, 11-turn temporary street circuit did not play to the strengths of the BMWs and a rare unforced error during the race’s only pit stop ruined what could have been a reasonable day.The No. 25 BMW M8 GTE, driven by Tom Blomqvist and Conner DePhillippi, finished seventh. John Edwards and Jesse Krohn finished eighth in the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE. Edwards was running fifth before the pit stop, but a loose right rear wheel nut on the tire change forced Krohn to stop as soon as he left the pit box so the team could reattach the wheel. Because this was done outside of the box, stewards called the car in for a drive through penalty ending a good start. The 100-minute race was won by the No. 912 Porsche.Round Four of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car Championship will be held on May 5th at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course, in Lexington, Ohio.Bobby Rahal, Team Principal:“We felt going in that this circuit was not going to be in our wheelhouse, as they say. We won Daytona due to the sheer brilliance of our drivers in the rain and not so much on our pace. We did not have the pace in Sebring by any means so it is disappointing to come to a circuit where you are probably at a little bit of a disadvantage anyway but then bad luck makes it worse. All we can do is to keep working hard and doing what we can do and hope that are able to find the pace compared to the other teams who currently have an advantage on us.”Tom Blomqvist, driver No. 25 BMW M8 GTE (P7):“We simply did not have the pace this weekend to really challenge the competition. We just had to run a smart race but there simply was not enough that happened (in GTLM) for us to make any gains. So, now we look ahead now to Mid-Ohio, a track that should suit us a bit more.”Connor DePhillippi, driver No. 25 BMW M8 GTE (P7):“During the first part of my stint we seemed very competitive and I was happy with the car in comparison to yesterday. As the stint went on however, the others just seemed to have a bit more pace than we did but we knew that this weekend was going to be a learning weekend for us. The next three tracks suit our car really well and we will focus on getting some podiums and wins in the next events.”John Edwards, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P8):“A disappointing result but the car was much improved over yesterday’s qualifying so our pace was a bit better. As we evolve the car I think we will be more prepared for Long Beach next year. Unfortunately it is a very short weekend so if the car is not right in qualifying you start in the wrong spot. We were able to move up a couple of spots but then had trouble on the pit stop and this is the one race per year when the pit stops matter most. We had to rush the stop and unfortunately it bit us. I was encouraged by the balance of the car however and I think we will be a lot better when we return to this street course next year.”Jesse Krohn, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P8):“Today was difficult. At the end of the day we didn’t have a bad race car, we just got a little bit unlucky in the pit stop. Something happened with the rear tire, I do not know exactly what but that basically put us nearly a lap down which you just cannot recover from in a short race such as Long Beach. Overall, I am happy with the steps we made with the car and even starting last, without the tire issue, there was a chance to maybe make something happen. I needed to save my tires in case there was another full course yellow and I could catch up to the pack and then we have a little bit more tire than the others but that chance never came.”BMW Group In AmericaBMW 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 Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; technology offices in Silicon Valley and Chicago, and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, and X6 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 347 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 153 BMW motorcycle retailers, 127 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.Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingBMW’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, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan, has been competing for almost three decades. Prior to the start of their 27th season of competition in 2018, the team had compiled 42 victories, 53 poles, 162 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011) and claimed 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. The following year the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category and swept all three GT titles - Manufacturer, Team and Driver – in 2011. In 2012, the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team and Manufacturer Championship. Since 2014, BMW Team RLL has competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two car program and has brought their total to 17 wins, 23 poles and 68 podium finishes as well as a second place finish in the Manufacturer, Team and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017.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.