BMW Media Site IMSA iRacing Pro Series: Five BMW M8 GTEs reach top ten in Virginia – Bruno Spengler fifth, extends overall lead. Contact: Oleg  Satanovsky BMW oleg.satanovsky@bmwna.com     Benedikt Torka BMW Group +49-89-382-38559 (office) benedikt.torka@bmwgroup.com IMSA iRacing Pro Series: Five BMW M8 GTEs reach top ten in Virginia – Bruno Spengler fifth, extends overall lead. Munich, Germany- May 29, 2020... The fifth and penultimate race of the IMSA iRacing Pro Series season at ‘Virginia International Raceway’ (USA) marked the first time that BMW drivers were unable to convert the great pace of the virtual BMW M8 GTE into a podium finish. Just before the end, Bruno Spengler (CAN) fell back from second place to fifth, but finished as the best-placed BMW driver and extended his overall lead. Jesse Krohn (FIN) had been in the lead until the penultimate lap, but spun out after eventual winner Kenton Koch (USA, Ford) hit him from behind during the battle for the win. He finished the race in ninth place, behind his BMW team-mates John Edwards, Connor De Phillippi (both USA) and Philipp Eng (AUT) in sixth, seventh and eighth positions . Right up until the turbulent closing laps, it seemed that Spengler and Krohn were assured spots on the podium. They were in second and third positions, putting leader Koch under pressure when Spengler spun when forced to evade a lapped car that had left the circuit however. Not long after, Krohn grabbed the lead in a spectacular battle with Koch, but fell back even further than Spengler after contact with the Ford driver during his counter-attack. There were great recovery performances from Edwards, De Phillippi and especially Eng, who had started the race just three rows from the back of the grid. Nick Catsburg (NED), second in the overall standings ahead of the race, had to start from the penultimate row of the grid thanks to an error in qualifying. He gave a great drive to reach the top ten but was also involved in an incident and finished the race in 28th place after his repair stop. The season finale takes place on 11th June. Bruno Spengler (#7 BMW M8 GTE, BMW IMSA Team Red, 5th place): “I was faster than Koch throughout the whole race but attempting to overtake him on this circuit would have been very risky. In view of the championship situation, that was a risk I was not willing to take. Nonetheless, I looked sure to reach the podium until a Ferrari spun in front of us. I lost the rear end a little as I tried to avoid him and Jesse just touched me as he was so close behind. That was enough to spin me around and I was back in fifth place. At least I was able to continue and score some more important points. That was good. Many thanks to everyone who ensured that my BMW M8 GTE was super-fast once again.”  BMW Group in the United States.BMW of North America, LLC was established 50 years ago to support the sales, marketing and distribution of BMW automobiles in the U.S. BMW Motorrad was brought into the fold in 1980. In 1993 BMW Group Financial Services NA, LLC was founded, and one year later BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC began assembling vehicles in South Carolina. In 2002 and 2003, BMW Group established MINI USA, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC relaunching two iconic brands and rounding out its product portfolio.Today, the BMW Group has a nationwide corporate footprint in the U.S. which consists of nearly 30 locations in 12 different states. Beyond the National Sales Company and Financial Services headquarters in Woodcliff Lake, NJ, its manufacturing plant in Spartanburg, South Carolina, and numerous other operational facilities, BMW Group in the U.S. also includes Designworks, a strategic design consultancy in Santa Monica, CA, BMW Group Technology Office USA, a technology research and development center in Silicon Valley, and BMW i Ventures, a venture capital fund, also in Silicon Valley.BMW Group Plant Spartanburg is the largest single BMW production facility in the world, and the global center of competence for BMW Sports Activity Vehicles including the X3, X4, X5, X6, X7, and XM. The plant assembles more than 1,500 vehicles each day, and up to 450,000 annually. Since 1994, Plant Spartanburg has assembled nearly 7 million BMW vehicles in the U.S.The BMW Group sales organization in the U.S. is represented through a network of 350 BMW retailers, 144 BMW motorcycle retailers, 105 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. The company’s activities provide and support over 120,000 jobs across the U.S. and contribute more than 43.3 billion to the U.S. economy annually.Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com www.miniusanews.com and www.press.bmwna.com