BMW Media Site BMW Team RLL Finish Fifth and Sixth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.  Contact: Bill  Cobb BMW billcobbcommunications@yahoo.com   Oleg  Satanovsky BMW oleg.satanovsky@bmwna.com   Thomas  Plucinsky BMW thomas.plucinsky@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 Fifth and Sixth at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca.  Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Nov. 1, 2020 . . . BMW Team RLL’s consecutive podium finishing streak ended today at six IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races following a fifth and sixth place finish in today’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship race at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, in Monterey, Calif. John Edwards and Jesse Krohn finished fifth in the No. 24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE with teammates Connor de Phillippi and Bruno Spengler sixth in the No. 25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE. BMW Team RLL split tire strategies between the cars to try and gain any advantage possible. The No. 24 M8 stopped three times and the No. 25 M8 made one less stop, but an overall lack of pace did not allow for a better result. Historically, Laguna Seca has been a strong circuit for BMW from its very first season of IMSA competition in 1975 with a victory by Hans Stuck in a BMW 3.0 CSL to recent BMW Team RLL wins in 2015, 2017 and 2018. Last season, Edwards and Krohn shared a runner-up finish after starting from the pole position in the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE. Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley, co-drivers of the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3, finished second today after running in the runner-up position for the majority of the race. Foley started the race from his second qualifying spot and Auberlen finished the race 10.119 seconds behind the winning Acura NSX GT3. The final race of the 2020 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship will be the 12 Hours of Sebring, rescheduled from its traditional March date to November 14th.  Follow us on Twitter @BMWUSARacing for news from the pit box and get live scoring and in-car camera views at IMSA.com. John Edwards, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P5): “Unfortunately, we did not have the pace today. It was a good effort by the team to get the balance right for our car and try different strategies, but ultimately, we lacked grip. Jesse and I will look forward to closing out the Michelin Endurance Cup title at Sebring in a few weeks.” Jesse Krohn, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P5): “No matter which way the race was going to play out today we were off the pace. The team did what they could, but today was not our day.”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, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 349 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 145 BMW motorcycle retailers, 117 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 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 29th season of competition in 2020, the team had compiled 51 victories, 62 poles, 189 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 21 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 At Daytona endurance races, 28 poles and 79 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.