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BMW Team RLL returns to historic ground at Laguna Seca.
Wed Sep 11 16:16:53 CEST 2019 Press Release
BMW Team RLL travels to California’s Laguna Seca Raceway (USA). The iconic 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit will host the tenth and penultimate round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at the weekend.
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Ingo Lehbrink
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Munich . BMW Team RLL travels to California’s Laguna Seca Raceway (USA). The iconic 2.238-mile, 11-turn circuit will host the tenth and penultimate round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season at the weekend.
Laguna Seca has an important place in BMW racing history. It was the site of BMW Motorsport’s second victory in 1975, the first year of IMSA competition for the brand in the US as well as the start of BMW of North America. Hans-Joachim Stuck (GER) won there with the now iconic BMW 3.0 CSL.
BMW Team RLL also has an enviable record at Laguna Seca Raceway with three victories in four years: a one-two BMW Z4 GTLM finish in 2015, a win in 2017 for the #24 BMW M6 GTLM driven by John Edwards (USA) and Martin Tomczyk (GER) and the 2018 victory for the #25 BMW M8 GTE, piloted by Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Alexander Sims (GBR). This year, De Phillippi shares the #25 cockpit with Tom Blomqvist (GBR) while Edwards is partnered by Jesse Krohn (FIN) in the #24 BMW M8 GTE.
This weekend’s race will see a change of liveries for the first time this season; the #24 BMW M8 GTE of Edwards/Krohn will race in an all-black livery continuing the tradition begun in 2017 while the #25 BMW M8 GTE, of De Phillippi and Blomqvist, will remain in the traditional BMW Motorsport white.
The penultimate race of the 2019 IMSA season will start at 3:05 p.m. local time on Sunday, 15th September.
Quotes ahead of the race at Laguna Seca.
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal BMW Team RLL): “I believe we should feel good anytime BMW Team RLL heads to Laguna Seca. We have won three times in the previous four years. A good strategy and the ability to get through traffic is usually key to success.”
Tom Blomqvist (#25 BMW M8 GTE): “Laguna Seca is one of those tracks that you grow up as a kid knowing about. It’s synonymous with racing in the US and has one of the most famous corners in racing. Again, it’s new to me, but I’m excited to drive around there. Hopefully, we can bounce back from a difficult weekend in Virgina with a positive showing at Laguna.”
Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M8 GTE): “Laguna Seca is
one of the iconic highlights of the calendar each year and one of the
most interesting events from a strategic point of view. I’m looking
forward to catching some air at the corkscrew and getting our BMW M8
GTE back on the podium where it deserves to be.”
John Edwards (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “We’re back in black
and hopefully will have a little more luck on our side. Laguna Seca
seems to treat me either extremely well or extremely poorly, never in
between. I’ve won championships there in formula cars and the GTLM
race in 2015 and 2017, but equally have shown up with no pace and no
results in other years. After some bad luck there last year, hopefully
it’s time to turn around again and Jesse and I can get back the podium.”
Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “Laguna Seca is one of
my favourite places to go in the US. Last season, we had a good
weekend there, with a win for Connor and Alex and fourth place finish
for John and me. I don’t see any reason we should not expect a similar performance.”