BMW M Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 Qualifies P4 in GTD PRO At Laguna Seca. Turner Motorsport to Start P3; Paul Miller Racing Lines Up P6 in GTD.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – April 30, 2022 . . . John Edwards will start the No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 fourth in the GTD PRO class in tomorrow’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Monterey Sports Car Championship. He posted a 1:23.740-minute lap around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca circuit, 0.598 seconds in arrears of the pole sitting Porsche 911 GT3R. Edwards will co-drive with Connor De Phillippi, the duo looking for their first podium finish of the season.

In the GTD class, Robby Foley posted the third fastest time with a 1:23.821-minute lap. He will co-drive the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 with Bill Auberlen. The Long Beach-winning Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 of Madison Snow and Bryan Sellers will start sixth.

BMW Team RLL has three GT class victories at the classic California circuit. John Edwards co-drove to the win in both 2015 (with Lucas Luhr) and 2017 (with Martin Tomczyk). De Phillippi followed with the victory in 2018 (with Alexander Sims). With three events complete so far this season, De Phillippi and Edwards stand sixth in GTD Pro points standings.

Qualifying for today’s two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race was held earlier this afternoon. The No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4, of Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern, will lineup 12^th. Turner teammates Vin Barletta and Robby Foley will start 21^st in the No. 96 BMW M4 GT4. The No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4, of Sean Quinlan and Gregory Liefooghe, will start 22^nd.

John Edwards - B MW M Team RLL, No. 25 MOTUL BMW M4 GT3 (P4):

“I believe we should be satisfied with our qualifying effort today. We knew that our one lap pace was not our strong suit, but we have put ourselves in a position where we can challenge and based on Connor’s long run pace this morning, we should be able to shine tomorrow.”

Tomorrow’s two-hour-and-forty-minute race will take the green flag at 3:10 p.m. ET Saturday, May 1. Coverage on NBC will begin at 3:00 p.m. ET. IMSA Radio also provides a flag-to-flag broadcast.

BMW Group in America

BMW 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; a technology office in Silicon Valley 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 350 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 105 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 Racing

BMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Indianapolis, Indiana 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 over three decades. Prior to the start of their 31st season of competition in 2022, the team had compiled 54 victories, 66 poles, 222 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011), claimed two Indianapolis 500 victories (Buddy Rice in 2004, Takuma Sato in 2020) and two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. 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. From 2014 to 2021, BMW Team RLL competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program and brought their total to 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 28

poles and 94 podium finishes prior to the start of the 2022 season. The team earned second-place finishes in the Manufacturer, Team, and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017 and were the 2020 Michelin North American Endurance Champions. For 2022, BMW M Team RLL will compete in the GTD Pro class while simultaneously ramping up for a two-car program in the much-anticipated GTP class of IMSA for 2023.

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Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com and www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa. 

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