Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – June 4, 2022 . . . The
100-minute IMSA WeatherTech Detroit Grand Prix race today on the Belle
Isle circuit saw BMW Customer Racing teams Paul Miller Racing and
Turner Motorsport carrying the BMW hopes in the GT Daytona class with
the Paul Miller team delivering the fifth consecutive podium result
for the all-new BMW M4 GT3. The result keeps the team at the top of
the Sprint Race points standings.
Passing on the temporary Belle Isle street circuit is very difficult
at best, which puts a premium on starting position. Madison Snow
qualified the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing car third on the grid, only
two-tenths behind the pole sitter. That made all the difference today
as the race never slowed, running entirely under the green flag. Snow
ran a mistake-free first stint and Bryan Sellers did the same in the
second stint to bring the car home third for the fifth consecutive BMW
M4 GT3 podium finish.
Prior to today’s race the tally was Long Beach – Paul Miller Racing –
P1; Laguna Seca – Turner Motorsport – P3; Mid-Ohio – Turner Motorsport
– P1, Paul Miller Racing – P2.
Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley had a forgettable day, qualifying ninth
and finishing two laps down in eighth place. Their results from
earlier races and points scored today keeps the duo second in Sprint
Race points standings to make it all BMW M4 GT3 at the top.
Madison Snow, Paul Miller Racing (P3) – “It was a
good day! Last race here on Belle Isle, so it’s a little disappointing
we couldn’t end it up on the top step—or in the fountain. But, we had
a good start to the race. It was really fun! We were all close. The
GTD field is full of really good competitors to be out there on track
and racing against, so it makes the races a lot of fun—and doing it
around Detroit is a fun track to do it at. We had the car set up
perfectly. That’s a huge testament to the team. It’s our first time
here with the BMW and it’s a lot more different to Long Beach in this
car than I think any of us were expecting when we arrived. We had a
lot of work to do to get it set up, but the car was phenomenal in the
race. We drove a great race, the crew did a great job on the pit stop,
we just didn’t quite have anything to take the fight to the two cars
ahead of us.”
Bryan Sellers, Paul Miller Racing (P3) - “Today was a
strong day. I think we had a really good race car, a really fast race
car. I think we executed about as well as we could. Unfortunately, it
just wasn’t enough for anything more than third place—but that’s
alright. We’re continuing to learn the car, learn what it needs, what
it wants, and as long as we can keep doing that and keep progressing
and keep fighting for wins, we’re moving in the right direction. We
still have some stuff to look at: how we can get a little bit more
speed, how we didn’t leapfrog some of the cars ahead of us during the
pit stop. We’ll go back and figure it out and hopefully go to Watkins
Glen ready to go.”
The third endurance race of the 2022 IMSA WeatherTech Sports Car
Championship season will be the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen, held
on June 23 – 26, at Watkins Glen International. BMW Team RLL and BMW
Customer Racing Teams will be in action in both Michelin Pilot
Challenge and WeatherTech SportsCar Championship series
BMW M Sports Trophy -
The BMW M Sports Trophy supports private drivers and teams that
represent the BMW brand in various series and at renowned racing
events around the world. Every top-ten result with a BMW racing car at
selected events scores points towards the overall standings. The top
25 drivers and the 10 best-placed teams receive attractive prize money.
In 2020/21, Sean Quinlan won the Drivers Competition with the BMW M4
GT4. He enjoyed many successes in GT4 America, GT America, the IMSA
Michelin Pilot Challenge and the Intercontinental GT Challenge. FK
Performance won the Team Competition with the BMW M2 CS Racing and the
BMW 330i in successful races in the DTM Trophy, the NLS, the BMW M2 CS
Racing Cup NLS and the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring.
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.
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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