Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Clinches IMSA Sprint Cup Championship! BMW M Team RLL Posts a Fifth Place GTD PRO Finish at Road America.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Aug. 7, 2022 . . . In their very first season with BMW and the BMW M4 GT3, Paul Miller Racing clinched the IMSA Sprint Cup Championship, with one sprint race remaining, after a fourth place GTD class finish in today’s Fastlane Sports Car race. The No. 1 Paul Miller BMW M4 GT3, of Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow, has two GTD sprint race victories (Long Beach and Lime Rock Park) this season, the most of all BMW teams this year.

BMW M Team RLL endured another tough day to finish fifth in the GTD PRO class in today’s two-hour-and-forty-minute race. The dry-wet-dry race went wrong for the No. 25 MOTUL BMW M4 GT3 on the very first lap as Edwards, starting from his fourth-place qualifying position, radioed in that there was an electronics issue and that he would have to slow to a stop to attempt to recycle the computer. Problems continued to plague the car through De Phillippi’s stints with the car ultimately taking the checkered flag in fifth, three laps down to the leaders.

In the GTD class, the day was a solid one for Turner Motorsport with Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley despite finishing 10th. Foley led for the entire first stint from his pole position, handing off to Auberlen after some 40 minutes into the contest, during the race’s first caution period. Unfortunately, on lap 47 Auberlen, racing second and in a sure podium position, was bumped into a spin in turn five and dropped to 10^th. The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3, of Bryan Seller and Madison Snow, finished fourth to clinch the IMSA Sprint Race Championship.

Bryan Sellers, Driver No. 1 Paul Miller Racing (P4) – “Today may not have been our best race, but we had one goal and that was to win the Sprint Cup title. After missing the Rolex 24, that was the only championship we could win, and we did it with one sprint race to go. We can now race with our heads held higher and focus on getting another win for the BMW M4 GT3. We are very pleased with our partnership with BMW and look forward to what the future holds.”

Connor De Phillippi, Driver No. 25 BMW M Team RLL (P5) – “We just can’t seem to catch a break lately. I feel bad for the guys. Hopefully, we’ve got all the bad luck out of the way and can get a good result at VIR.”

John Edwards, Driver No. 25 BMW M Team RLL (P5) – “Today was another tough one. An ECU failure meant an early trip to the pits for a replacement. An ABS issue caused me to go off the track and damage the underside. Everyone on this team works their butts off, but all-in-all, a forgettable day.”

Yesterday, the No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4, of Gregory Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan, scored a second-place finish and first podium of the season in the four-hour Road America 240 IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge race. A good start to the race for Turner Motorsport did not end with good finishes for either car. Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern finished seventh in the No. 95 and Vin Barletta and Robby Foley finished twelfth in the No. 96 BMW.

The Michelin GT Challenge weekend is up next on the IMSA schedule at VIRginia International Raceway on Aug. 27 – 28. The two-hour-and-forty-minute race takes the green flag at 2:05 p.m. Sunday; the 28th and streamed live on Peacock. 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 LMDh 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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