BMW Customer Racing Teams Provide a Strong Undercard to 12 Hours of Sebring Weekend.

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. --- March 13, 2023 --- 24 years after the BMW V12 LMR won the 1999 12 Hours of Sebring, and 23 years after the revolutionary prototype last turned a wheel at the classic road racing circuit, BMW M Motorsport returns to the 3.74-mile, 17-turn circuit with two BMW M Hybrid V8 racing cars in new for 2023 Grand Touring Prototype class.

After a middling debut in January’s Rolex 24 At Daytona where BMW M Team RLL finished sixth and eighth in class, all eyes are on Sebring to see if history can repeat itself. In 1975, BMW of North America’s inaugural IMSA season saw BMW Motorsport’s two BMW 3.0 CSL machines start the season at Daytona and leave Sebring with the company’s very first major sports car victory in North America.

“The Sebring International Raceway has been instrumental in beginning and continuing BMW of North America’s sports car racing success,” stated Dan Lubin, BMW NA Motorsport Manager. “While we are delighted to be back in IMSA’s top category, BMW Customer Racing teams are well-represented in the GT Daytona class with the BMW M3 GT3 and Michelin Pilot Challenge Grand Sport class, as well as the VP Racing Challenge series with the BMW M4 GT4.”

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar entries

No. 95 BMW M4 GT3     Turner Motorsport GTD PRO      Bill Auberlen, Chandler Hull,

                                                                                            John Edwards 

No. 96 BMW M4 GT3     Turner Motorsport GTD                Robby Foley, Patrick Gallagher,

                                                                                             Michael Dinan                              

No. 1 BMW M4 GT3       Paul Miller Racing GTD                Bryan Sellers, Madison Snow

IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge entries

No. 25 BMW M4 GT4     Auto Technic Racing                     John Capestro-Dubets, Bill Auberlen

No. 26 BMW M4 GT4     Fast Track Racing                         Garrett Adams, Toby Grahovec

No. 43 BMW M4 GT4     Stephen Cameron Racing             Sean Quinlan, Gregory Liefooghe

No 92 BMW M4 GT4      Random Vandals Racing               Kenton Koch, Paul Sparta

No 95 BMW M4 GT4      Turner Motorsport                          Robert Megennis, Cameron Lawrence

No 96 BMW M4 GT4      Turner Motorsport                          Robby Foley, Vincent Barletta

VP Racing Challenge entries

No. 19 BMW M4 GT4     Stephen Cameron Racing             Sean Quinlan             

No. 25 BMW M4 GT4     Auto Technic Racing                      Rob Walker

No. 43 BMW M4 GT4     Stephen Cameron Racing             Gregory Liefooghe

No. 88 BMW M4 GT4     Split Decision Motorsports             Patrick Wilmot

No. 95 BMW M4 GT4     Turner Motorsports                        Francis Selldorf

No. 96 BMW M4 GT4     Turner Motorsports                        Vin Barletta

The 2023 12 Hours of Sebring weekend action begins on track Wednesday, March 15 with the Michelin Pilot Challenge race scheduled to take the green flag Thursday at 1:20 pm ET. The 12 Hours of Sebring race gets underway at 10:10 am ET on Saturday. All 12 hours will be streamed live on Peacock.

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 as well as the BMW XM. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 349 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 104 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 Zionsville, 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 32nd season of competition in 2023 and their 15th with BMW, the team had compiled 54 victories, 67 poles, 225 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. In 2022, BMW M Team RLL competed in the GTD PRO class in

IMSA while simultaneously ramping up for a two-car program in the much-anticipated GTP class in IMSA for 2023. In total, the team has earned 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 30 poles and 96 podium finishes prior to the start of the 2023 season. BMW M Team RLL highlights also include second-place finishes in the Manufacturer, Team, and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017 and being named the 2020 Michelin North American Endurance Champions.

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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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