Lime Rock, situated in the beautiful Connecticut foothills, is one of our favorite tracks in the Northeast and plays the roll as home track to BMW NA. BMW is a proud sponsor and has an extensive history of podiums at the track. Bill Auberlen has one of the longest list of podiums amassed at LR and is always striving to add one more victory.
As we had announced previously, BMW Rahal Letterman Racing will be introducing some changes to the cars in terms of aerodynamics at the LR race. A new aero kit will be raced for the first time in the US since the ///M3 GTs launch in 2009. The new kit reduces weight and allows for more tuning of the down force; which will increase the engineers flexibility in setup.
If all goes according to plan we will be attending the race and covering it as only we can. If you have any questions for the team please let us know in the comments section or through the contact form and we will try our best to get you questions answered.
The BMW Rahal Letterman M3s had a solid day at Miller Park finishing 2nd and 4th in class. But the bigger news is that the team is now at the top of the GT Manufacturer point standings after four rounds of the 2010 American Le Mans Series.
Official Release: Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner, co-driving the No. 92 M3 GT, finished 14 seconds behind the winner in the two-hour-and-forty-five-minute contest, continuing this season’s BMW-RLR podium streak. Joey Hand and Dirk Müller finished fourth in the No. 90 M3 GT, losing a third-place finish in the closing minutes of the race as a damaged exhaust reduced the BMW’s power.
Tommy Milner takes you for a lap in the M3 GT at Miller Motorsports Park. Tooele, Utah, July 10, 2010. The M3s will be starting 5th and 6th for tomorrow’s race. You can follow the action live throughout the weekend on Speed TV or at the following sites:
BMW officially took the wraps off of the highly anticipated Jeff Koons BMW Art Car lastnight at the Pompidou Center in Paris (the famed modern and contemporary art museum across the Seine river from the Louvre). Not coincidentally it’s the same place where Roy Lichtenstein back in 1977 first presented and signed his Art Car.
First and foremost the car will race at LeMans later this month. However once it’s out of active racing service (likely late this year) we expect it to live a very long life of countless museums and promotional tours that all other 16 Art Cars have had. In other words, it will live a pampered and prestigious life.
So how successful is it? We at BimmerFile love it. And as you know we don’t hold any critic back for BMW’s recent GT2 livery in the US. This is what a BMW Art Car should look like. Bold, colorful and seemingly moving while standing still, the Koons Art Car is going to be perfect racing into the night at LeMans.
Official Release & World Debut: In the spirit of Calder, Stella, Lichtenstein, Warhol, BMW announced this year that the 17th Art Car created by Jeff Koons will race where the first rolling pieces of art by legendary artists raced – at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in France on June 12-13, 2010. Koons’ canvas is a BMW M3 GT2, which was homologated to compete at this year’s running of the world’s most famous endurance race.
On June 2, between 11 am to 9 pm, the public will have the chance to see the Art Car free of charge in the Forum of the Centre Pompidou. At 5.30 pm Jeff Koons will participate in a book signing at the official book store of the museum before he will talk about his work in conversation with Alain Seban, President of the Centre Pompidou, at 6 pm at the Forum of the museum. (Video after the jump)
While it’s not a win, 2nd proves that BMW will be a continue force to be reckoned with throughout the season. The combination of Joey Hand and Dirk Müller led most of the race and were only passed as their M3 GT2 got up to speed on the last restart due to a caution. It was a bittersweet ending to a day that began with a crash in morning warm-up and an immediate rebuild of the No. 90 car by the BMW-RLR crew. Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner finished eighth after a late-race punt dropped the No. 92 M3 down the order. The duo led the GT class twice during the day.
Official Release: The six-hour race dealt competitors a total 10 caution periods and the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team played every opportunity to its benefit. Splitting strategies on the third yellow flag near the two-hour point, the team pitted the No. 90 M3 GT for fuel with rest of the class and elected to keep the No. 92 M3 on track and gain position. It paid off with the GT lead for Milner, who had replaced starting driver Auberlen just past the one hour mark.
This is the first in car video we have been able to get our hands on of the BMW Rahal Letterman GT car in action. It is a great ride even with the camera shake. Thanks to BMW for coming through and giving us enthusiasts something more to drool over!
Ride with BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team driver Bill Auberlen during qualifying for the May 22, 2010 six-hour race at Laguna Seca.
Copyright BMW of North America, LLC.
Team BMW Rahal Letterman Racing will begin the next ALMS race at Laguna Seca Mazda from row three. Auberlan/Milner in the fifth spot with Müller/Hand in sixth. This six hour race around the famed track including the infamous “cork screw” will only be live via streaming on the American Lemans website from 5:30 until completion, highlights will air on CBS 5/29 at 1:30-3:00.
The racer’s speak for themselves about their qualifying efforts in the following videos, release after the jump.
The team of BMW Rahal Letterman Racing is getting geared up for their next race, and they have made some changes in preparation for this weekends 6 hour race at Mazada Laguna Seca. This race will usher in the E85 era for the ///M3 GT cars, as the team has made the switch and may benefit from the rules allowances (maybe they will be allowed less ballast?). On Saturday the team will try to reach the top of the podium as their German counterparts did at the 24 hours of the ‘Ring.
The biggest thing to note about this race is that for those that wish to watch some of it live, you must head to your computer at 5:30 and point your browser to americanlemans.com. Sure you are going to miss the first 3 hours of the race but it sure beats the week delay and 90 minutes of air time CBS is going to give you on 5/29 at 1:30. That is the one big consolation of ALMS- it is not NASCAR and beer money is not flowing freely.
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Sections: ALMS, Motorsport Jul 22nd, 2010 3 Comments 
