In a impressive performance from start to finish BMW’s M3 GT cars finished 2nd and 3rd respectively at the 12 Hours of Sebring. After a rocky start both M3’s not only ran flawlessly throughout what is arguably the toughest 12 hours in racing but moved through the field to beat both the Corvettes and the Porsches. Only a lowly Ferrari and an unlucky position in relation to a late yellow managed to get in their way from a perfect weekend. You can see videos from the entire team below.
Official Release: The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team proved JOY IS BMW with a double-podium class finish for the BMW M3 GT Coupes in yesterday’s 58th annual American Le Mans Series 12 Hours of Sebring.
Bill Auberlen, Tommy Milner and Dirk Werner co-drove the No. 92 BMW M3 GT to a second place finish (seventh overall), finishing 330 laps of the 3.7-mile, 17-turn Sebring International Raceway.
The No. 90 M3 GT co-driven by Joey Hand, Dirk Müller and Andy Priaulx completed the same number of laps to finish third (eighth overall). Hand set a new GT class race record with a 2:00.985 minute lap (lap 185) during his final stint.
Both M3s ran flawlessly for the entire race, turning some of the fastest laps in the closing hours of the race as they chased the class leader which had gained a substantial lead during the race’s second full-course caution period.
The M3 GT are currently running in 3rd and 4th in the GT2 class after a challenging start. It’s been a phenomenal race especially for the 4th place #90 car that started from dead last in class. The official release below along with video updates from Bill Auberlan and Dirk Mϋller’s.
Official Release: The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team BMW M3 GTs stand third and fourth in the GT2 class just past the 6-hour mark of the 58th annual 12 Hours of Sebring. With some 700 miles around Sebring International Raceway complete the team has delivered an excellent performance with the No. 92 M3 GT running second for about four-and-one-half-hours.
Starting from seventh on the grid, the No. 92 BMW M3 GT of Bill Auberlen, Tommy Milner and Dirk Werner has raced in second position for nearly five hours. Werner took the 10:30 a.m. start, cracking the top-five before handing off to Auberlen just prior to the one hour mark. The experienced Californian drove an excellent second stint to move into second before handing off to Milner. With three hours complete, Werner re-entered the race to drive the team’s first double-stint of the race. Auberlen drove the fifth hour, pitting for Milner almost precisely at the halfway point.
BMW Rahal Letterman kicks off the 2010 season in Florida this weekend at the 12 hours of Sebring. Like last year BMW has entered two E92 M3s to battle the Ferraris, Corvettes and Porsches among others. But the biggest news here is a new video that fully introduces the team and the cars (above).
Official Release: The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team takes the green flag for the 2010 season of the American Le Mans Series at the 58th annual 12 Hours of Sebring on March 20th. The team has entered two BMW M3s, each competition-hardened from their inaugural year of racing.
The classic endurance race starts the nine-race ALMS championship that will see new competitors in the increasingly competitive GT2 class[1]. After a dose of teething problems at the opening round in 2009, the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team found strength in the second half of the season. The team ultimately finished with one win, five more podiums, two poles, and three fast race laps.
“We’ve essentially been preparing for this race for one year,” said Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsport Manager. “Gremlins struck last year at Sebring, but following a successful 12 hour simulation here in January and two excellent days at the recent Winter Test, I believe we are ready. Last year, the target was to take one checkered flag; this year the target is two.”
BMW is extending the “Joy” metaphor into racing with it’s latest video for the campaign. It’s a great way to not only see (and hear) the car in action but to get to know the drivers and some of the other players. The video features drivers Joey Hand, Bill Auberlen, Dirk Mueller, Tommy Milner, Martin Birkmann and of course team principle Bobby Rahal.
You can watch the M3 GT2’s 2010 debut at the 12 Hours of Sebring Live on SPEED TV, March 20, 2010.
It’s a day that many hardcore track and racing junkies have been waiting for. BMW NA is launching official BMW Motorsports parts for the E36 M3, E46 M3, E86 Z4 M Coupe and E92 M3. These parts are the real deal and also really pricey. Don’t expect to be able to drop a couple hundred on a front splitter. We’re talking 10k on full racing suspensions and 20K non-street legal P54B32 engines. That’s right, if you ever wanted a build out that $5,000 Craigslist E36 M3 into the ultimate OEM track car, you’ve got your parts. Just make sure you have some deep pockets.
We’ve obtained a full list of parts available for the E36, E46, E92 M3s as well as the E86 Z4 M Coupe from BMW NA (via bimmerboost) below. We do not have prices yet but we expect those shortly.
BimmerCast #16 is all about Alpina. We go through in detail what makes the Alpina B7 (introduced recently in the North American market) such a special car. We also talk about Alpina at large and what the brand is all about. For our US listeners who might not be that familiar with the heritage and the values of the brand, it’s a great segment. Finally we talk about why the B7 is the only Alpina we’ll see in the US.
From there we dissect the M3 Competition package and what BMW has done to get the price down $2k over the previous package. We also drop a few bits of info we’ve heard about something else coming to the M3 later in it’s lifecycle. Finally we talk about why the E9X M3 is such a special car and will be coveted for many years to come after production has ceased.
We round the show out talk of BMW Performance and the new 335is models.
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Sections: //M3\\, Motorsport, Official News, Video Mar 21st, 2010 1 Comment 
