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04-18-2010, 06:30 PM | #1 |
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Third Podium in Second Race - BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team at Long Beach
Los Angeles – April 17, 2010… The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3 GT Coupes finished 3rd and 5th in Saturday’s American Le Mans at Long Beach event. In a 100-minute action-packed sprint slowed by three caution periods, BMW drivers Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner brought the No. 92 M3 home in 3rd place with 65 laps completed, 5.4 seconds behind the GT class leader. Dirk Mϋller and Joey Hand finished the race with the No. 90 M3 in 5th position.
Auberlen and Mϋller started the race by setting an aggressive pace for BMW. They ran nose-to-tail and set the fastest BMW laps of the race. Auberlen made the team’s first scheduled stop and driver change at Lap 25. Bill Auberlen describes the race from his vantage point. (0:44) Having qualified 6th and 7th on the GT class grid on Friday, the M3s faced a strategic challenge. Street courses such as Long Beach are characterized by extremely limited overtaking space, so the team decided to forgo changing tires. The decision saved enough time to advance the M3s to 1st and 2nd in class, Milner followed by Hand, shortly after the third caution period of the race with 30 minutes remaining. For the duration, each M3 driver strove to defend as competitors on fresh tires attacked from behind. Milner and the No. 92 M3 held the GT class lead through Lap 55 and eventually finished 3rd, while Hand experienced a yet-to-be diagnosed mechanical difficulty and salvaged 5th place in the No. 90 M3. Bobby Rahal describes the Long Beach result (0:32). “The third podium in our second race is a great result,” said Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsport Manager. “We selected not to change tires in our pit stops to compensate for less-than-desirable starting positions. It worked extremely well for the 92; we pulled them in at the very earliest fuel window and made up a lot of positions on the track. At the end of the day, we gambled and the downside of the strategy was that we couldn’t quite maintain the top positions, but we finished high in the points, the car shows great pace, and our drivers have been phenomenal. We are looking forward to Laguna now.” After two events in the 2010 American Le Mans Series, BMW is second in manufacturer points behind a first place tie only one point ahead. The next race will be at Mazda Laguna Seca Raceway on May 22, 2010. |
04-18-2010, 07:32 PM | #2 |
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so exciting... hope they keep it up!
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04-18-2010, 08:50 PM | #7 |
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Phenomenal Pics !!!
I noticed they are running a 2011 model with new tail lights, leads me to wonder how many cars they receive in the ALMS champioship? Best Sunday night news.
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04-18-2010, 10:54 PM | #9 |
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nice work keep it up!
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04-19-2010, 12:49 AM | #10 |
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Unfortunately the leading M3 got passed in the last lap by both a Corvette and the wining Porsche car. It was a fun race to watch in person and to check out the M3s in the loading zone afterwards.
I thought the M3s and Ferraris were a close match for 1st in sound with perhaps a slight edge to the Ferraris. Wow did those Vettes sound TERRIBLE...
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04-19-2010, 12:55 AM | #11 | |
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Quote:
i can't stand ferrari
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04-19-2010, 02:29 PM | #14 |
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Hey, those are my photos It sure was a great race. No one can touch these cars and are the best in the field right now. The cars would have been 1 and 2 if they weren't forced to add weight to the cars to slow them down! I can't wait to shoot Laguna Seca!
-Chris Last edited by Tedesco; 04-19-2010 at 04:07 PM.. |
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04-19-2010, 06:17 PM | #15 | |
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Official specs are 1245 kg for both Porsche and BMW. What weight was forced on BMW? The BMWs do have more power 485 vs. 450 (at least according to manufacturers specs)
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04-19-2010, 11:01 PM | #16 |
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where can i get one of those hats. Oh and good race wish Tommy Milner could have stayed in first with the remaining 20 minutes
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04-20-2010, 10:27 AM | #17 |
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04-20-2010, 12:54 PM | #19 |
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