BMW RAHAL LETTERMAN RACING TEAM M3s WILL START 3RD AND 4TH IN LONG BEACH DEBUT

Dirk Müller, who will co-drive the No. 92 M3 tomorrow with Tommy Milner, set the fourth fastest time in the 25-minute session with a 1:21.300 minute lap around the 1.968-mile temporary street circuit.

“I was taking it easy in the beginning of the session because I wanted to feel the track’s grip level,” said Müller. “I tried a confidence lap first which is always a good thing to do on a street course because the walls are so hungry. On my third lap I tried to squeeze a bit more than I should have and caught the curb in turn five. I broke the front splitter and that was it.”
Joey Hand, driving the No. 90 M3, set the fifth fastest time with a 1:21.382 minute lap, only .082 seconds behind his teammate. Hand will co-drive with fellow Californian Bill Auberlen.

Hand said, “Because the team shares all information, the set up we used for qualifying is the same one Dirk used in the last practice session. I had a few different gears to work through before I could really get going. The front tires did not come in as quickly as I thought they would, but by lap six I had it worked out. I think I could have stayed out longer and gone even faster, but I overshot turn one on my eighth lap. Overall it’s a good run for the team with both cars less than one-tenth of a second apart.”

Foreshadowing a very competitive race, the top-10 drivers of the 12-car GT2 class were separated by only 2.4 seconds.
In the last round, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller drove the No. 92 M3 to the team’s first podium finish at St. Pete in a strong performance that saw Müller race towards the front of the GT2 field in the final minutes of the race to finish second.
Tomorrow’s one-hour-and-forty minute race is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. and will be televised from 12:30 to 2:30 p.m. ET on Sunday, April 19 on ABC.

About Rahal Letterman Racing:
Rahal Letterman Racing, based in Hilliard, Ohio and co-owned by three-time IndyCar Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal and CBS LATE SHOW host David Letterman, has been competing for more than a decade compiling 20 victories, 30 poles and one series championship (Bobby Rahal in 1992 in CART) and an Indianapolis 500 championship (Buddy Rice in 2004). In 2008 Rahal Letterman Racing again won Rookie-of-the-Year honors at the Indianapolis 500 and partnered with Andersen Racing to run two entries in the Indy Pro Series. In 2009 the team has joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 as BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team in the American Le Mans Series and will also serve as the organizers of the Formula BMW Americas championship.

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 the Rolls-Royce brand of Motor Cars; DesignworksUSA, a strategic design consultancy in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is part of BMW Group’s global manufacturing network and is the exclusive manufacturing plant for all X5 Sports Activity Vehicles and X6 Sports Activity Coupes. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 338 BMW passenger car centers, 335 BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers, 142 BMW motorcycle retailers, 83 MINI passenger car dealers, and 30 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.

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