Podium finish for BMW Team RLL pairing Auberlen and Werner at Watkins Glen

[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

Podium finish for BMW Team RLL pairing Auberlen and Werner at Watkins Glen

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Munich (DE), 4th July 2016. BMW Team RLL drivers Bill Auberlen (US) and Dirk Werner (DE), racing the number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, finished third in Sunday’s six-hour race at Watkins Glen (US) for the pair’s second podium finish of the season. Teammates John Edwards (US) and Lucas Luhr (DE) finished eighth in the number 100 BMW M6 GTLM. Both cars completed 190 laps of the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International circuit during the fifth round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC). Victory went to Ford.

The GTLM class headline in the Six Hours of the Glen was the battle between BMW and Ford. For virtually every lap of the race it was either a Ford or a BMW at the front of the field - usually separated by less than one second, even as the chequered flag signalled the end of the race.

Bobby Rahal, (Team Principal BMW Team RLL):

“It was a hard race. Bill and Dirk did a very good job, but it is clear that the Fords showed what they showed at Le Mans. They are currently the quickest cars out there. However, we gave them a run. We had a bad pit stop right there at the end with the number 100 car that took the wind out of our sails, so we were disappointed with that. It was still a good finish for the 25 car. We earned some good points and certainly when you consider how we ran at Laguna Seca this is a major improvement. On to Mosport.”

Bill Auberlen (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, 3rd place):

“That was a hard earned third. I have raced in this race since I was 18 years old and I have never had that clean a race. The others were never in our way and the whole team did a great job. The crew was flawless, the car was flawless and we are finding our way now in this championship.”

Dirk Werner (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, 3rd place):

“I am very happy with this podium, especially thinking of where we were at the last race and how hard we have worked to get back into a position where we are close to winning a race. The whole team made no mistakes, we had a clean weekend and made a lot of good decisions. I think that was a good race to get back into this championship after the long break.”

John Edwards (Number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, 8th place):

“I think we had one of the quickest cars save for the top two, but unfortunately every time we managed to claw our way back to the top five and get ourselves ready for a fight we had either bad luck or something else happened, so we would find ourselves back in P10. We came back through the field a couple of times, but it was pretty frustrating not to be able to capitalise on the speed of the car.”

Lucas Luhr (Number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, 8th place):

“For sure was very frustrating. Basically the season is continuing like it started and it seems we cannot get a break. In the middle stint we didn’t have the fastest car, but then twice there was something wrong at the pit stop, so twice we were dead last. At the end the car was quick, but from back there you cannot really fight. At least our sister car got a podium, so that is good for them, but we just need to keep on pushing, keep on fighting and hopefully one day the mishaps will end.”

BMW Team RLL at Watkins Glen

[vladberca]

Good job! Still is room for improvements!
Good luck in the next races!

[Luddy]

This was the first live motorsport racing event I have ever been to. I had an absolute blast! I kept going to different corners to get pictures and saw the #25 in 1st for the GTLM class so many times as it passed. I was in the grove area for the final few minutes and was rooting for this car to overtake the Ford GT but alas it did not happen.

Anyway this event was a total blast. I want to go to more races.
I have 100's of pics to go through but here is one. They aren't as good as the pics in the OP. I need to get a press pass and a better lens for next time.

[shivaswrath]

Ford out maneuvered them during the last 10 minutes, wasn't speed, was driver skill.

[igom3]

I don't think so! Bill is very experienced racer and very good driver! Ford just had more pace in the end.

[pseto]

Originally Posted by shivaswrath

Ford out maneuvered them during the last 10 minutes, wasn't speed, was driver skill.

That was Joey Hand, former Team RLL driver. It was definitely a combination of skill and car, that Ford GT has now won 3 straight races now including LeMans. I'm sure IMSA will be coming after Ford with new BOP

[bradleyland]

Thrilled to see BMW on the podium again after the frustrations stemming from the tire change

[bradleyland]

Originally Posted by pseto

I'm sure IMSA will be coming after Ford with new BOP

BoP hammer has dropped! IMSA even made an exception. Guess the gig is up on the sandbagging over in the Ford garage. They got their Le Mans class win, so now it's down to racing like the rest of the field.

http://sportscar365.com/imsa/iwsc/im...ahead-of-ctmp/

[raysspl]

Very glad to see podium finishes