BMW M3s to race streets of Long Beach for the very first time...
04-14-2009, 07:22 PM
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BMW M3s TO RACE STREETS OF LONG BEACH FOR VERY FIRST TIME
04/14/2009
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. - April 14, 2009... The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team is coming off of a strong second place finish in St. Petersburg, FL, and aspires to continue the momentum for the second consecutive street circuit race in Long Beach, California.
The Long Beach Grand Prix will mark the first-ever appearance of a BMWNA M3 at one of motorsport?s premiere events and the team will look to take advantage of the lessons learned at St. Pete and continue to improve. While similar in nature, the Long Beach circuit features many faster corners that play to the M3?s strengths. A key point of the track will be the 180 degree hairpin leading onto the long Shore Line Drive start finish straight; the M3s will be required to use every bit of their outstanding traction to be able to fend off competitive attacks going into turn one.
?Southern California's car enthusiasts love BMW and especially the M3, and our team is prepared to give them a great show,? said Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsports Manager. ?We picked up our pace at St. Pete and a podium finish is an excellent result. We continue ironing out the reliability issues with the new M3 and are hopeful to finish with both cars in the points."
Tommy Milner and Dirk M?ller drove the No. 92 M3 to the team?s first podium finish at St. Pete in a strong performance that saw M?ller race towards the front of the GT2 field in the final minutes of the race.
M?ller said ?I am very much looking forward to Long Beach. I have liked the track since my very first race there two years ago. Long Beach is a very technical circuit and I believe well-suited to the BMW M3.?
Echoing M?ller?s sentiments, Milner added, ?I'm really looking forward to Long Beach. Based on our pace at St. Petersburg, I think we'll be equally competitive at this street circuit.?
Californians Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand hope to use their home court advantage to give the No. 90 M3 a strong start to the season, albeit a late one. Both are looking to Long Beach to turn their luck around.
?I was very comfortable in the M3 at St. Pete and know the agility of the car will translate well to the slightly wider Long Beach circuit where the cornering speeds are higher,? said Hand. ?One of the keys is to be the best off the hairpin so we can hang down the long straight. Long Beach is the race I?d like to win more than anything.?
Auberlen added, ?It has been a dream of mine to race a M3 at Long Beach and I?m looking forward to the opportunity. In only two races the program has shown signs that we can run at the front end of the grid. This M3 is the most advanced ever and once we come to terms with all of the technology we?ll be right there.?
This will be the first trip to the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit for the team, but like in St. Pete, not the first time for the experienced Rahal Letterman Racing crew members or team principal Bobby Rahal, a four-time runner-up at Long Beach in Indy Car competition.
"Long Beach is a special race for a number of reasons and one that has been a focal point for me and our team for many years,? said Rahal. ?We are excited to bring the M3s here and are expecting to continue the improvements that we saw in St. Petersburg. Our drivers and our team know the circuit well and we are looking forward to a great weekend!"
Two test sessions begin the weekend on Thursday, with official practice scheduled for 9:00 to 9:40 a.m. Friday. A single 25-minute qualifying session is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. The one-hour-and-forty minute race is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. Saturday 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.
04/14/2009
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. - April 14, 2009... The BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team is coming off of a strong second place finish in St. Petersburg, FL, and aspires to continue the momentum for the second consecutive street circuit race in Long Beach, California.
The Long Beach Grand Prix will mark the first-ever appearance of a BMWNA M3 at one of motorsport?s premiere events and the team will look to take advantage of the lessons learned at St. Pete and continue to improve. While similar in nature, the Long Beach circuit features many faster corners that play to the M3?s strengths. A key point of the track will be the 180 degree hairpin leading onto the long Shore Line Drive start finish straight; the M3s will be required to use every bit of their outstanding traction to be able to fend off competitive attacks going into turn one.
?Southern California's car enthusiasts love BMW and especially the M3, and our team is prepared to give them a great show,? said Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsports Manager. ?We picked up our pace at St. Pete and a podium finish is an excellent result. We continue ironing out the reliability issues with the new M3 and are hopeful to finish with both cars in the points."
Tommy Milner and Dirk M?ller drove the No. 92 M3 to the team?s first podium finish at St. Pete in a strong performance that saw M?ller race towards the front of the GT2 field in the final minutes of the race.
M?ller said ?I am very much looking forward to Long Beach. I have liked the track since my very first race there two years ago. Long Beach is a very technical circuit and I believe well-suited to the BMW M3.?
Echoing M?ller?s sentiments, Milner added, ?I'm really looking forward to Long Beach. Based on our pace at St. Petersburg, I think we'll be equally competitive at this street circuit.?
Californians Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand hope to use their home court advantage to give the No. 90 M3 a strong start to the season, albeit a late one. Both are looking to Long Beach to turn their luck around.
?I was very comfortable in the M3 at St. Pete and know the agility of the car will translate well to the slightly wider Long Beach circuit where the cornering speeds are higher,? said Hand. ?One of the keys is to be the best off the hairpin so we can hang down the long straight. Long Beach is the race I?d like to win more than anything.?
Auberlen added, ?It has been a dream of mine to race a M3 at Long Beach and I?m looking forward to the opportunity. In only two races the program has shown signs that we can run at the front end of the grid. This M3 is the most advanced ever and once we come to terms with all of the technology we?ll be right there.?
This will be the first trip to the 1.968-mile, 11-turn Long Beach street circuit for the team, but like in St. Pete, not the first time for the experienced Rahal Letterman Racing crew members or team principal Bobby Rahal, a four-time runner-up at Long Beach in Indy Car competition.
"Long Beach is a special race for a number of reasons and one that has been a focal point for me and our team for many years,? said Rahal. ?We are excited to bring the M3s here and are expecting to continue the improvements that we saw in St. Petersburg. Our drivers and our team know the circuit well and we are looking forward to a great weekend!"
Two test sessions begin the weekend on Thursday, with official practice scheduled for 9:00 to 9:40 a.m. Friday. A single 25-minute qualifying session is scheduled to begin at 4:00 p.m. that afternoon. The one-hour-and-forty minute race is scheduled to start at 4:15 p.m. Saturday 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.
04-17-2009, 11:30 AM
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The E30 M3 was a legend in Europe.
It won almost all sport car races for many years in the late '80's.
It won almost all sport car races for many years in the late '80's.
04-17-2009, 04:38 PM
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Originally Posted by Ricracing' post='850504' date='Apr 17 2009, 03:30 PM
The E30 M3 was a legend in Europe.
It won almost all sport car races for many years in the late '80's.
It won almost all sport car races for many years in the late '80's.
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