With three GT class wins and two podium finishes in the first five races of the 2011 American Le Mans Series season, BMW Team RLL has proven that to get to the championship you’ll first have to get past two very fast BMW M3 GT cars.
The team certainly won’t make it easy at this weekend’s Road Race Showcase at Road America, in Elkhart Lake (US). BMW Team RLL has not been beaten at Road America in ALMS competition, winning the GT class in both 2009 and 2010. Not only did point leading team-mates Dirk Mϋller (DE) and Joey Hand (US) win last year, but Hand also scored the win in 2009 from the pole, co-driving with Bill Auberlen (US).
Mϋller and Hand have recorded three wins this season, but it has been Auberlen and Dirk Werner (DE) in the no. 55 BMW M3 GT that have finished third in the last two races – one position ahead of Hand and Mϋller.
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal):“We have won each of the last two races at Road America so obviously we are optimistic, but the last two races have proven that if you don’t put your best effort out there, you aren’t going to win. If we can reduce our mistakes this weekend, it will increase our chances.”
Bill Auberlen (Car number 55):“I’m glad to be going to Road America where all the success began for BMW Team RLL. We return with better cars so we all are cautiously optimistic. Road America is a beautiful race track. It is fast and has a little bit of everything. Many of the corners are long and challenging – exactly what a driver looks for.”
Dirk Werner (Car number 55):“I would say that Bill and I are on an upward trend, especially at the last two races. With two consecutive podiums I am highly motivated for the next race, as Road America seems to suit our car. The team won there in the last two years so I think that we have a very good chance to be successful this year. Road America is a great race track, and is – compared to the other circuits we race on – more of European standard. It is quite a fast track with a lot of challenging fast corners. I really enjoy racing there.”
Joey Hand (Car number 56):“Before this season we had won two races in the ALMS and they both came at Road America. One in 2009, one in 2010 and I was in the winning BMW M3 both times. Road America is definitely a special place for me, a favourite of mine and the team, and it has a lot of different things to love. The different types of corners – ninety degree, long duration and what I call a man-attack corner in the kink. I have been close to flat out there, but I don’t think anyone has gone flat through the kink. I think this may be the year.”
Dirk Müller (Car number 56): “Road America is always a highlight of my American tour. This race track is like a combination of the Nordschleife and Spa on American soil. It is an extremely challenging and a very technical circuit. You also need a very good handling car, so it suits us very well. We experienced some bad luck in the last two races, but we still scored good points. It is time to score maximum points again. Joey and I are hungry. We have already celebrated three victories this year, but we just cannot get enough.”
