Despite a stop-and-go penalty for contact served by each BMW M3 GT cars run by BMW Team RLL during the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Mosport the team still finished the third and fourth in the 14-car GT class to retain the lead in manufacturer, driver and team championship standings.
Starting from the class pole for a third consecutive time the no. 56 BMW M3 GT of Joey Hand (US) led the first 30 laps of the race with the no. 55 car of Bill Auberlen (US) running third, less than three seconds behind. The races only caution period brought both BMW M3 GTs to the pits on lap 31 for fuel and tyres, but a slow stop for the no. 56 crew put Hand out behind Auberlen and then a touch with a competitor exiting the pits brought Hand back to serve a stop-and-go penalty for “avoidable contact”. As Auberlen moved up to second, Hand fell back to eighth.
Auberlen held second through the fuel load and Hand moved up to seventh before both drivers pitted one hour later. Dirk Werner (DE) took over the no. 55 machine and moved into the lead just before the two-hour mark. Unfortunately, Werner made contact with a slower class car with 20 minutes remaining in the race and the officials called him to the pits for an “avoidable contact” stop-and-go penalty. He returned to the race losing two positions to finish third and score the second podium finish for the no. 55 BMW M3 GT this season.
Dirk Mϋller (DE) took over for Hand, moving the no. 56 car as high as third before falling back to fourth in the closing stages of the race.
Round five of the American Le Mans Series will be held at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course on 6th August.
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal): “The race started promisingly, but we are not entirely happy with the way it ended. Both cars were penalised and lost crucial seconds. The pace of our cars was once again excellent. There was more in this race for us. In Mid-Ohio we will once again strive to get as much out of the race as possible.”
Dirk Werner (car number 55): “I am obviously disappointed. Bill did a great job to take the car to the front of the field. The incident shortly before the finish cost us the victory. However, there is still a long way to go this season. I am sure we will have more chances. The guys are working hard and provide us with a real winning car every race. We will keep going so that we can reward them with the result they deserve.”
Bill Auberlen (car number 55): “Although it was not enough to win, we can take a lot of positives out of this race. This is the first time since Sebring that we have made it onto the podium. Our car has what it takes to be battle it out at the front in every race. Unfortunately, for various reasons, it has not always worked out that way for us. We will now move on and attack again in Mid-Ohio.”
