BMW Team RLL Finish 1-2 at Laguna Seca

Jason · 05-04-2015, 12:48 AM

BIMMERPOST NEWS

BMW Team RLL Finish 1-2 at Laguna Seca; Edwards/Luhr First, Auberlen/Werner Second. 40th Anniversary of Hans-J. Stuck Victory Here in 1975

19
COMMENTS

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – May 3, 2015… John Edwards and Lucas Luhr drove the No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM to victory in today's two-hour-and-forty-minute TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The duo completed 108 laps of the 2.238-mile circuit, finishing 20.4 seconds ahead of teammates Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner in the No. 25 Z4 GTLM. This marks the first win for BMW Team RLL at Laguna Seca, the first for Edwards and Luhr as co-drivers as well as the first for Luhr as a BMW driver.

Today's victory - the second for the team this season after Long Beach two weeks ago - comes almost exactly 40 years to the day after Hans-J. Stuck drove a BMW 3.0 CSL to the win in the second heat of the IMSA Camel GT Challenge race here in 1975 - also the second win of the season for Stuck and BMW Motorsport. The BMW Team RLL Z4 GTLM cars are competing this season in a similar livery to that of the CSL to commemorate that very first season of competition for BMW Motorsport in North America.

Unofficially, the win moves BMW into first place in the GTLM Manufacturers' points standings. Auberlen and Werner remain second in Drivers' points while Edwards and Luhr jump from fourth to third.

Dirk Werner, in the No 25 Z4 and Lucas Luhr, in the No. 24 machine started the race from the front row of the GTLM grid. Luhr was able to get by Werner in the opening laps and the teammates raced in first and second for the opening 40 minutes of the event.

The first pit stop for both BMWs came on lap 23 during the first caution period of the race. Luhr pitted the No. 24 Z4 from the lead and handed the car off to John Edwards. Werner remained in the No. 25 machine. A crowded pit lane delayed both BMWs and Edwards dropped to second and Werner to third.

With one hour complete, Edwards had regained the lead with some 14 seconds in hand. Further back in the field Werner, now in fourth spot, battled Patrick Pilet in the No. 911 Porsche and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette.

Edwards had extended his lead to some 20 seconds before he pitted on lap 63 for his final stop of the race. Werner pitted on the following lap after a strong effort to move up to second place. He handed off to Auberlen and after the rest of the field cycled through their pit stops BMW Team RLL was back at the front of the GTLM field with one hour to go - Edwards in P1, Auberlen in P2.

Edwards and Auberlen were unchallenged for the remainder of the contest to deliver an outstanding 1-2 result for BMW as it celebrates its 40th anniversary of sports car competition in North America.

Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL): "It was a good day. I think what made the big difference early on was John had a great restart and got ahead. He was able to use traffic and really got a good gap to the field because of that. Then he just maintained that. Bill and Dirk did a great job coming through. Good pit stops – and I think our stops were better than everybody else’s today and that gave us some breathing room. The car was very reliable, as always."

John Edwards (No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM, 1st place): "It is nice to get to the top step of the podium after our team mates did it at the last race. It has been a really good weekend for BMW, but these don’t come easy. It has been over two years since I had a win. Today we had a lot of traffic and I was able to get through it a bit better than the rest and that is what gave me an advantage. I just kind of managed the pace from there. I don’t think I really did too many quicker laps than the rest of the field except that I got through the traffic, so that was definitely the key. After two years it is a relief to finally be back on the top step."

Lucas Luhr (No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM, 1st place): "It is very special for me. A special day. It is my first win as a BMW works driver, so that is very, very sweet and I think I am going to remember it for a long time. I think the key for us was we were the only car that started on the soft tires and that was maybe a little bit of a risk. Then the next key was that in traffic I was able to go by Dirk and was able to pull a little gap and that gave us a bit of an advantage over the competitors. But then we changed and we came out behind the Ferrari when we blocked ourselves a little bit in the pits. John did a great job to get by him again. Then it was our race to control and he did an awesome job to control the pace and also to manage the traffic well. He still gave me some grey hairs at some of the overtaking moves, but he did really well and I am happy. It is a one-two for BMW and for the BMW Team RLL, so it is a very good day here in beautiful California."

Bill Auberlen (No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM, 2nd place): "Apparently the West Coast market is a good one for BMW! It is good for us, we came here, we did really well in Long Beach and won, and now we have decided let’s switch it up and the black car wins. You cannot be happier for this team. The team is amazing. I came into the pits with just barely a gap, it was tooth and nail with the Porsche and the Ferrari and our pit stop gave me a gap that I could baby those Michelins, because we were very hard on our tires today. I just kept them under me. They stayed there the whole time just enough to make it to the end to finish second. This moves our team car up in the points and this is about as good as it is going to get. I just lucky we had that gap because if I had to fight at the end it would have been tough, but I was up for the challenge. The car was as good as the car could be. We always come here and know the track is going to go away a little bit, but the engineering, the Michelins, BMW Team RLL, BMW, I can’t remember the last time we had a one-two. It’s everybody’s day."

Dirk Werner (No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM, 2nd place): "For the team this is the perfect day and we can be really happy because we just got the optimum out of our package and that is how you win races. To come in one-two is a great result for BMW and the whole team. For us in the manufacturers’ championship it now looks good, and for the two cars it looks a lot better again in the drivers’ championship. But it is only four races into the season. We have to focus on the next races, as there are still six to go. Just being able to turn around the kind of bad luck we had in the first two races is great. The team worked well, the car was fast so I am very happy."

Round Five of the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will be held at Watkins Glen International, in Watkins Glen, NY, on June 28th. The Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen race will be broadcast live from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports One and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports Two.

TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca

SO__USA · 05-04-2015, 07:57 AM

Had the luxury of being there this weekend! Great Time. Go RLL!

Ghetto2315 · 05-04-2015, 08:03 AM

Somebody school me.

How come BMW decided to use the Z4 in GT Series, while they are using an M4 in DTM?

Diver · 05-04-2015, 08:18 AM

Go BMW!. I need one of those white tire man suits...

bmw1racer · 05-04-2015, 08:37 AM

Excellent result... Team RLL seems to be on a roll... At least in California.

As mentioned in other threads, I'd be nice if the complete race results were posted, along with the driver's and manufacturer's standings...

ellekz · 05-04-2015, 08:57 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

Somebody school me.

How come BMW decided to use the Z4 in GT Series, while they are using an M4 in DTM?

Sorry to burst your bubble but DTM has unfortunately nothing to do with production cars. The cars there are just named "M4", "RS5" and "C63 AMG" for marketing purposes. Actually, the cars share most of the parts and differ mostly only in the engine, the shell (that gives it the M4-look), the setup, and a few other parts. The engines are so tightly speced though that they're also basically the same.
I don't really know what the point of the current DTM is. Watching GT3 cars is a lot more enjoyable and much closer to a real car than DTM cars are.

tlrid3r · 05-04-2015, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by ellekz

Quote:

Originally Posted by Ghetto2315

Somebody school me.

How come BMW decided to use the Z4 in GT Series, while they are using an M4 in DTM?

Sorry to burst your bubble but DTM has unfortunately nothing to do with production cars. The cars there are just named "M4", "RS5" and "C63 AMG" for marketing purposes. Actually, the cars share most of the parts and differ mostly only in the engine, the shell (that gives it the M4-look), the setup, and a few other parts. The engines are so tightly speced though that they're also basically the same.
I don't really know what the point of the current DTM is. Watching GT3 cars is a lot more enjoyable and much closer to a real car than DTM cars are.

Exactly. It's just like a Camry nascar. Nothing is shared but a slight out side look. Z4 GTD and GTLM share a few part with production car

Jimzym3 · 05-04-2015, 10:40 AM

Congrats!!

Jimzym3 · 05-04-2015, 10:42 AM

Z4 out in front!

dim635csi · 05-04-2015, 11:17 AM

Team RLL pre-race briefing and 2nd place winning #25 Z4

Flying Ace · 05-04-2015, 11:22 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by tlrid3r

Exactly. It's just like a Camry nascar. Nothing is shared but a slight out side look. Z4 GTD and GTLM share a few part with production car

you mean the tail light? Having seen the car and the older M3 ALMS GT2 car, there is almost nothing shared.

When I saw the GTD car it has a few more stock parts

Flying Ace · 05-04-2015, 11:24 AM

I was also there at turn 1. Great race early on in all classes, then after the 3rd yellow, the race was static and was largely a pit strategy race after that.

When the Turner car ran off late in the race, I was secretly hoping for another full course caution, just to bunch up the pack again and do a sprint finish, but it never happened.

SunnyD · 05-04-2015, 11:25 AM

Going to be sad when they move away from the P65...it's an amazing powerplant.

Flying Ace · 05-04-2015, 12:26 PM

I have some photos from the race to post, currently at work, I'll resize them at home and post later tonight.

dim635csi · 05-04-2015, 12:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Flying Ace

I have some photos from the race to post, currently at work, I'll resize them at home and post later tonight.

Same, I was shooting at Turn 4

raysspl · 05-04-2015, 12:57 PM

Very very good to hear! GO BMW!

Flying Ace · 05-04-2015, 01:00 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by dim635csi

Same, I was shooting at Turn 4

Nice! it took me a while to figure out the optimum place to watch qualifying and the race, but I settled at the turn one hairpin's hill. It offers:

1. partial view of turn 11 and final straight and start/finish
2. a clear view of the front straight into Andretti Hairpin
3. a clear view of turn 3
4. partial view of turns 4 and 5
5. tons of speakers to hear race commentary
6. close enough to see the LED position lights
7. some distance so you don't have to use ear muffs

techwhiz · 05-04-2015, 04:45 PM

I was there in the BMWCCA Corral Parking and hanging out in the tent.

Also the person that asked about DTM M4 and the current Z4.
Who knows, the Z4 only shares that name with the production car, nothing else that I can think of.

dim635csi · 05-04-2015, 05:38 PM

Prelude

https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qgd7x33a2...4L_YzOMlkvWF1a

DCG · 05-05-2015, 10:27 PM

The Z4s look great, now it is time for some new cool race suits to match. Not feeling the white, especially if you have to take a wee.

05-04-2015, 12:48 AM	#1
Jason Administrator 40636 Rep 21,237 Posts Drives: F80 M3 Join Date: Mar 2005 Location: USA iTrader: (0)	BMW Team RLL Finish 1-2 at Laguna Seca BIMMERPOST NEWS BMW Team RLL Finish 1-2 at Laguna Seca; Edwards/Luhr First, Auberlen/Werner Second. 40th Anniversary of Hans-J. Stuck Victory Here in 1975 19 COMMENTS Tweet Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – May 3, 2015… John Edwards and Lucas Luhr drove the No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM to victory in today's two-hour-and-forty-minute TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The duo completed 108 laps of the 2.238-mile circuit, finishing 20.4 seconds ahead of teammates Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner in the No. 25 Z4 GTLM. This marks the first win for BMW Team RLL at Laguna Seca, the first for Edwards and Luhr as co-drivers as well as the first for Luhr as a BMW driver. Today's victory - the second for the team this season after Long Beach two weeks ago - comes almost exactly 40 years to the day after Hans-J. Stuck drove a BMW 3.0 CSL to the win in the second heat of the IMSA Camel GT Challenge race here in 1975 - also the second win of the season for Stuck and BMW Motorsport. The BMW Team RLL Z4 GTLM cars are competing this season in a similar livery to that of the CSL to commemorate that very first season of competition for BMW Motorsport in North America. Unofficially, the win moves BMW into first place in the GTLM Manufacturers' points standings. Auberlen and Werner remain second in Drivers' points while Edwards and Luhr jump from fourth to third. Dirk Werner, in the No 25 Z4 and Lucas Luhr, in the No. 24 machine started the race from the front row of the GTLM grid. Luhr was able to get by Werner in the opening laps and the teammates raced in first and second for the opening 40 minutes of the event. The first pit stop for both BMWs came on lap 23 during the first caution period of the race. Luhr pitted the No. 24 Z4 from the lead and handed the car off to John Edwards. Werner remained in the No. 25 machine. A crowded pit lane delayed both BMWs and Edwards dropped to second and Werner to third. With one hour complete, Edwards had regained the lead with some 14 seconds in hand. Further back in the field Werner, now in fourth spot, battled Patrick Pilet in the No. 911 Porsche and Tommy Milner in the No. 4 Corvette. Edwards had extended his lead to some 20 seconds before he pitted on lap 63 for his final stop of the race. Werner pitted on the following lap after a strong effort to move up to second place. He handed off to Auberlen and after the rest of the field cycled through their pit stops BMW Team RLL was back at the front of the GTLM field with one hour to go - Edwards in P1, Auberlen in P2. Edwards and Auberlen were unchallenged for the remainder of the contest to deliver an outstanding 1-2 result for BMW as it celebrates its 40th anniversary of sports car competition in North America. Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL): "It was a good day. I think what made the big difference early on was John had a great restart and got ahead. He was able to use traffic and really got a good gap to the field because of that. Then he just maintained that. Bill and Dirk did a great job coming through. Good pit stops – and I think our stops were better than everybody else’s today and that gave us some breathing room. The car was very reliable, as always." John Edwards (No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM, 1st place): "It is nice to get to the top step of the podium after our team mates did it at the last race. It has been a really good weekend for BMW, but these don’t come easy. It has been over two years since I had a win. Today we had a lot of traffic and I was able to get through it a bit better than the rest and that is what gave me an advantage. I just kind of managed the pace from there. I don’t think I really did too many quicker laps than the rest of the field except that I got through the traffic, so that was definitely the key. After two years it is a relief to finally be back on the top step." Lucas Luhr (No. 24 BMW Z4 GTLM, 1st place): "It is very special for me. A special day. It is my first win as a BMW works driver, so that is very, very sweet and I think I am going to remember it for a long time. I think the key for us was we were the only car that started on the soft tires and that was maybe a little bit of a risk. Then the next key was that in traffic I was able to go by Dirk and was able to pull a little gap and that gave us a bit of an advantage over the competitors. But then we changed and we came out behind the Ferrari when we blocked ourselves a little bit in the pits. John did a great job to get by him again. Then it was our race to control and he did an awesome job to control the pace and also to manage the traffic well. He still gave me some grey hairs at some of the overtaking moves, but he did really well and I am happy. It is a one-two for BMW and for the BMW Team RLL, so it is a very good day here in beautiful California." Bill Auberlen (No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM, 2nd place): "Apparently the West Coast market is a good one for BMW! It is good for us, we came here, we did really well in Long Beach and won, and now we have decided let’s switch it up and the black car wins. You cannot be happier for this team. The team is amazing. I came into the pits with just barely a gap, it was tooth and nail with the Porsche and the Ferrari and our pit stop gave me a gap that I could baby those Michelins, because we were very hard on our tires today. I just kept them under me. They stayed there the whole time just enough to make it to the end to finish second. This moves our team car up in the points and this is about as good as it is going to get. I just lucky we had that gap because if I had to fight at the end it would have been tough, but I was up for the challenge. The car was as good as the car could be. We always come here and know the track is going to go away a little bit, but the engineering, the Michelins, BMW Team RLL, BMW, I can’t remember the last time we had a one-two. It’s everybody’s day." Dirk Werner (No. 25 BMW Z4 GTLM, 2nd place): "For the team this is the perfect day and we can be really happy because we just got the optimum out of our package and that is how you win races. To come in one-two is a great result for BMW and the whole team. For us in the manufacturers’ championship it now looks good, and for the two cars it looks a lot better again in the drivers’ championship. But it is only four races into the season. We have to focus on the next races, as there are still six to go. Just being able to turn around the kind of bad luck we had in the first two races is great. The team worked well, the car was fast so I am very happy." Round Five of the 2015 TUDOR United SportsCar Championship will be held at Watkins Glen International, in Watkins Glen, NY, on June 28th. The Sahlen's Six Hours of the Glen race will be broadcast live from 10:00 a.m. to 2:00 p.m. ET on Fox Sports One and from 2:00 p.m. to 4:30 p.m. ET on Fox Sports Two. TUDOR United SportsCar Championship race at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca
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05-04-2015, 07:57 AM	#2
SO__USA enthusiast 66 Rep 181 Posts Drives: F80 BSM M3 Join Date: Jun 2010 Location: norcal iTrader: (0)	Had the luxury of being there this weekend! Great Time. Go RLL! __________________ Dre
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05-04-2015, 08:03 AM	#3
Ghetto2315 Colonel 831 Rep 2,352 Posts Drives: 16' BMW i8 Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: The REAL Jersey Shore iTrader: (1) Garage List 2001 BMW M3 E46 CON ... [9.50] 2016 BMW i8 [10.00] 2003 JEEP GRAND CHE ... [0.00] 2000 540i SPORT E39 [10.00] 2007 TOYOTA TACOMA ... [0.00]	Somebody school me. How come BMW decided to use the Z4 in GT Series, while they are using an M4 in DTM?
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05-04-2015, 08:18 AM	#4
Diver Brigadier General 504 Rep 3,446 Posts Drives: Black '12 135i - Sold Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Texas iTrader: (0)	Go BMW!. I need one of those white tire man suits... __________________ See my photography at http://ronscubadiver.wordpress.com
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05-04-2015, 08:37 AM	#5
bmw1racer bimmerphile, technogeek 998 Rep 3,784 Posts Drives: 2012 E82 6MT Sport Join Date: Jun 2011 Location: SoCal iTrader: (0) Garage List 2012 BMW 128i Coupe [0.00]	Excellent result... Team RLL seems to be on a roll... At least in California. As mentioned in other threads, I'd be nice if the complete race results were posted, along with the driver's and manufacturer's standings... __________________
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05-04-2015, 10:40 AM	#8
Jimzym3 First Lieutenant 115 Rep 300 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Orange County iTrader: (7) Garage List 2009 BMW M3 [5.00]	Congrats!! Congrats!! Attached Images
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05-04-2015, 10:42 AM	#9
Jimzym3 First Lieutenant 115 Rep 300 Posts Drives: M3 Join Date: Mar 2014 Location: Orange County iTrader: (7) Garage List 2009 BMW M3 [5.00]	Z4 out in front! Attached Images
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05-04-2015, 11:17 AM	#10
dim635csi Lieutenant 203 Rep 468 Posts Drives: 2018 MG F82 M4 ZCP Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: SFBA iTrader: (0)	Team RLL pre-race briefing and 2nd place winning #25 Z4 Attached Images
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05-04-2015, 11:24 AM	#12
Flying Ace Lieutenant General 4985 Rep 11,891 Posts Drives: G05 45e, 997.1 & 991.1 GT3s Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: SF, CA iTrader: (5)	I was also there at turn 1. Great race early on in all classes, then after the 3rd yellow, the race was static and was largely a pit strategy race after that. When the Turner car ran off late in the race, I was secretly hoping for another full course caution, just to bunch up the pack again and do a sprint finish, but it never happened. __________________ 22 Phytonic/Coffee X5 45e (CoVID-free) 08 Speed Yellow 911 GT3 Sharkwerks 12 AW/Cinnamon X5d Sports Pkg (retired) 14 AW/Beige M6GC ZCP, MPE, V2 steering wheel, vorsteiner (retired) 08 SSII/Black E90 M3 (retired)
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05-04-2015, 11:25 AM	#13
SunnyD Major 452 Rep 1,288 Posts Drives: M4 GTS Join Date: Dec 2006 Location: Long Beach, CA iTrader: (0)	Going to be sad when they move away from the P65...it's an amazing powerplant. __________________ '16 ///M4 GTS '11.75 ///E90 M3 ZCP \| DCT '06 ///M5 \| SMG - Gone '98 ///M3 \| 5MT - Gone '07 ///M Coupe \| 6MT - Gone
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05-04-2015, 12:26 PM	#14
Flying Ace Lieutenant General 4985 Rep 11,891 Posts Drives: G05 45e, 997.1 & 991.1 GT3s Join Date: Jul 2014 Location: SF, CA iTrader: (5)	I have some photos from the race to post, currently at work, I'll resize them at home and post later tonight. __________________ 22 Phytonic/Coffee X5 45e (CoVID-free) 08 Speed Yellow 911 GT3 Sharkwerks 12 AW/Cinnamon X5d Sports Pkg (retired) 14 AW/Beige M6GC ZCP, MPE, V2 steering wheel, vorsteiner (retired) 08 SSII/Black E90 M3 (retired)
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05-04-2015, 12:57 PM	#16
raysspl Brigadier General 992 Rep 3,001 Posts Drives: walking, bicycle, & bus Join Date: Jan 2015 Location: SoCal iTrader: (0)	Very very good to hear! GO BMW! __________________ re
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05-04-2015, 04:45 PM	#18
techwhiz Colonel 453 Rep 2,973 Posts Drives: e90 335i Sedan - Arctic Join Date: Feb 2012 Location: Bay Area, Ca iTrader: (4)	I was there in the BMWCCA Corral Parking and hanging out in the tent. Also the person that asked about DTM M4 and the current Z4. Who knows, the Z4 only shares that name with the production car, nothing else that I can think of. __________________ Arctic Metallic\CF Splitters, Spoiler, Mirror Covers\LED Tails\LSD\Tinted\Coded\Apex Square SM10-19"\LED Angel Eyes\Gloss Black Grill\Integrated V1 & Galaxy Tab\M-Performance Brakes\Cobb Tuned\xHP Flash\Resonator Removed and -> is your friend.
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05-04-2015, 05:38 PM	#19
dim635csi Lieutenant 203 Rep 468 Posts Drives: 2018 MG F82 M4 ZCP Join Date: Jun 2014 Location: SFBA iTrader: (0)	Prelude https://www.dropbox.com/sh/qgd7x33a2...4L_YzOMlkvWF1a Attached Images Last edited by dim635csi; 05-04-2015 at 05:57 PM..
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05-05-2015, 10:27 PM	#20
DCG REBEL 782 Rep 1,271 Posts Drives: BMW X4 Join Date: Sep 2014 Location: New York iTrader: (0)	The Z4s look great, now it is time for some new cool race suits to match. Not feeling the white, especially if you have to take a wee.
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