[Jason]

BIMMERPOST NEWS

SEVENTH CONSECUTIVE POLE FOR BMW TEAM RLL AT ALMS MONTEREY

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Monterey, CA. – September 16, 2011… BMW Team RLL driver Joey Hand recorded the sixth pole of the season for the No. 56 M3 GT in this afternoon’s qualifying session for the American Le Mans Monterey to extend the BMW Team RLL qualifying streak to a total of seven consecutive poles in 2011. His lap of 1:22.226 minutes around the 2.238-mile, 11-turn Laguna Seca circuit bested the 12-car GT field by a margin of .898 seconds. Hand and co-driver Dirk Muller lead the GT driver point standings with a total of five podium finishes that include three consecutive victories to start off the season.

Teammate Bill Auberlen qualified the No. 55 M3 GT in the third position with a 1:23.132 minute lap. Auberlen and co-driver Dirk Werner have finished on the podium in three of the last four races, including a second at Road America and stand third in GT driver points.

“Well, this is another great performance by BMW and the team,” said Bobby Rahal, Team Principal. “Joey nailed the laps. It’s a big margin to be ahead. Like Dirk Werner did at Baltimore…Joey found a shortcut. I am really pleased the cars have been up front all weekend long, we just need to stay there tomorrow. We just hope for a problem free race”.

“On the pole again! It’s great!” said Joey Hand. “I have a cold and haven’t been feeling great this week but didn’t want that to be an excuse. So I gave it everything I had. It’s a testament to our team how the car came out of the trailer, we were on the money from the beginning. We kept fine tuning through the practice sessions and the guys really nailed it. The No. 56 BMW M3 GT has led every session and we have one more very important session to lead: the race. My wife and kids are here, we have a lot of Crown Plaza and Avnet friends here and we want to give them a great race at my home racetrack.”

With only two races to go, BMW, BMW Team RLL and Dunlop lead the GT Manufacturer, Team and Tire championship standings respectively.

The six-hour Modspace American Le Mans Monterey is scheduled to take the green flag at 1:30 p.m. PDT Saturday. The race will be broadcast live on ESPN3.com and rebroadcast on ESPN2 at 1 p.m. EDT on Sunday, Sept. 18.

[OSAB1]

Best drivers. Best team. Best car. It is a magic thing in racing when all the elements come together. Fantastic.

[Pauldramos]

Nice! Way to go Team BMW...

[M5007]

^ 1

[Sedan_Clan]

Originally Posted by OSAB1

Best drivers. Best team. Best car. It is a magic thing in racing when all the elements come together. Fantastic.

That car is so friggin' sweet! I'd love to have those tinted headlights.

[Merked M3]

I will be there!!!

Anyone know anything special or VIP going on during the 6hr le mans race?

[OSAB1]

Wish I could make this race. It is one of the races have I have not been to. I was lucky enough to have access to the team for the 09 and 10 season. It was great. Go down to the team tent. Meet the drivers and see the cars. They are very cool and are great to the fans. They will win for sure!!!!!

[Kayani_1]

I hope that bozo Corvette driver does not take out one of the winning M3's like last time. I was so mad with 45 minutes to go M3 was in lead and the Corvette driver made this bozo move to the inside with late braking and took out the M3. Other wise we would have probably seen 1-3 finish by M3's.

[OSAB1]

Great race. The guys sealed the championships!!!!!!! So cool.

[merchomini]

///M POWER