Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 7, 2012… BMW Team RLL fought back from a day of bad luck to finish fifth and sixth in the GT class at the American Le Mans Northeast Grand Prix at Lime Rock Park. Today's result was the first time a BMW Team RLL M3 GT did not reach the podium at their home track, but a determined effort kept the team in second place in manufacturer points and very much in contention for a third consecutive GT class title. The two BMW M3 GT cars lined up at Lime Rock Park with a black ribbon attached to the right front fender of each car. This is in memory a BMW Motorsport engineer who died suddenly in Munich on Friday night. The thoughts of his BMW Motorsport colleagues are with his family during this difficult time. Joey Hand and Dirk Müller finished fifth in the No. 56 M3 GT and now stand third in driver points. Hand started the race from the second position and pitted under the race's first caution period for left side tires and fuel on the 21st lap of the 1.5-mile, 8-turn Lime Rock Park circuit. He returned to the race in P6 and continued until lap 62 when he handed over Dirk Müller after a puncture to his left front tire brought him to the pits. Müller had to make an unplanned pit stop on lap 70 to remove the hood after its mounting loosened and blocked his view. One lap down, he stayed in the car for the remainder of the race, ultimately completing 159 laps and finishing fifth. Download the entire newsletter. Continue reading...
