Auberlen/Werner 5th, Edwards/Luhr 6th Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – Aug. 9, 2015... BMW Team RLL finished fifth and sixth in today's two-hour-and-forty-minute Continental Tire Road Race Showcase at Road America, in Elkhart Lake, Wisconsin. Bill Auberlen and Dirk Werner finished fifth in the No. 25 Z4. John Edwards and Lucas Luhr, driving the No. 24 machine, finished one position behind in sixth. The race was won by the No. 911 Porsche. The venerable Road America circuit has historically been a very successful race track for BMW Team RLL, but today was an exception. Neither BMW Z4 was able to meet the pace of the rest of the GTLM class after recent Balance of Performance adjustments relegated the BMWs to be one second off most of the field and two seconds off the winning Porsche. The race began with the No. 24 Z4 of John Edwards starting from fourth and Bill Auberlen sixth in the No. 25 machine. Both BMWs and the rest of the GTLM class took to the pit lane on lap 14 under the only caution period of the race. Edwards stayed in the No. 24 while the crew fueled and fitted new Michelin tires. He reentered the race in fifth place. Dirk Werner took over for Auberlen in the No. 25 Z4 and after service was the last GTLM car to leave the pits. As the race passed the one-hour mark, Edwards held the fifth spot, Werner the eighth. Both cars made their second pit stop under green with just over an hour left in the race. Lucas Luhr took over for Edwards on lap 40 and, one lap later, Werner entered the pits for his stop. After the rest of the GTLM field cycled though, Werner and Luhr raced in the sixth and seventh positions respectively. Werner brought the No. 25 Z4 in early for a splash of fuel allowing him to make it to the end. With thirty minutes remaining Luhr was fourth with Werner right behind him in fifth. Luhr had to stop for fuel six laps from the end, falling to sixth. Download the entire newsletter. Continue reading...
