BMW Team RLL Looking Forward To Mid-Ohio And Home Field Advantage

Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – April 30, 2018… BMW Team RLL returns to the historic Mid-Ohio SportsCar Course this weekend for the fourth round of the 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship looking for the team's home track to provide a rebound from a sub-par performance at Long Beach three weeks ago.

As shown last season, the 2.4-mile, 15-turn natural terrain circuit in Lexington, Ohio proved much more to the BMW's liking than Long Beach's temporary street course with the GTLM class pole scored by John Edwards' No. 24 M8 and a second place finish recorded by the No. 25 M8 of Connor DePhillippi and Alexander Sims.

The BMW M8 GTE was developed with endurance racing in mind and very high aerodynamic efficiency which especially lends itself to fast and flowing road courses such as Mid-Ohio.

'Mid-Ohio is one of the classic, technical road courses in North America and always brings out the best in teams and drivers,' said Bobby Rahal, Team Principal. 'Because it is our home track the entire team feels that little extra push from the folks around the track and we are looking to improve on our excellent race there last season.'

This weekend, the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE will be driven by Conner DePhillippi and - new for 2019 co-driver -Tom Blomqvist. John Edwards and Jesse Krohn pair up for a second season in the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE.

DePhillippi, in fifth place, is the top-standing BMW driver in GTLM Driver points. After three races, BMW stands second in GTLM manufacturer points.

The green flag for the Acura Sports Car Challenge at Mid-Ohio falls at 1:40 p.m. ET on Sunday, May 5th. The race will be broadcast live on NBCSN with coverage beginning at 1:30 p.m. ET. Follow us on Twitter @BMWUSARacing for news from the pit box and get live scoring and in-car camera views at IMSA.com.

Tom Blomqvist, driver No. 25 BMW M8 GTE: 'After some disappointments, I think it's safe to say everyone is extremely motivated to get a result at Mid-Ohio. This was one of my favorite tracks when I was a kid messing about on the simulator so I'm pumped to try it for real. It should suit our package more than previous races so I'm confident and extremely motivated to get my first podium of the year.'

Connor DePhillippi, driver No. 25 BMW M8 GTE: 'Mid-Ohio is a special event for our crew with it being our home event and I'm excited to get back to this flowing circuit! We're all ready to get back into our podium form and try to do one step better than our result last year.'

John Edwards, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE: 'Mid-Ohio is a really fun track, with some good elevation in key places to make it challenging. It's also the site of the team's home race so there's some added pressure to get a good result for the guys and keep Bob happy! Jesse and I are still looking for our first win together and Mid-Ohio would be a special place to get it done.'

Jesse Krohn, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE: 'Mid Ohio is the team's home race and an important one not only for the team but for the championship. We didn't have the best of weekends at Long Beach so it is important to get a strong result. Mid Ohio was a new track for me last year so I had to learn the track quickly in the free practice. This year will be much easier as we can go straight into fine tuning the car for the weekend instead having to learn the track in free practice. All in all I like the track and it suits our car well so I am expecting a strong weekend.'

Photo credit: BMW
posted on conceptcarz.com