Munich (DE), 1st September 2013. BMW Team RLL finished third and fourth in the American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Baltimore that will go into the record books as the shortest race in ALMS history due to a crash on the first lap that cost the event half of its duration. The chequered flag flew only one-hour-and-fourteen-minutes after the green flag waved with Dirk Müller (DE) and Joey Hand (US) finishing third in the number 56 BMW Z4 GTE and the number 55 car of Bill Auberlen (US) and Maxime Martin (BE) coming home fourth.
The crash occurred just after the green flag was waved, blocking the circuit and involving eight cars. Polesitter Auberlen just skirted by and Hand, starting from 11th, was able to stop his car with no damage. The restart began with two laps behind the pace car and team principal Bobby Rahal (US) called Hand into the pits immediately – sacrificing the Californian’s minimum drive time and points – to get Müller in the number 56 right away. The move put Müller in the lead and gave him the best chance to stay in the race for the driver’s title. Unfortunately, following the race’s last restart, Müller was slowed by a prototype car that missed the line through the chicane and was passed by both Corvettes.
Auberlen had a wild start in the number 55 Z4 GTE before handing over to Martin after five laps. The Belgian raced as high as second before losing the car’s rear bumper and bringing out a yellow flag. He slipped to fourth in the closing stages of the race.
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal BMW Team RLL):
“I’m very frustrated. We had a perfect plan and were leading the race. On the last restart a prototype car totally cocked up the chicane and Dirk nearly hit it. He was held up enough for the Corvettes to get by and that was that.”
Bill Auberlen (BMW Z4 GTE – car number 55):
“The team was poised for a one-two finish today, but it seemed most of the field came to crash instead of race. I’ve already had a double victory at the Circuit of the Americas this season in the GRAND-AM series driving BMWs, so I’ll put today behind us and focus forward to round eight.”
Maxime Martin (BMW Z4 GTE – car number 55):
“This certainly was a strange race; very short with no pit stops. We started quite okay but in a small crash I lost two places and the rear bumper, so in the end we weren’t quick enough to stay with the front pack. We are scoring points, but we could have had a much better day.”
Dirk Müller (BMW Z4 GTE – car number 56):
“What a race. What a strategy! We pitted early went from dead last, after yesterday’s penalty, all the way up to the front. I had the pace, and the car was strong. P3 is more than I was hoping for overnight. I’m really happy. This result was a team effort.”
Joey Hand (BMW Z4 GTE – car number 56):
“We’ll take a third-place but we’re not as excited as we would have been. Dirk did a good job, but was unlucky during that restart with the traffic. But that’s what endurance racing is all about.”
Source : BMW Motorsport