Munich (DE), 24th July 2016. The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar
Championship Northeast Grand Prix turned into a demolition derby for
BMW Team RLL as both BMW M6 GTLM cars ended the day on the wrecker.
Both cars were pushed off the track by the same competitor’s car in
Lime Rock Park’s (US) downhill turn in different incidents with
different drivers, ending up in the tyre wall and out of the race. The
number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, driven by Dirk Werner (DE) and in second place
at the time, was on the receiving end of a large impact. Luckily,
Werner was unhurt. The race was won by the number 4 Corvette.
The race started with promise for the number 25 car of Bill Auberlen
(US) and Werner. Werner, starting the race from the outside of the
front row, jumped into the lead on lap two and held it for more than
one hour, only relinquishing it on lap 63 following a very strong move
in the uphill chicane by the number 62 Ferrari of Toni Vilander (FI).
As Auberlen was putting on his helmet, ready to take over in a
scheduled stop ten laps later, Werner was drilled into the wall on lap
89. He was taken to the infield medical centre and released. Auberlen
did not drive.
For the number 100 BMW M6 GTLM the race ended almost as soon as it
began. John Edwards (US), starting from eighth on the grid, was hit in
the downhill turn on lap five and spun into the tyre wall at the
beginning of the main straight. Damage to the car forced its
retirement. Lucas Luhr (DE) did not drive.
The Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 cars finished sixth – number 96 of
BMW works driver Jens Klingmann (DE) and Bret Curtis (US) – and
seventh – the number 97 of Markus Palttala (FI) and Michael Marsal
(US) – in the GTD class.
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL):
“Totally unnecessary driving by both drivers of the same car was
responsible for eliminating both of our cars from the race. I told the
officials if it was the last corner of the last lap of the race I
could understand it, but we were only just over halfway through the
race. Obviously I am pretty upset about it. Dirk was doing a great
job, the 25 car was in a position to win this race and was competitive
enough to do it. Unfortunately we didn’t get far with the 100 car.”
Dirk Werner (Number 25 BMW M6 GTLM, DNF):
“That was a really bad outcome for how the race started. I was able
to get up to the front right from the start and stay there for a long
time. When I lost the lead I was bumped and had to go straight in the
chicane. Then the race was finished when someone put me in the tyres
in the last turn, which is a fast turn. I think that was unnecessary
in the middle of the race. I am very unhappy and hope this is not how
we want to keep on racing. Thanks to the team the car was good again,
as it was in the last couple of events, and for sure the car was good
enough for a podium.”
John Edwards (Number 100 BMW M6 GTLM, DNF):
“We have had a lot of bad luck this season and this time it was
contact with another car in a really high speed portion of the track.
It was a bit of a scary one, fortunately the hit wasn’t too bad, but
it seemed to mess something up from the spin and the hit, so we could
not continue.”