Munich
. BMW Team RLL returns to the historic “Mid-Ohio SportsCar
Course” (USA) this weekend for the fourth round of the 2019 IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IMSA series).
After a mediocre race three weeks ago at Long Beach (USA), the
team is looking to bounce back in style at its home race
.
As shown last season, the 3.86-kilometre circuit proved much more to
the BMW M8 GTE’s liking than Long Beach’s temporary street track. In
the GTLM class, John Edwards (USA) secured pole position in the #24
BMW M8 GTE, before Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Alexander Sims (GBR)
ended the race in second place in the #25 sister car.
The #25 BMW M8 GTE will be driven by De Phillippi and Tom Blomqvist
(GBR), while John Edwards and Jesse Krohn (FIN) pair up in the #24
car. De Phillippi, in fifth place, is the top-standing BMW driver in
GTLM Driver points. After three races, BMW stands second in GTLM
manufacturer points.
The race gets underway at 1:40 p.m. local time (7:40 p.m. CEST) on
Sunday, May 5th.
Quotes ahead of the race at Mid-Ohio.
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal BMW Team RLL): “Mid-Ohio
is one of the classic, technical road courses in North America and
always brings out the best in teams and drivers. 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.”
Tom Blomqvist (#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 favourite
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 De Phillippi (#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 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 (#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 (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “Mid-Ohio is the teams
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 of 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.”