Two races in seven days: The greatest logistical challenge of the season for BMW Team RLL.

Munich. There are just five days between the six-hour race at
Watkins Glen (USA) and the start of the race weekend at the Canadian
Tire Motorsport Park near Bowmanville (CAN). Although the two IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship circuits are only around 300
miles apart, this is one of the most challenging weeks for the BMW
Team RLL. This is particularly true for the logistics team, which
delivers an outstanding performance between the two events.

Sunday, 1st July: just after 15:45 local
time, the two BMW M8 GTE cars of BMW Team RLL crossed the finishing
line at Watkins Glen. For the logistics team, that moment marked the
start of what is probably the most gruelling week of the year. Just a
few days later, both of the team’s cars will be back on the track,
battling for IMSA points in Canada. The 300 or so miles that lie
between the two circuits in the northern USA and southern Canada are
the least of their problems.

Cars, team members, spare parts and equipment: transportation is
planned in minute detail, down to the smallest part. Everything starts
at Watkins Glen: both BMW M8 GTEs were rebuilt on the Monday and
Tuesday after the race in the paddock. Ten mechanics were working on
each of the two BMW M8 GTEs.

Brandon Fry, BMW Team RLL Technical/Racing Operations Director,
said: “This is one of the most exhausting weeks of the year for our
team and it really shows what motorsport is all about. We don’t have
much time at all. Everything has to work perfectly to guarantee a
smooth start to the race weekend at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park.”

More than 5,000 parts, three trucks, two BMW M8
GTEs.
On the afternoon of 3rd July both BMW
M8 GTEs were loaded onto the team truck. There are around 2,000 more
parts in this transporter: from team apparel to spare parts and
personal equipment items for the drivers. If everything goes according
to plan, the travel time is just under five hours, however, the border
crossing can be more problematic. Each individual part must be
documented and the BMW Team RLL has to prepare around 25 pages of
paperwork just for the first truck. Ideally, the truck should cross
the Canadian border in ten minutes but it could just as easily take
hours to pass, which is why the team was planning on arrival in the
early hours of Wednesday morning.

The two other trucks start their journey on the 4th
July, a national holiday in the USA.  They are transporting around
3,000 additional parts, primarily bodywork and spare parts, as well as
engines. The team in the Ohio BMW Team RLL headquarters remains ready
for action the whole time. Spare parts were dispatched from here to
Canada before the race in Watkins Glen, to ensure that they are there
when the team arrives. The team headquarters also stores pre-assembled
chassis that can be dispatched overnight to Canada if required. The
logistics team from BMW of North America works closely with US Customs
and BMW Motorsport transport experts to make all this possible.

The scrutineering inspection for BMW Team RLL takes place at the
Canadian track on 5th July. Three days later, all the cars
and parts will be loaded back onto the trucks immediately after the
race. The entire team will then drive through the night to return to
the headquarters in Ohio. The most exhausting week of the year for the
BMW Team RLL then finally draws to a close at around 3 am on Monday.