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 secured pole position in the #24 BMW M8 GTE, before Connor De Phillippi and Alexander Sims 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, while John Edwards and Jesse Krohn 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.

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”

“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.”