The 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season resumes following the traditional Le Mans break with BMW Team RLL ready to compete in this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours Of The Glen, at Watkins Glen International.
The 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona winners have been unable to reach the GTLM class podium in subsequent rounds, but feel confident of a stronger performance at The Glen following a Balance of Performance change ahead of the event. Tom Blomqvist and Connor De Phillippi will drive the #25 BMW M8 GTE while John Edwards and Jesse Krohn will pilot the #24 BMW M8 GTE at Watkins Glen. Only last weekend all four competed in the Nürburgring 24 Hours. Krohn also raced at Le Mans the weekend before. In addition, BMW Team RLL completed three days of testing - two days at Watkins Glen and one day at Road America – in recent weeks.
De Phillippi, in fourth place, is the top-standing BMW driver in GTLM driver points. With four of the season’s eleven races complete, BMW stands second in GTLM manufacturer points. The team’s most recent win at The Glen was in 2017 with Bill Auberlen and Alexander Sims driving the BMW M6 GTLM. This weekend Auberlen will co-drive the Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 with Robby Foley and Dillon Machavern. Last season, Turner Motorsport won the GT Daytona class. The race gets underway at 9:45 a.m. local time (3:45 p.m. CEST) on Sunday, June 30th.
“I have always loved going to Watkins Glen. I think it’s truly one of the great circuits in North America. It really is a fast track and demands commitment. We have had reasonably good qualifying performance over the years and of course we won in 2017. Last year we struggled a little with the new BMW M8 GTE. But we just had a very good test that gave us some good direction as to the set-up so hopefully all of that is going to ensure that we are in it with a chance to fight for top results.”
“Of the tracks we face this season, Watkins Glen is the only track I’ve had previous experience at after racing there last year. It’s one of the coolest ones as well. Obviously, I’m excited to get back. We’ve worked hard over the break and the whole team is as motivated as ever to get a strong result.”
“Watkins Glen is one of my top three favourite tracks on the calendar. We come into this weekend well prepared and it’s a high-speed circuit which should fall right in the characteristic strengths of our BMW M8 GTE. We’ll be aiming to get this second half of the season kicked off with a strong race.”
“It’s been a long break from IMSA racing for us but we’re now headed to my favourite track in North America. The fast, flowing corners and elevation change at Watkins Glen make it a really unique track and I love coming back every year. We had a successful test during the gap between races so I’m optimistic we can fight for a podium.”
“I’m looking forward to Watkins Glen. I think we are in a lot better position than last year based on the positive test. With all that we have now we should really be able to get a good result this weekend.”
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