No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 Finishes Third at Indy. No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 Clinches IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTD Championship With Third-Place Finish.
- Bill Cobb
- Oleg Satanovsky
- Thomas Plucinsky
-
Kathi Lauterbach
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, VP of Communications
Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – September 17, 2023 . . . BMW M Team RLL and the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 racing car, of Connor De- Phillippi and Nick Yelloly, finished third in today’s TireRack.com Battle On The Bricks race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway road course. The pair completed 113 laps of the 2.439-mile, 14-turn circuit in the two-hour-and-forty-minute race, finishing 32.964-seconds behind the winning No. 6 Porsche 963. The result is the fifth podium for the No. 25 machine this season, including a victory at Watkins Glen International. Unofficially, De Phillippi and Yelloly stand fourth in GTP points – only 38 points from the lead.
The No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, of Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus, had a disappointing day. Starting from the sixth position, Philipp Eng was forced to the pits beginning on lap nine and two more times quickly afterwards to address electrical issues. Losing some ten laps he continued on, handing off to Farfus with 50 minutes remaining. Ultimately, the race ended with the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 in the 10th position.
To date this season, the team has scored a win (Watkins Glen), two runner-up finishes (Sebring and Long Beach), and two third-place finishes (CTMP and Indy) with the No. 25 car of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly (co-driven at Sebring with Sheldon van der Linde.) Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng have a season’s-best fourth-place finish (Long Beach) in the No. 24 car.
Connor De Phillippi, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P3): “We really extracted everything we had in our package today. From the strategy side to car preparation side, I think we really executed. I’m really proud of everybody on the team. Nick drove a brilliant first stint that got us a great track position. The team had spot-on strategy and I just had to wheel it to the finish.”
Nick Yelloly, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P3): “We knew it was going to be about keeping it clean today which we were able to do throughout the whole race. Turn one was also always going to be a tricky task. We also managed to make it through the first corner and then it was about keeping it clean through traffic. All the credit to the team for a great strategy. Great driving by Connor as always, and yeah, I’m super happy to keep this podium roll going. That's five this year in GTP. So, it's something that we, as a team, can be very pleased about.”
Madison Snow, driver No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 (P3 and GTD champion): “It’s nice to wrap up the championship here at Indy. Petit Le Mans is a very, very long race, and it’s a lot of stress off our shoulders, knowing that at Petit, we can just enjoy racing. But that's due to all the hard work Paul Miller Racing put in going into this weekend knowing that if we perform the absolute best we did this weekend, we will be able to relax the next weekend. Indy has been awesome.”
Madison Snow, the top GTD class qualifier, saw the green flag first in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 and with that secured the IMSA Sprint Championship for a second consecutive year. Snow handed off to Bryan Sellers 50 minutes into the contest with the duo intent on a record sixth victory of the season. The win was not to be however as Sellers focused on the war rather than the battle by finishing 3.1-seconds ahead of the No. 27 Aston Martin to secure the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTD class title.
The No. 96 LIQUI-MOLY BMW, of Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, finished fifth and the No. 97 McIntosh BMW M4 GT3, of Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull, came home seventh.
The 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship concludes at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Oct. 11 – 14 with the MOTUL Petit Le Mans weekend.
BMW Group in America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles as well as the BMW XM. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 350 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 104 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
BMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Zionsville, Indiana and co-owned by three-time INDYCAR Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan, has been competing for over three decades. Prior to the start of their 32nd season of competition in 2023 and their 15th with BMW, the team had compiled 54 victories, 67 poles, 225 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011), claimed two Indianapolis 500 victories (Buddy Rice in 2004, Takuma Sato in 2020) and two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. In 2009 the team joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 in the American Le Mans Series. The following year the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category and swept all three GT titles - Manufacturer, Team, and Driver – in 2011. In 2012, the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team, and Manufacturer Championship. From 2014 to 2021, BMW Team RLL competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program. In 2022, BMW M Team RLL competed in the GTD PRO class in IMSA while simultaneously ramping up for a two-car program in the much-anticipated GTP class in IMSA for 2023. In total, the team has earned 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 30 poles and 96 podium finishes prior to the start of the 2023 season. BMW M Team RLL highlights also include second place finishes in the Manufacturer, Team, and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017 and being named the 2020 Michelin North American Endurance Champions.
Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com and www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMWUSARacing and https://twitter.com/BMWMotorsport
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bmwmotorsport
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BMWMotorsport/
The No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8, of Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus, had a disappointing day. Starting from the sixth position, Philipp Eng was forced to the pits beginning on lap nine and two more times quickly afterwards to address electrical issues. Losing some ten laps he continued on, handing off to Farfus with 50 minutes remaining. Ultimately, the race ended with the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 in the 10th position.
To date this season, the team has scored a win (Watkins Glen), two runner-up finishes (Sebring and Long Beach), and two third-place finishes (CTMP and Indy) with the No. 25 car of Connor De Phillippi and Nick Yelloly (co-driven at Sebring with Sheldon van der Linde.) Augusto Farfus and Philipp Eng have a season’s-best fourth-place finish (Long Beach) in the No. 24 car.
Connor De Phillippi, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P3): “We really extracted everything we had in our package today. From the strategy side to car preparation side, I think we really executed. I’m really proud of everybody on the team. Nick drove a brilliant first stint that got us a great track position. The team had spot-on strategy and I just had to wheel it to the finish.”
Nick Yelloly, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P3): “We knew it was going to be about keeping it clean today which we were able to do throughout the whole race. Turn one was also always going to be a tricky task. We also managed to make it through the first corner and then it was about keeping it clean through traffic. All the credit to the team for a great strategy. Great driving by Connor as always, and yeah, I’m super happy to keep this podium roll going. That's five this year in GTP. So, it's something that we, as a team, can be very pleased about.”
Madison Snow, driver No. 1 BMW M4 GT3 (P3 and GTD champion): “It’s nice to wrap up the championship here at Indy. Petit Le Mans is a very, very long race, and it’s a lot of stress off our shoulders, knowing that at Petit, we can just enjoy racing. But that's due to all the hard work Paul Miller Racing put in going into this weekend knowing that if we perform the absolute best we did this weekend, we will be able to relax the next weekend. Indy has been awesome.”
Madison Snow, the top GTD class qualifier, saw the green flag first in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 and with that secured the IMSA Sprint Championship for a second consecutive year. Snow handed off to Bryan Sellers 50 minutes into the contest with the duo intent on a record sixth victory of the season. The win was not to be however as Sellers focused on the war rather than the battle by finishing 3.1-seconds ahead of the No. 27 Aston Martin to secure the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar GTD class title.
The No. 96 LIQUI-MOLY BMW, of Robby Foley and Patrick Gallagher, finished fifth and the No. 97 McIntosh BMW M4 GT3, of Bill Auberlen and Chandler Hull, came home seventh.
The 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship concludes at Michelin Raceway Road Atlanta on Oct. 11 – 14 with the MOTUL Petit Le Mans weekend.
BMW Group in America
BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles as well as the BMW XM. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 350 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 104 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey.
Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing
BMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Zionsville, Indiana and co-owned by three-time INDYCAR Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan, has been competing for over three decades. Prior to the start of their 32nd season of competition in 2023 and their 15th with BMW, the team had compiled 54 victories, 67 poles, 225 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011), claimed two Indianapolis 500 victories (Buddy Rice in 2004, Takuma Sato in 2020) and two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. In 2009 the team joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 in the American Le Mans Series. The following year the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category and swept all three GT titles - Manufacturer, Team, and Driver – in 2011. In 2012, the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team, and Manufacturer Championship. From 2014 to 2021, BMW Team RLL competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program. In 2022, BMW M Team RLL competed in the GTD PRO class in IMSA while simultaneously ramping up for a two-car program in the much-anticipated GTP class in IMSA for 2023. In total, the team has earned 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 30 poles and 96 podium finishes prior to the start of the 2023 season. BMW M Team RLL highlights also include second place finishes in the Manufacturer, Team, and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017 and being named the 2020 Michelin North American Endurance Champions.
Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com and www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa.
Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMWUSARacing and https://twitter.com/BMWMotorsport
Instagram: www.instagram.com/bmwmotorsport
Facebook: www.facebook.com/BMWMotorsport/