The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL BMW M4 GT3 finished fifth in the GTD PRO class in today’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Michelin GT Challenge at VIR, the result not indicative of the team displaying a much more competitive day than shown in the last few rounds of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. Connor De Phillippi and John Edwards completed 86 laps around the beautiful 3.27-mile, 18-turn VIRginia International Raceway, finishing 54 seconds behind the class winning Porsche 911 GT3R. Ultimately, a costly delay for a bad wheel nut on the final pit stop cost valuable seconds that extinguished a chance at the podium.
The No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 finished third in the GTD class to put fine finish on their class GTD Sprint Cup Championship title. The result was the fifth podium of the season for Bryan Sellers and Madison Snow. To date, the duo has scored two wins (Long Beach and Lime Rock Park), one second (Mid-Ohio), and two thirds (Detroit and VIR). Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley finished seventh in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3.
Connor De Phillippi, Driver No. 25 BMW M Team RLL (P5): “The start of the race was relatively clean and uneventful. I began to struggle with the balance, but it seemed to improve as the laps progressed. John got in and had a great first stint, so things were looking good. We seemed to lose the balance again, so the day did not end as well as it began.”
John Edwards, Driver No. 25 BMW M Team RLL (P5): “Ultimately, we did not have enough pace over an entire stint. In certain phases, we were running competitively. We may not have had enough to win, but it looked like a podium was possible. The wheel nut issue during my last stop ended any hope of that.”
Yesterday, the three BMW M4 GT4 cars in the two-hour Michelin Pilot Challenge race scored top-10 finishes with fifth, sixth, and ninth- place results. Vin Barletta and Robby Foley finished fifth in the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW. Dropping from the lead in the closing minutes for fuel, Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern finished sixth in the No. 95 Turner Motorsport BMW. The No. 43 Stephen Cameron Racing BMW M4 GT4, of Gregory Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan, finished ninth.
The IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship closes with the MOTUL Petit Le Mans on Oct. 1, at Michelin Road Atlanta.
Source. BMW
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