BMW Team RLL will start from the second row of the GTLM class in tomorrow’s IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen. Connor De Phillippi qualified the No. 25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE third with a quick lap of 1:41.357-minutes around the 3.4-mile, 11-turn Watkins Glen International – 0.413 seconds in arrears of the polesitting No. 3 Corvette. John Edwards qualified fourth with a 1:41.932-minute lap in the No. 24 MOTUL BMW M3 GTE.
The driver lineup for the race will be anchored by the four 2020 full-season drivers; Connor De Philippi and Bruno Spengler in the No. 25 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE, and John Edwards and Jesse Krohn in the No. 24 MOTUL BMW M8 GTE. Philipp Eng and Augusto Farfus will serve as additional co-drivers in the No. 25 and No. 24 M8 GTE, respectively.
Focusing exclusively on the four endurance races that comprise the Michelin Endurance Cup in the final season of competition of the BMW M8 GTE, the team has already scored three podium results in the first two races. A third-place finish at the Rolex 24 At Daytona to start the season was followed up by a double-podium (second and third places) result at the Twelve Hours of Sebring in March.
“I believe we are close enough that we have a real chance tomorrow,” stated Bobby Rahal, Team Principal. “Of course, it’s a long race and Watkins Glen is always a challenge, but we had a good test here earlier in the month in hot conditions and it looks to be warm tomorrow.”
Bill Auberlen – BMW veteran and all-time IMSA win leader, Robby Foley, and Australian Aidan Read will represent BMW in the GT Daytona class, co-driving the No. 96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. Auberlen and Foley were recent winners two rounds ago at the Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course. The car qualified in the fifth starting position for tomorrow’s race.
The Sahlen’s Six Hours of the Glen will take the green flag at 10:40 a.m. on Sunday, June 27th. A three-hour recap will be broadcast later the same day on NBC SN beginning at 7:00 p.m. ET. The entire race will stream on TrackPass on NBC Sports Gold. Follow us on Twitter @BMWUSARacing for news from the pit box and get live scoring and in-car camera views at IMSA.com.
Connor De Phillippi, driver No. 25 BMW M8 GTE (P3): “I think we maximized the performance of the car today. Maybe there was another tick or two, but not a pole time. We have been focused on race stints and the anticipated hot conditions tomorrow and I think we have put together a good package that will take care of the tires.”
John Edwards, driver No. 24 BMW M8 GTE (P4): “The No. 24 is in a good window for the race tomorrow. While our qualifying result may appear to be disappointing, a one lap pace in qualifying is one thing, but we need to go a strong 30-some laps in a stint tomorrow and that is what we have prepared for.”
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