It was a hard-fought eighth-place finish for the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3 in the 2023 Rolex 24 at Daytona as the team battled pace issues in the opening round of the 2023 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship.
Starting 11th in the hands of Madison Snow, the No. 1 Quartz Engine Oil-backed machine ran well throughout the entire 24-hour contest—with drivers Snow, Bryan Sellers, Corey Lewis and Maxime Martin not putting a foot wrong in the twice-round-the-clock enduro.
Despite the well-handling car, perfectly executed pit stops and brake changes, and immense work from the drivers, the foursome could only manage an eighth-place finish as the maximum aboard their BMW.
This was the team’s first time racing at Daytona International Speedway aboard the M4, after receiving their car late and missing the opening round of the 2022 championship.
“I am over-the-moon proud of this team” Paul Miller Racing team owner, Paul Miller, said.
“Finishing eighth in a record-breaking Rolex 24 field is a great accomplishment and they did a flawless job all race long to achieve it.
“The car was incredibly difficult and frustrating to drive on the banking; it was significantly off pace there and that’s where the lap time resides on track at Daytona, so for our team to leave here with an eighth place finish, we have a lot to be proud of.”
After missing the opening round of the 2022 season, the Paul Miller Racing team is starting their 2023 championship campaign on a much better foot heading into Sebring, March 15-18.
Madison Snow
“The Rolex 24 this year is our first 24 with the new BMW. While we have a year under us with this car, it’s still pretty impressive that we were able to finish the race because we’ve never run this car that long. The team, the crew, everyone executed great. We ran almost a flawless race, we just didn’t have the pace versus some of the other cars we were racing against. It just shows how strong our team is that we were able to bring the car home and finish eighth. While it’s difficult to go through periods of bad results, this is only going to bring our team closer together and make us stronger for the rest of the year.
Bryan Sellers
“I think the biggest thing we can take away from this race is the preparation by the guys at Paul Miller Racing—their ability to make sure a car gets to the end of the race is impressive. We ran all 24 hours flawlessly. We had good brake changes, great pit stops, and really no dramas. Unfortunately, the speed just wasn’t there. I don’t think you can let that detract from the job everyone at PMR did. It makes me proud to be a part of this team and to be able to drive for those guys.”
Corey Lewis
“Overall, I think we maximized our result. It was a heck of an effort by the team and the crew. We executed perfectly throughout every hour, and it’s just a shame that our top speed wasn’t enough to be able to compete with our competitors. But, we made the most of it, and it’s just so good to be back with Paul Miller Racing. I’m so proud and grateful to be a part of this program. Looking at testing, we knew a top-ten finish would be our goal, and we went two better! Looking forward to Sebring and the rest of the year with this team.”
Maxime Martin
“I am so happy to have been a part of Paul Miller Racing for this event. It’s very nice to work with a very good team, very professional. It was amazing. I think we really optimized the package here. We did our best, I think P8 was the maximum we could do—we really couldn’t do any more. The car was good, the team was good, the strategy was good, the pit stops were perfect. But, in the end, the car was great but just missing speed, and at that point, you’re a bit of a passenger of the race.”
Source. Paul Miller Racing
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