BMW M8 GTE claims second victory in a row at Laguna Seca – Sims and De Phillippi win again.

Munich. BMW Team RLL is picking up momentum in the 2018 IMSA
WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. At Laguna Seca (USA), Alexander
Sims (GBR) and Connor De Phillippi (USA) took their second victory
in a row in the GTLM class in the #25 BMW M8 GTE. The duo had
previously triumphed at the “Virginia International Raceway”. Their
team-mates John Edwards (USA) and Jesse Krohn (FIN) came home fourth
at the end of an eventful race, which featured plenty of crashes and
yellow-flag phases.

This was BMW Team RLL’s 19th victory since 2009. Principal Bobby
Rahal (USA) and his team has now won three of its past four races at
Laguna Seca. The team split its race strategy for the two cars. De
Phillippi had to save fuel during his stint to ensure that he made it
to the finish. This plan paid off, as the American ultimately crossed
the finish line 2.488 seconds clear of the second-placed Porsche.

Reactions to the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship race
at Laguna Seca:

Bobby Rahal (Team Principal, BMW Team RLL): “For
Alexander Sims and Connor De Phillippi, what a great win. It was tight
on fuel and to be frank, I wasn’t so sure we were going to pull it off
and then we had to stop with John Edwards which was unfortunate
because he was doing great. He and Jesse Krohn ended up 4th though we
split the Corvettes. For our team, this is three wins in four years at
Laguna Seca and the checkered flag will be flying over our
headquarters in Columbus. I am just really happy for BMW and for the
whole team. Everyone works hard on this program, both in Munich and in
Columbus. We even had some Indy Car people helping out this weekend.
Great team effort!”

Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M8 GTE, 1st place):
“Wow, what a day! Eventful in the beginning with lots of yellows. We
knew we were in a good position in the end. We had to be fuel
efficient and the engine did exactly that. I did the job I needed to
behind the wheel and the team made all the right calls. Super happy
for the team. It was definitely a team effort! We can be proud of our
two results, one of them was on pure pace and today’s was a really
intelligent race. Now we go on to Petit and look forward to having
Bill Auberlen back as part of the team again and try to close the
season out on a positive note.”

Alexander Sims (#25 BMW M8 GTE, 1st place): “What a
job by the whole team! We took a decision on the strategy to fuel save
and extend that last stint. Connor did an absolutely awesome job to
save fuel and keep a good pace. Absolute credit to the team and to
Connor for winning that race by having that mega last stint. So
pleased to get this second win in the new BMW M8 GTE!”

John Edwards (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “With the last yellow
falling outside of our fuel window, the team decided to split the fuel
strategy. We were the car in front and got to go flat out and the
other car had to save a lot of fuel. We were hoping for just one more
yellow, even a short yellow to get us a few more laps to make it to
the end. Unfortunately for us but fortunately for our sister car that
yellow never came and they made it on their strategy.”

Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M8 GTE, 4th place): “The team
did an amazing job getting the car ready and giving us such a great
race car for this weekend. On our car unfortunately, the gamble on
fuel strategy did not pay off but I am super happy for our sister car
and their win. The whole team has put in a lot of hard work this
season and they deserve it.”