Munich
.
The 2019 IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season
resumes following the traditional Le Mans (FRA) break with BMW Team
RLL ready to compete in this weekend’s Sahlen’s Six Hours Of The
Glen, at Watkins Glen International (USA).
The 2019 Rolex 24 at Daytona (USA) winners have been unable to reach
the GTLM class podium in subsequent rounds, but feel confident of a
stronger performance at The Glen following a Balance of Performance
change ahead of the event.
Tom Blomqvist (GBR) and Connor De Phillippi (USA) will drive the #25
BMW M8 GTE while John Edwards (USA) and Jesse Krohn (FIN) will pilot
the #24 BMW M8 GTE at Watkins Glen. Only last weekend all four
competed in the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER). Krohn also raced at Le
Mans the weekend before. In addition, BMW Team RLL completed three
days of testing – two days at Watkins Glen and one day at Road America
(USA) – in recent weeks.
De Phillippi, in fourth place, is the top-standing BMW driver in GTLM
driver points. With four of the season’s eleven races complete, BMW
stands second in GTLM manufacturer points.
The team’s most recent win at The Glen was in 2017 with Bill Auberlen
(USA) and Alexander Sims (GBR) driving the BMW M6 GTLM. This weekend
Auberlen will co-drive the Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 with Robby
Foley and Dillon Machavern (both USA). Last season, Turner Motorsport
won the GT Daytona class.
The race gets underway at 9:45 a.m. local time (3:45 p.m. CEST) on
Sunday, June 30th.
Quotes ahead of the race at Watkins Glen.
Bobby Rahal (Team Principal BMW Team RLL): “I have
always loved going to Watkins Glen. I think it’s truly one of the
great circuits in North America. It really is a fast track and demands
commitment. We have had reasonably good qualifying performance over
the years and of course we won in 2017. Last year we struggled a
little with the new BMW M8 GTE. But we just had a very good test that
gave us some good direction as to the set-up so hopefully all of that
is going to ensure that we are in it with a chance to fight for top results.”
Tom Blomqvist (#25 BMW M8 GTE): “Of the tracks we
face this season, Watkins Glen is the only track I’ve had previous
experience at after racing there last year. It’s one of the coolest
ones as well. Obviously, I’m excited to get back. We’ve worked hard
over the break and the whole team is as motivated as ever to get a
strong result.”
Connor De Phillippi (#25 BMW M8 GTE): “Watkins Glen
is one of my top three favourite tracks on the calendar. We come into
this weekend well prepared and it’s a high-speed circuit which should
fall right in the characteristic strengths of our BMW M8 GTE. We’ll be
aiming to get this second half of the season kicked off with a strong race.”
John Edwards (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “It’s been a long
break from IMSA racing for us but we’re now headed to my favourite
track in North America. The fast, flowing corners and elevation change
at Watkins Glen make it a really unique track and I love coming back
every year. We had a successful test during the gap between races so
I’m optimistic we can fight for a podium.”
Jesse Krohn (#24 BMW M8 GTE): “I’m looking forward to
Watkins Glen. I think we are in a lot better position than last year
based on the positive test. With all that we have now we should really
be able to get a good result this weekend.”