Woodcliff Lake, N.J. – July 8, 2023 . . . BMW M Team RLL will start tomorrow’s two-hour-and-forty-minute Chevrolet Grand Prix from the sixth and seventh GTP class positions, following today’s 20-minute qualifying session at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada. Augusto Farfus qualified the No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 sixth with a lap of 1:06.801-minutes around the classic 2.459-mile, 10-turn road course. He will co-drive with Philipp Eng tomorrow, looking to best a season’s-high fourth-place finish at Long Beach. The duo stands seventh in GTP driver points. Nick Yelloly will start the No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 from the seventh after qualifying with a 1:06.848-minute lap. Yelloly and co-driver Connor De Phillippi stand second in GTP driver point standings, having scored a win (Watkins Glen) and two runner-up finishes (Sebring with Sheldon van der Linde and Long Beach). Augusto Farfus, driver No. 24 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P6): “We are taking baby steps and improving with every outing, but we’re still not where we want to be. I’m pretty confident that tomorrow we’re going to make another step and we’ll be even closer to competition. Focus forward.” Nick Yelloly, driver No. 25 BMW M Hybrid V8 (P7): “From practice, we’ve definitely made a step forward, which I think is positive. Having never been here before, and in a prototype, is something I am getting used to. We have a lot of homework to do overnight to make the car slightly more drivable, but I’m pleased with the progress we’ve made.” Madison Snow qualified third in the GT Daytona (GTD) class with a 1:15.575-minute lap in the No. 1 Paul Miller Racing BMW M4 GT3. He will co-drive with Bryan Sellers. The pair leads GTD Driver points with wins at Sebring and Long Beach, as well as a well-earned second place at Watkins Glen after battling from three laps down. Patrick Gallagher qualified the No. 96 LIQUI-MOLY BMW M4 GT3 fifth in class with a 1:15.992-minute lap. He will co-drive with Robby Foley. The No. 97 McIntosh BMW M4 GT3 will start eighth following a 1:16.196-minute qualifying lap by Chandler Hull. He will co-drive with IMSA all-time win leader Bill Auberlen. All three BMWs qualified within .718 seconds of the pole-winning No. 27 Aston Martin Vantage GT3. The two-hour-and-forty-minute Chevrolet Grand Prix will be televised live on NBC beginning at 12:00 p.m. ET. BMW Group in America BMW of North America, LLC has been present in the United States since 1975. Rolls-Royce Motor Cars NA, LLC began distributing vehicles in 2003. The BMW Group in the United States has grown to include marketing, sales, and financial service organizations for the BMW brand of motor vehicles, including motorcycles, the MINI brand, and Rolls-Royce Motor Cars; Designworks, a strategic design consultancy based in California; a technology office in Silicon Valley and various other operations throughout the country. BMW Manufacturing Co., LLC in South Carolina is the BMW Group global center of competence for BMW X models and manufactures the X3, X4, X5, X6 and X7 Sports Activity Vehicles as well as the BMW XM. The BMW Group sales organization is represented in the U.S. through networks of 350 BMW passenger car and BMW Sports Activity Vehicle centers,146 BMW motorcycle retailers, 104 MINI passenger car dealers, and 38 Rolls-Royce Motor Car dealers. BMW (US) Holding Corp., the BMW Group’s sales headquarters for North America, is located in Woodcliff Lake, New Jersey. Rahal Letterman Lanigan RacingBMW’s partner, Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing, based in Zionsville, Indiana and co-owned by three-time INDYCAR Champion and 1986 Indianapolis 500 winner Bobby Rahal, former CBS Late Show host David Letterman and Mi-Jack co-owner Mike Lanigan, has been competing for over three decades. Prior to the start of their 32nd season of competition in 2023 and their 15th with BMW, the team had compiled 54 victories, 67 poles, 225 podium finishes, three series championships (1992, 2010, 2011), claimed two Indianapolis 500 victories (Buddy Rice in 2004, Takuma Sato in 2020) and two Rolex 24 at Daytona victories. In 2009 the team joined BMW of North America to campaign the new BMW M3 in the American Le Mans Series. The following year the team won both the Manufacturer and Team Championships in the GT category and swept all three GT titles – Manufacturer, Team, and Driver – in 2011. In 2012, the team finished second in the Team Championship and third in the Manufacturer Championship and in 2013, the team finished second in the Driver, Team, and Manufacturer Championship. From 2014 to 2021, BMW Team RLL competed in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship with a two-car program. In 2022, BMW M Team RLL competed in the GTD PRO class in IMSA while simultaneously ramping up for a two-car program in the much-anticipated GTP class in IMSA for 2023. In total, the team has earned 22 wins – including the 2019 and 2020 Rolex 24 at Daytona endurance races, 30 poles and 96 podium finishes prior to the start of the 2023 season. BMW M Team RLL highlights also include second-place finishes in the Manufacturer, Team, and Driver championships in 2015 and 2017 and being named the 2020 Michelin North American Endurance Champions. Journalist note: Information about BMW Group and its products in the USA is available to journalists on-line at www.bmwusanews.com and www.press.bmwgroup.com/usa. Twitter: https://twitter.com/BMWUSARacing and https://twitter.com/BMWMotorsportInstagram: www.instagram.com/bmwmotorsportFacebook: www.facebook.com/BMWMotorsport/
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