• BMW starts 2012 ALMS GT title defense with victory at the 12 hours of Sebring

                    
      		   
      Published on 03-20-2012 12:53 AM
      7 Comments Comments
      BMW has won the ALMS GT championship the past two years in a row. Impressive? Absolutely. Now they begin their quest for a three-peat and it is off to a good start with a victory at this past weekends 12 Hours of Sebring. The winning M3 GT was driven by Joey Hand who completed an intense final two laps to get BMW its second straight Sebring victory. We will see if BMW Team RLL can keep this up in the highly competitive ALMS GT class (with Corvette Racing coming on strong). The next race is the Long Beach Grand Prix April 13-15.


      Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring GT Results
      (Combined ALMS/WEC Top 10):

      Pos./Car No./Drivers/Car/Laps
      1. 56 Muller/Hand/Summerton BMW E92 M3, 307
      2. 03 Magnussen/Garcia/Taylor, Corvette C6.R, 307
      3. 71 Bertolini/Beretta/Cioci, Ferrari 458 Italia, 307 (WEC)
      4. 4 Gavin/Milner/Westbrook, Corvette C6.R, 307
      5. 155 Muller/Auberlen/Alzen, BMW E92 M3, 307
      6. 77 Lietz/Lieb/Pilet, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 306 (WEC)
      7. 48 Miller/Maassen/Bell, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 303
      8. 044 Neiman/Law/Lally, Porsche 911 GT3 RSR, 303
      9. 02 Brown/Segal/Lazzaro, Ferrari F458 Italia, 303
      10. 97 Mucke/Fernandez/Turner, Aston Martin Vantage V8, 292 (WEC)
      This article was originally published in forum thread: BMW starts 2012 ALMS GT title defense with victory at the 12 hours of Sebring started by Sticky View original post
      Comments 7 Comments
      1. M3_WC's Avatar
        M3_WC - 03-20-2012, 12:58 AM
        What is sad they are not showing up to the 24hr Le Mans this year.

        The major win missing from the E92 M3 GTR is Le Mans. But, it looks like BMW is giving up on winning the most important endurance race.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 03-20-2012, 01:02 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by M3_WC Click here to enlarge
        The major win missing from the E92 M3 GTR is Le Mans.
        Agreed but why in the world would they not go?
      1. M3_WC's Avatar
        M3_WC - 03-20-2012, 01:07 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by Sticky Click here to enlarge
        Agreed but why in the world would they not go?
        Makes no sense. They got an automatic invite for winning the ALMS championship. No reason not to show up.

        I guess this is the early stages of them winding down their E92 M3 racing program. I have been speculating they would be pulling out of endurance racing when the E92 M3 shelf life is done. When they announced going DTM racing, it further cemented those feelings.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 03-20-2012, 01:17 AM
        They have a long history in endurance racing, I really don't get it. Winding down the program is fine but skipping LeMans?
      1. M3_WC's Avatar
        M3_WC - 03-20-2012, 01:24 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by Sticky Click here to enlarge
        They have a long history in endurance racing, I really don't get it. Winding down the program is fine but skipping LeMans?
        Yeah it is strange. The 2012 entry list was announced a few weeks back, BMW was nowhere to be found. With no explanation from BMW? The program is in place, the cars were very quick last year. I believe they sat on pole for the race.
      1. Sticky's Avatar
        Sticky - 03-20-2012, 07:12 AM
        Click here to enlarge Originally Posted by M3_WC Click here to enlarge
        I believe they sat on pole for the race.
        1st and 3rd: http://www.bimmerboost.com/content.p...rt-1st-and-3rd
      1. lughed's Avatar
        lughed - 03-23-2012, 11:36 AM
        thet could have possibly got 2nd also but the 155 sister car strategy was changed in the last few pit stops