The BMW Team RLL has entered the record books after attaining its first double podium finish with the new BMW M8 GTE car. The record was made during the Michelin GT Challenge at the Virginia International Raceway, USA. This feat was achieved after just nine races in the ongoing season by drivers Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Alexander Sims (GBR) along with John Edwards and Jesse Krohn.
The American and British duo finished the 88-laps 2.5-hour race driving the No. 25 BMW M8 GTE winning by only 1.323 seconds margin. The team of John Edwards (USA) and Jesse Krohn (FIN) drove the No. 24 BMW M8 GTE to achieve third place with only 4.439 seconds behind the winners.
The BMW team’s win did not come easily as they faced some hurdles at the beginning of the race. The British driver Sims collided with a car and was served with a drive-through penalty, but that didn’t hinder the efforts of BMW Team RLL to give their best. Sims pulled over for a pit stop while the No. 24 BMW stayed on track gaining ground. The second car driven by Krohn pitted in lap 54 and that allowed Sims to gain the first place. The professional driver maintained the first position throughout to win by a close margin.
Alexander Sims had this to say after the race: “What an eventful race. Connor did a great job at the start to get us up to P3. I got in and raced past the Corvette, I tried to get by Dirk Müller, but I made a mistake, committed too much and lost control, unfortunately hitting a Lexus. We received a drive-through penalty which I thought was the right decision, it was my fault. At that point, I thought the race was over but amazingly there was a safety car that brought us back into contention. From that point on, our pace was really good. We were strong and able to race with the guys around us and yeah, for the last stint, the Michelin tires held on fantastically well to the point we could double stint them at a track that is notoriously hard on tires such as VIR. Great strategy by the Rahal Team and BMW and great pace from the car, the BMW M8 GTE’s first win are very sweet to get.”