Auberlen, Werner Give BMW Come-From-Behind GTLM Victory In Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase At Lon

Joining the race in seventh place, Dirk Werner made a thrilling charge to take the lead in the closing minutes and give BMW its first TUDOR United SportsCar Championship victory in the GT Le Mans (GTLM) class in Saturday’s Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach.

Bill Auberlen started the winning No. 25 IHG Rewards Club BMW Z4 GTLM from the pole, but lost the lead on the opening lap as Giancarlo Fisichella charged from third to first in the No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia. The Ferrari added to its lead when Pierre Kaffer took over at the midway point of the 100-minute race – while the BMW fell back due to a miscue during refueling.

“Without a yellow flag, we know it’s going to be a long day,” Auberlen admitted from the pits.

Without the benefit of a caution period in the 100-minute race on the 1.968-mile street circuit, Werner put his head down. Driving a car carrying the paint scheme of BMW Motorsport’s first U.S. victory at Sebring in 1975, Werner caught Kaffer on the 68th lap and made the pass for the lead in Turn 9. With the Ferrari’s tires going away, Werner cruised through the final 11 minutes, winning by 2.911 seconds over Kaffer.

Hopes for a double podium for BMW went away when Lucas Luhr briefly went off course in the No. 24 IHG Rewards Club BMW started by John Edwards. That allowed Antonio Garcia to take third in the No. 3 Corvette Racing Corvette C7.R started by Jan Magnussen. A year ago, the pair gave the new Corvette model its first victory at Long Beach, launching a four-race winning streak.

Fred Makowiecki took fourth in the No. 911 Porsche North America Porsche 911 started by Patrick Pilet, followed by the BMW of Luhr and Edwards.

The entire TUDOR Championship event was run under the green flag – including the race, qualifying and Friday’s two practice sessions.

The Tequila Patrón Sports Car Showcase at Long Beach will be televised on FOX Sports 1 on Sunday, April 19, beginning at 4 p.m. ET.

NEWS AND NOTES

· Fisichella and Risi Competizione rebounded from an incident on the last lap of Friday’s final practice, only 10 minutes before the beginning of qualifying. The team repaired the car in 17 minutes, with Fisichella managing to qualify third – setting the stage for his opening-lap charge. It was the team’s sixth podium finish in the last 11 races.

· The No. 62 Risi Competizione team won the race’s DEKRA Green Challenge Award for the second consecutive event. The DEKRA Green Challenge Award is presented to the most environmentally clean, fast and efficient GTLM competitor at each TUDOR Championship race. The DEKRA Green Challenge award is determined through Green Racing protocols established by the United States Department of Energy (DOE), Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and Society of Automotive Engineers (SAE) International as part of an overarching strategic alliance with IMSA.

· An incident on the opening lap dashed the hopes of two contenders when Oliver Gavin’s No. 4 Corvette C7.R squeezed the No. 912 Porsche 911 RSR of Richard Lietz in Turn 1. Gavin lost a lap and finished seventh with Tommy Milner. The Porsche wasn’t as lucky. Joerg Bergmeister returned the car to the race 14 laps down and could not make up the deficit, finishing eighth.

· The victory was the first for BMW RLL since winning an American Le Mans Series presented by Tequila Patrón race at Lime Rock Park in 2013 (Edwards and Dirk Mueller). It was the 54th career victory but first major triumph for Auberlen since winning for the team at Long Beach in 2013 with co-driver Maxime Martin in the second race of the team’s debut season.

· The victory unofficially allowed Auberlen and Werner to take over second in the GTLM point standings. The pair trail Daytona and Sebring winners Magnussen and Garcia by 10 points, 103-93. Fisichella and Kaffer move into third with 89 points, followed by Edwards and Luhr with 85 points.

· The next race for the TUDOR Championship will be the Continental Tire Monterey Grand Prix powered by Mazda, on May 3 at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca.

Bill Auberlen – Driver, No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTLM

(On the start) “I floored it, but the Ferrari floored it better. We know the Ferrari is fast in a straight line. It was too early in the race to do something foolish. After that, I needed Fisichella – one of the best in the business – to make a mistake, and it didn’t happen.”

(On the victory) “We were down in the mouth with 25 minutes left, and now we won the race. This is my favorite track. I’m so happy you can’t imagine. Winning doesn’t ever get old. Bobby Rahal is like a rock. He hung in there and Dirk put his head down. He hunted down the Ferrari and made a beautiful pass.”

Dirk Werner – Driver, No. 25 BMW Team RLL BMW Z4 GTLM

“After two or three laps, my tires came in. I knew the car was really fast. Catching the other cars was good fun. I found I could run down the Ferrari to a certain distance. Then he had a problem. I felt our car was better, so I waited for the right corner to set him up. The last couple of laps I enjoyed a lot. I knew how much it meant for the team, and I hadn’t won in five years (1000 km of Zhuhai in 2010).”

Giancarlo Fisichella – Driver, No. 62 Risi Competizione Ferrari F458 Italia

“I was slightly quicker than them at the start/finish, so it was my chance to get by them. I braked later than them (in Turn 1) and I was able to pass them.”

Contact:

Nate Siebens

nsiebens@imsa.com

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