After a successful debut last season, BMW have confirmed they will once again take part in the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup (ILMC) in 2011. BMW Team RLL (Rahal Letterman Lanigan) will be responsible for running two BMW M3 GTR cars in the two American races, with BMW Team Schnitzer taking over for the European and Asian races.
BMW works drivers Dirk Müller and Dirk Werner and American drivers Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand will lead the BMW Team RLL team in the American ILMC rounds, which also form part of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), which they will continue to compete in for the remainder of the year. They will be joined by work drivers Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus, who will then lead the BMW Team Schnitzer team alongside Jörg Müller when the series heads to Europe and Asia.
The ILMC series starts with the legendary 12 Hours of Sebring, before Spa-Francorchamps hosts the first European race. The Le Mans 24 Hours classic is next up, with rounds at Imola and Silverstone following, before the second American round at Road Atlanta and the season finale in China.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: “The Intercontinental Le Mans Cup enjoyed a successful debut in 2010 – and we were able to experience victory in the LM GT2 class with the BMW M3 GT2 at the season finale in Zhuhai. We have decided to continue to support this relatively young series and to line up with two cars in the new LM GTE Pro category. We expect a close competition again this year, and for this class to be extremely hard fought in 2011. The highlight of the season is obviously the Le Mans 24 Hours, which also forms part of the Intercontinental Le Mans Cup. Fans of BMW Motorsport can look forward to some exciting racing on three continents.”
