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BMW Celebrates 5th Consecutive Year on the Podium in Long Beach

This weekend, in Long Beach, California, the BMW RLL Team continued its impressive streak in the 2013 American Le Mans Championship winning the 1st and 2nd place, in only the second race of the season.
BMW Z4 GTE 5 photos
Photo: BMW Motorsport
BMW Team RLL at Long BeachBMW Team RLL at Long BeachBMW Team RLL at Long BeachBMW Team RLL at Long Beach
The new BMW Z4 GTE defeated won in a very strong GT Class with an excellent strategy set in place in the first hour of the two-hour race around the 1.968-mile (3.14 km) street circuit.

This was the fifth consecutive year in which the BMW team finished on the podium, including another win in 2011. With Saturday's victory, BMW managed to catch up to Chevrolet at the top of the GT Class Manufacturer standings.

The winning car was the Frozen Black No. 55 Z4 GTE, driven by Bill Auberlen and Maxime Martin, which finished 6.578 seconds ahead of the the car wearing number 56, driven by Joey Hand and Dirk Muller.

“This is a really good one. The 55 car called excellent strategy. We followed a different tact and at the end we put both cars at the front of the field and the Z4 GTE into the history books with a 1-2 finish in only our second race. We were able to run more than one stint on the Michelins and that was crucial to make our strategies work. There is nothing like winning at Long Beach. Sebring is the big one, but Long Beach is not far behind in my book," said Bobby Rahal, team RLL Co-Owner.
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