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BMW Team RLL on Podium at Baltimore

In the race that will go into history as the shortest one in ALMS history due to a crash on the first lap, the BMW Team RLL managed to finish 3rd and 4th, in Baltimore.
BMW at Grand Prix of Baltimore 17 photos
Photo: BMW Motorsport
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Due to the unfortunate incident, the race was over after only one hour and 14 minutes and at that moment Dirk Muller was in third, inside the No. 56 BMW Z4 GTE whilst Maxime Martin came in right after him, in the No. 55 car.

After the accident and the debris were cleaned off the track, Bobby Rahal, the team manager, made a clever move and called Joey Hand into the pits to hand the car over to Dirk, giving the latter the chance to stay in the race for the driver's title. This means that the Californian might've just set a new record for the shortest drive in ALMS history.

Dirk would've been placed on the number one spot at the end of the race if it wasn't for a prototype car that missed the line through the chicane and allowed both Corvettes in the race to pass him.

Almost the same story happened with the No. 55 car. Bill Auberlen managed to keep the car intact during the accident and avoided another near miss in the following laps, thus keeping the car intact for Maxime Martin. After only 5 laps, Martin got inside the car, reached second place when his car's rear bumper fell off. In the end, he crossed the line fourth.

After the Baltimore Grand Prix, BMW stands second in the GT class Manufacturer's championship, with Muller 5th in the driver's championship, with only eight points making the difference between the number one spot and the German driver.

“It seemed like amateur night. I’m very frustrated. We had a perfect plan and were leading the race. On the last restart a prototype car totally cocked up the chicane and Dirk nearly hit it. He was held up enough for the Corvettes to get by and that was that,” said Bobby Rahal, Team Principal.

Round 8 of the 2013 ALMS Season will take place at the Circuits of the Americas, in Austin, Texas on September 21st.
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