BMW GT2 Front Row at Road America

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Looks like it's time for ALMS to reduce the air intake and slap on another 100lbs. !!

http://www.rahal.com/alms/news/1168

Elkhart Lake, Wis. – Aug. 15, 2009… Underlining a clear intent to make August a month of hard racing, the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team delivered an all-BMW M3 front row in qualifying for the GT2 class of tomorrow’s Time Warner Cable Road Race Showcase.

Having already been at the top of the time sheets in both of the day’s practice sessions, Joey Hand and Dirk Mϋller gave the 11-car GT2 class a 1-2 BMW punch in this afternoon’s 20-minute qualifying session.

Hand, driving the No. 90 M3, drove to the new M3 racing program’s first pole on his third lap around the 4.048-mile Road America circuit with a time of 2:06.950 minutes. His most serious competition for the top spot came from his teammate Dirk Mϋller in the No. 92 M3. Mϋller also drove his best qualifying effort of the season, landing .123 seconds behind Hand with a lap of 2:07.073 minutes.

Joey Hand, driver No 90 M3:

“I am extra excited about this weekend. The BMW M3 is fast here and we are not going to let this one get away. Everyone on this team has worked and worked and worked. I am proud to give the program its first pole. The next thing I want to do is win!”

Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsport Manager:

“Great grid positions are important, and we have seen that especially in the last two races. Today we put the pace together and achieved a sensational qualifying result. Both drivers and pit crews did a phenomenal job. I think it’s fantastic for the #90 car to be on pole because racing fortune has not smiled on them so far. Dirk did a great job, too. But the race is tomorrow. We know how closely matched we are.
Now we need to harvest the seeds that we have sown today.

Bobby Rahal, team principal:

“I’m very pleased with the performance of both M3s today. We have all worked hard to get to this point and now we have to stay there. The BMWs are fast in the corners and that’s critical at Road America. We’ve had good races this year and the last race’s podium was well deserved, but today’s result is a real indicator of how far we have come. A pole is not a race win, but it’s certainly the way to get there.”

The two-hour-and-forty minute race is scheduled to start at 2:05 p.m. CT Saturday and will be broadcast on SPEED television beginning at 3:00 p.m. ET.