Paul Miller racing drivers Brian Sellers and Madison won the first IMSA BMW M4 GT3 GTD class at the Snow Long Beach Grand Prix. The pair led most of the race and finished 69 laps, 1.886 seconds ahead of second place. The BMW team RLL and Turner Motorsport were not so lucky. The No. 25 BMW M Team RLL M4 GT3 and No. 96 Turner Motorsport M4 GT3 each have their three qualification laps removed for violating the IMSA’s GTD technical rules governing the maximum speed of the engine. Robbie Foley and Connor de Felipe were both ranked 18th and 25th overall, respectively, and finished last behind the starting position.
Nevertheless, Turner Motorsport has managed to earn a respectable fourth place in the GTD class. The 25th BMW M Team RLL M4 GT3 also finished fourth on the track in the GTD Pro Class but moved to last after Connor de Filipi determined it had exceeded its maximum drive time.
Brian Sellers (Paul Miller Racing, No. 1 BMW M4 GT3) (P1, GTD): “Today was awesome! There’s something really special about this event [Long Beach] – Crowds and people all. For us, it’s extra special because it’s our first win with BMW as a team and as a manufacturer We have our Total Executive here and Paul Miller is here so it’s great to be able to do it in front of everyone. I’m glad this first one is out of the way and has removed the monkey from our backs. It’s really great and now we see how we can continue building from here. “
Madison Snow (Paul Miller Racing, No. 1 BMW M4 GT3) (P1 GTD): “We had a lot of pressure this weekend. We knew what we could do and we could win this race. We started getting poles, but it was a long run and a lot of killings could happen here. We went there and did the best we could and thanks, I was able to get a gap in the beginning. We’ve set up the M4 pretty well for this race, but we haven’t had much time to experiment with it yet. Judging by this car, there are many more that it is capable of and we are really looking forward to the rest of the season. There were some nervous moments towards the end with the yellow flag, but Brian did a great job of staying ahead and leading us to victory. ”
BMW teams are working again for the IMSA Hyundai Monterey Sports Car Championship presented by Matul at Weathertech Laguna Seka Raceway between April 29 – May 1. The two-hour-forty-minute street race will take place on Saturday, May 1 at 3:10 ET with the green flag. Coverage on NBC will begin at 3:00 pm ET. IMSA radio provides flag-to-flag broadcasts.