BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team Unveils Car for 2010 ALMS Season

[Mark]

Woodcliff Lake , N.J. – February 22, 2010… Today, the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team began the 2010 American Le Mans season with a new livery on both BMW M3 racing cars, helping to tell BMW’s worldwide Story of Joy. The 2010 BMW M3 GT debuted at the traditional pre-season ALMS Winter Test in Sebring, Florida. The new livery features words and phrases emblematic of the spirit of the campaign, which was launched in North America on February 12th during coverage of the Opening Ceremony of the XXI Winter Olympic Games.

“Story of Joy” introduces a new creative aesthetic characterized by strong, colorful images often conveying people and their experiences with the subtlest of references to BMW products punctuated by various three-word headlines leading off with “Joy Is…”

“These days, there isn’t much chance for a winter break but our crew certainly earned what little vacation time they got,” said Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America Motorsport Manager. “Now, since the turn of the new year we’ve been getting ready to start what we expect will be a great second season. Car construction is complete, testing has begun, and everyone is excited. We look forward to giving BMW fans a good show at the Winter Test and of course the legendary 12-Hour event next month. For 2010, we have created the Joy livery as a special tribute to our most enthusiastic fans, as they have helped us define the joy of driving and racing in the US for 35 years.”

"In the spirit of the new BMW philosophy, all of us at the team share tremendous joy in getting the 2010 season underway,” said Bobby Rahal. “While we certainly had a successful inaugural season in 2009, everyone connected with the program has kept pushing throughout the winter months to make the BMW M3 the best car it can possibly be, and striving to meet the standards of excellence that are associated with BMW and Rahal Letterman Racing."

2010 will see the return of BMW’s celebrated inaugural-season pilots, with Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner sharing the No. 92 M3, and Joey Hand with Dirk Müller co-driving the No. 90 M3. For this two-day test at Sebring, BMW Motorsport driver Dirk Werner has been invited to assist.

In its 2010 season, BMW of North America celebrates the 35th anniversary of the company’s March 1975 incorporation, as well as its first major sports car racing victory, the 12 Hours of Sebring, also in March of 1975.

In 2010, the season-opening 12 Hours of Sebring will be held on Saturday, March 20th.

[Small Yellow]

Beautiful.

[SoCali E36]

gtfo of here with that shit, its not even fair to the other cars in the race.

[STi2Three35i]

DELICIOUS

[Trier Germany]

both those cars are bad ass!

[josephr25]

Originally Posted by SoCali E90

gtfo of here with that shit, its not even fair to the other cars in the race.

Do you even know what you're talking about? They only won one race last season. If they switched out of Dunlops maybe they'd be more competitive. Porsche and Corvette have been racing in the ALMS for years so BMW has a tall task ahead. The only teams they can consistently beat are the privateer teams.

[TrojanBMW]

I'm not sure that the Crowne Plaza fits in with the "Joy" theme.

[SleepyE90]

[Bimmerboy888]

Joy is looking GOOOD!

[Box Collector]

j.hand will be fast

[FStop7]

the joy thing is so pretentious and dumb

[BMWinNorthdakota]

Stunning. Hopefully they can knock Audi right outa the game with these bad boys.

[Remonster]

Originally Posted by BMWinNorthdakota

Stunning. Hopefully they can knock Audi right outa the game with these bad boys.

Audi? Whose main focus are their R15s in the LMP1 class...?

[SoCali E36]

Originally Posted by Kampfer

Do you even know what you're talking about? They only won one race last season. If they switched out of Dunlops maybe they'd be more competitive. Porsche and Corvette have been racing in the ALMS for years so BMW has a tall task ahead. The only teams they can consistently beat are the privateer teams.

sorry didnt mean it the way you took it lol. i mean by the looks not performance.

[Coach]

Originally Posted by SoCali E90

sorry didnt mean it the way you took it lol. i mean by the looks not performance.

I think most of us know what you meant.

Those cars do look sick. I like the new campaign.

[Oulixes]

Originally Posted by Kampfer

Do you even know what you're talking about? They only won one race last season. If they switched out of Dunlops maybe they'd be more competitive. Porsche and Corvette have been racing in the ALMS for years so BMW has a tall task ahead. The only teams they can consistently beat are the privateer teams.

Joy is easier to make than speed.

[Oulixes]

Originally Posted by FStop7

the joy thing is so pretentious and dumb

+1, fortunately, in the end, races are decided on the track, not on advertising displays.

[Jarlaxle]

Originally Posted by FStop7

the joy thing is so pretentious and dumb

Actually I disagree. For me, the difference between driving a BMW versus Audi, Mercedes, Lexus, Infinity or Cadillac is that they actually do get the Joy part of the equation. I drove an Audi for years. It was a "great" car but every time I would drive a BMW it was like a light came on or a fog was lifted from my eyes. I would get back in my Audi and something was just missing. I think that is exactly what BMW is trying to get at with this ad campaign.

I'm currently in between fun cars (driving a kid friendly SUV) but as soon as I can I'll be back in a BMW.

[BMWinNorthdakota]

Originally Posted by Remonster

Audi? Whose main focus are their R15s in the LMP1 class...?

uhhhh.

O

My bad


Least I can admit that I am ill informed, right?

[anthony @ eas]

Nice, that first picture is awesome.

[KANdaddy]

Originally Posted by Kampfer

Do you even know what you're talking about? They only won one race last season. If they switched out of Dunlops maybe they'd be more competitive. Porsche and Corvette have been racing in the ALMS for years so BMW has a tall task ahead. The only teams they can consistently beat are the privateer teams.

Relax. Do you even know what you are talking about? For a first year car last year's M3 was very competitive and would have won several other races if not for bad luck. That being said they were always in contention for a podium. Pretty damn good considering. Also, did you notice those air restrictors behind the kidneys? Yea...that is to restrict air to the V8, hence lowering power significantly so that the M3 won't walk all over the Porsches and Vettes. ALMS required the e46 M3 GTR to wear the same restrictors after Porsche cried about it being too fast.

[Chenry135]

Originally Posted by KANdaddy

Relax. Do you even know what you are talking about? For a first year car last year's M3 was very competitive and would have won several other races if not for bad luck. That being said they were always in contention for a podium. Pretty damn good considering. Also, did you notice those air restrictors behind the kidneys? Yea...that is to restrict air to the V8, hence lowering power significantly so that the M3 won't walk all over the Porsches and Vettes. ALMS required the e46 M3 GTR to wear the same restrictors after Porsche cried about it being too fast.

+1,