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  • BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3 debuts at Sebring winter test
    Created: Sunday, January 25, 2009 Author: Jeff
     A new era in North American motorsports begins on January 26th when the first BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team M3 drives onto Sebring International Raceway for opening day of the American Le Mans Series Winter Test.   The official debut of BMW of North America’s newest racing program comes less than one year after the announcement of BMW’s return to ALMS competition was made at the Chicago Auto Show on February 11, 2008.   With final design changes made by BMW Motorsport following European and US testing, the new M3 race car was assembled by the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team crew over long days and late nights beginning in December. The M3 received its final homologation inspection on Wednesday, January 21.   The test will mark the first time drivers Bill Auberlen, Joey Hand, Tommy Milner and Dirk Müller will drive the ALMS M3 and the very first time the three Americans will be behind the wheel of a fourth-generation race car. “The r...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Test in Valencia - Day four
    Created: Friday, January 23, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Day four – Saturday   Weather conditions: sunny with strong winds all day.   Air temperature: 13 – 18 °C, track temperature: 14 – 19 °C   Number of drivers participating: 1 (exclusive BMW Sauber F1 Team test)   Circuit length: 4.005 km   Nick Heidfeld Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-02 / BMW 86/9 Test kilometres today: 365 (91 laps)   Programme: With gusts reaching 70 km/h, the weather again called for changes in the scheduled test programme. In the morning Nick Heidfeld concentrated on system checks for the new BMW Sauber F1.09. In the afternoon the engineers’ focus switched to collecting more data on the car’s mechanical components. “Although the test had to be interrupted once when the wind blew some debris over the track, I managed to do some long runs in the afternoon,” Heidfeld said. “I finished the day with some race start simulations on different tyre compounds.&rdqu...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Test in Valencia - Day two
    Created: Thursday, January 22, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Day two – Thursday   Weather conditions: cloudy all day with strong winds in the afternoon.   Air temperature: 7 – 12 °C, track temperature: 9 – 13 °C   Number of drivers participating: 1 (exclusive BMW Sauber F1 Team test)   Circuit length: 4.005 km   Robert Kubica Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-02 / BMW 86/9 Test kilometres today: 465 km (116 laps)       Programme: The team today continued its evaluation programme for the BMW Sauber F1.09. In the morning Robert Kubica tried different set-up solutions and once more carried out a number of race start simulations. Due to strong winds in the afternoon, the engineers switched their focus to overall reliability. Several long runs helped amass further basic data for the all-new car.   “While the morning was good, unfortunately the wind made testing quite difficult in the afternoon,” Kubica commented after completing 116 laps. &ld...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Test in Valencia - Day three
    Created: Thursday, January 22, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Day three – Friday   Weather conditions: overcast with strong winds all day.   Air temperature: 18 – 21 °C, track temperature: 18 – 23 °C   Number of drivers participating: 1 (exclusive BMW Sauber F1 Team test)   Circuit length: 4.005 km   Nick Heidfeld Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-02 / BMW 86/9 Test kilometres today: 367 (92 laps)       Programme: With gusty winds reaching 50 km/h, the scheduled test programme had to be changed and the main focus of the morning’s work switched from set-up to reliability. Nick Heidfeld completed several long runs to put more mileage on the new F1.09. After the weather improved slightly in the afternoon, Heidfeld was at last able to work on the mechanical set-up.   “Finally I could drive the F1.09 for the very first time,” Heidfeld said after completing 92 laps. “We still have a lot of work to do, but we are making progress with...
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  • TURNER MOTORSPORT ON TOP AT DAYTONA
    Created: Thursday, January 22, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Turner Motorsport continued to make history with the outright win in last Friday's Grand-Am Koni Sports Car Challenge race at Daytona Speedway in Florida. Bill Auberlen and Matt Bell motored to victory from the wheel of the #96 H&R Springs/StopTech Brakes BMW M3. The Speed Channel's broadcast of this race will be this Saturday, January 31, at 4:00pm ET.   The win was Auberlen's twelfth in Koni Challenge racing (all with Turner Motorsport) and second in the last three races going back to last year. It was Matt Bell's first win among the ranks of professional racers. The win brings the total number of Koni Challenge wins for Turner Motorsport to 14 - the most of any GS team in Koni Challenge history. It was also the first Koni Challenge win ever for a BMW M3 at Daytona Speedway, a track long dominated by more powerful cars.   Turner Motorsport also scored well with the #97 H&R Springs/Motul Lubricants BMW M3. It finished seventh in the GS class with Chris Gleason an...
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  • TURNER MOTORSPORT COMPLETES TESTING OF NEW RACECAR
    Created: Wednesday, January 21, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Turner Motorsport began the 2009 racing season with winter testing and shakedown of the team’s three BMW racing cars. The test was a critical trial run ahead of the official Koni Sports Car Challenge season-opener at Daytona Raceway this Friday and the on-track debut of the new E90-chassis 328i that the team built over the winter break.   TMS Racing Director Shawn Passen thought the E90’s first laps went well: “This was the second E90 car that we built and it went better than we were expecting. Our crew did a very good job in prepping the car so we had very few of the teething problems that new cars invariably have. We also rebuilt our two E46 M3s from the ground-up and those have been running well.”   Turner Motorsport president, team owner, and driver Will Turner: “We put all of our drivers into the E90 for some laps and they all commented on how similar the chassis “feel” was to the E46 racecars. The new car has good brakes, ne...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Test in Valencia - Day one
    Created: Tuesday, January 20, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Weather conditions: sunny all day, windy in the afternoon.   Air temperature: 9 – 16 °C, track temperature: 11 – 16 °C   Number of drivers participating: 1 (exclusive BMW Sauber F1 Team test)   Circuit length: 4.005 km   Robert Kubica Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-02 / BMW 86/9 Test kilometres today: 397 km (99 laps)       Programme: On the first day of proper testing with the all-new BMW Sauber F1.09, the team continued the evaluation process begun yesterday during the shakedown. Robert Kubica concentrated on set-up work. The main tasks of the day were testing different brake set-ups and different tyre compounds. “Although it was quite windy in the afternoon, the conditions were better than yesterday because the track is building up grip with every lap I drive,” said Kubica. “The progress we made during the day shows that we are moving in the right direction with the development of the ...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Rollout and shakedown in Valencia
    Created: Monday, January 19, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Roll-out and shakedown – Tuesday   Weather conditions: sunny with a cool wind.   Temperatures: Air: 15-16°C. Track: 15-17°C   Number of drivers participating: one (exclusive BMW Sauber F1 Team test)   Circuit length: 4.005 km   Robert Kubica Chassis / engine: BMW Sauber F1.09-02 / BMW 86/9 Test kilometres today: 293 km (73 laps)   Programme: Immediately after the official unveiling of the BMW Sauber F1 Team’s 2009 car in the morning, Robert Kubica gave the F1.09 its roll-out on the track. Taking advantage of the sunny weather in the afternoon, the team concentrated on system checks and collecting base data from the all-new car. After completing 73 laps Kubica said: “It was a good shakedown without a technical problem. Although the track was missing a little bit of grip because there was only one car running, we already learned a lot about how the car is responding to set-up changes.”   BMW Moto...
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  • BMW Sauber F1.09 - Rollout in Valencia
    Created: Monday, January 19, 2009 Author: Jeff
    The BMW Sauber F1 Team raised the curtain on its 2009 season in Formula One in Valencia this morning. Robert Kubica (24) and Nick Heidfeld (31) unveiled the new BMW Sauber F1.09 shortly after nine o’clock. Kubica then took the car for its first lap of the southern Spanish circuit. The team goes into its fourth season with the ambitious aim of fighting for the World Championship title.   BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen reinforces the point: “We have set ourselves the task of further improving our performance relative to the rest of the field. The 1-2 in Canada and a total of eleven podium finishes in 2008 set an exacting standard. In 2009 we are looking to maintain our first-class reliability record while at the same time enhancing our performance levels so that we can be at the front of the pack on a consistent basis. We are aware that we are aiming extremely high. This is the final step in our development, and that’s generally the hardest one to take.&r...
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  • TURNER MOTORSPORT’S TEAM FILLED WITH PROVEN WINNERS
    Created: Monday, January 05, 2009 Author: Jeff
    Turner Motorsport’s driver line-up for the opening round of the 2009 Koni Sports Car Challenge Series promises to deliver a hurricane force of talent to Florida. Featuring factory BMW drivers and others who have competed at the top of sports car racing around the world, the 2009 team is showcasing a lot of speed before the cars even turn a racing lap. The names on the 2009 roster will be familiar to any sports car racing fan.   The Turner Motorsport team will be entering the 2009 season as the winningest BMW team of the last four years. They gave the M3 its first Koni Challenge victory in 2005 (winning five times that year) and have amassed a total of 14 wins, 47 podiums, and 18 pole positions in the GS and ST classes. The team won back-to-back ST Championships in 2006-2007 and also won the GS Championship in 2006. With the team’s season-ending win in 2007, BMW earned its first-ever Koni Challenge Manufacturer’s Championship.   RETURNING CHAMPS IN ST CLA...
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