After winning the driver and team championships: BMW also secures the ALMS manufacturers’ title at Petit Le Mans. Munich/Atlanta, 1st October 2011. BMW has written another chapter in motorsport history in the USA at the finale of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), the 1,000-mile Petit Le Mans, at Road Atlanta, in Braselton, Georgia. BMW Team RLL won a second consecutive manufacturers’ championship in the GT class to complete a 2011 hat-trick of titles. The drivers’ and team championships had already been secured two weeks ago with one race still to go. The last time BMW achieved this feat was in 2001 with the BMW M3 GTR. BMW only returned to the ALMS with the BMW M3 GT in 2009. After a thrilling race, Dirk Werner (DE), Bill Auberlen (US) and Augusto Farfus (BR) ultimately achieved a third place finish, completing 367 laps around the 2.54-mile circuit. After an incident with a slower car in the closing stages of the race caused two pit stops to repair the damage, their teammates Dirk Müller (DE), Joey Hand (US) and Andy Priaulx (GB) finished the race in ninth place. At least one BMW M3 GT finished on the podium in every single race this season. Dirk Müller and Joey Hand secured first place in the drivers’ championship, ahead of Oliver Gavin and Jan Magnussen (Corvette). Dirk Werner and Bill Auberlen (US) finished third overall. BMW Team RLL clinched victory in the team competition, ahead of Corvette Racing. In the Manufacturers’ Championship, BMW finished ahead of Porsche. With this strong result, the BMW drivers scored valuable points for two championships. The 1000 mile race at the roller coaster Road Atlanta circuit not only counts towards the American Le Mans Series, but also the 2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup.
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