This year’s Rolex 24 at Daytona, formally known at the 24 Hours of Daytona, gets under way this weekend 26th and 27th January at the Daytona International Speedway in Daytona Beach in Florida, where the BMW Team RLL will be competing with two BMW M8 GTEs in their second season in the IMSA in the GLTM class.
BMW works driver Alessandro Zanardi will be driving the #24 BMW M8 GTE run by BMW Team RLL, alongside regular drivers John Edwards form the USA and Jesse Krohn from Finland, as well as Chaz Mostert from Australia. At the wheel of the #25 car will be regular driver Connor De Phillippi from the USA, Augusto Farfus from Brazil, Philipp Eng from Austria and Colton Herta also from the USA.
A BMW M6 GT3 will be running in the GTD class in this year’s IMSA series, run by Turner Motorport. The car will be driven at this weekend’s 24 hour race at Daytona by Jens Klingmann from Germany along with Bill Auberlen, Robby Foley and Dillon Machavern from the USA. Turner Motorsport will also be competing with a BMW M4 GT4 in the GS class of the Michelin Pilot Challenge, which also has its opening race of the season at Daytona this weekend. In addition, five BMW M4 GT4s will be racing in the ‘BMW Endurance Challenge At Daytona’.
BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt says that “The 24 Hours of Daytona are always a real highlight at the start of the new motorsport season. Last year, our BMW M8 GTE made its race debut there. In the meantime, it has evolved into a winning car and we are excited about our prospects for the coming weekend. BMW Team RLL and our engineers have worked hard in recent months to ensure that they are as well prepared as possible for the 24 Hours of Daytona and the 2019 IMSA season. Alex Zanardi’s start will help make Daytona a very special event this year. It is fantastic to see him in the BMW M8 GTE. We can look forward to a particularly spectacular race this year.”
The Rolex 24 at Daytona gets underway at 14:35 local time on Saturday 26th January, with the race finishing at 14:35 on Sunday 27thJanuary. For more information on the Rolex 24 race itself please visit www.imsa.com
Author Bio:
Simon Burrell is Editor-in-Chief of Our Man Behind The Wheel and Our Man On The Ground Travel and Lifestyle Magazine.
Photographs courtesy of BMW Group
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