Rahal on BMW Partnership: “We Had A Lot of Success”

Photo: BMW

Bobby Rahal has reflected on Team RLL’s partnership with BMW M Motorsport, stating that the two organizations “had a lot of success together” over its near two-decade run in North American sports car racing.

Saturday’s Motul Petit Le Mans will bring to an end a 17-year stint with the German manufacturer, marking one of the longest-running factory relationships in modern motorsport history.

BMW announced in July that it would be ending its relationship with Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, having confirmed last month that Belgian squad Team WRT, which already runs its M Hybrid V8s in the FIA World Endurance Championship, will also take on the factory IMSA GTP program beginning next year.

Rahal first joined forces with the Bavarian marque in 2009, in the American Le Mans Series, fielding a pair of BMW M3 GT2s, which saw Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand deliver the team’s first class win that season at Road America before Dirk Mueller and Tommy Milner won the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series race in Okayama, Japan later that year.

Other key victories included back-to-back Mobil 1 Twelve Hours of Sebring victories in 2011 and 2012, with Mueller and Hand winning the ALMS GT2 championship in 2011, also with the M3 GT2.

It was followed by a move to the BMW Z4 GTE in 2013, prior to the introduction of the BMW M6 GTLM three years later and the venerable BMW M8 GTE, which scored back-to-back Rolex 24 at Daytona class victories in 2020-21.

A brief stint with the BMW M4 GT3 in 2022 was followed by Team RLL being awarded with the factory contract to run the BMW M Hybrid V8 in the new-for-2023 GTP class, which saw its first overall win in the Sahlen’s Six Hours of The Glen that season.

A historic 1-2 finish at the Battle on the Bricks at Indianapolis Motor Speedway followed in 2024, and most recently, victory at Road America with Dries Vanthoor and Philipp Eng in the No. 24 GTP entry.

Speaking with Sportscar365 in an exclusive interview, Rahal has credited a number of key players within BMW for helping propel his team to numerous milestones through the years.

“To the large degree we had the great privilege to work with some great people,” he said. “Over the years we got to meet a lot of super people at BMW Motorsport.

“Mike Krack, who was the guy who awarded the GTP program to us. He then went onto Aston Martin as the team principal in Formula 1.

“A lot of the guys in 2009 when BMW withdrew from F1, a lot of those guys came to our program. Jan Hartmann was one of them, as an engine specialist.

“Andreas Seidl, who went from BMW to Porsche with the LMP1 program and won Le Mans a couple of times… It was a real privilege to work with him.

“Mario Theissen, the head of BMW, was a wonderful man. When the Sauber [F1] program was stopped, he was running [BMW] motorsport and really said, ‘OK everybody, this is the time we’re going to work with Team Rahal.’

“We already had been with BMW for a year or two. But Mario was the guy that said, ‘Hey, these guys know what they’re doing. Let’s work with them.

“We had great success under Mario, with the M3 GT2 winning Sebring twice and a number of other races. It was a real thrill to work for him because he was just a super guy.

“There were many, many others. There have been some changes over the years where we worked with some people and they went onto other things within BMW, some who retired.

“It’s normal; that’s what happens. But we did get to work with a lot of great people.

When asked what his highlights were over the years, Rahal noted the consecutive victories at both Sebring and Daytona as key moments in the program, as well as its most recent triumphs in GTP.

“We had a lot of success together,” he said. “I look back on that. I have to feel personally, for our team, we did a good job for BMW.

“These things happen. Before me, it was Tom Milner [at PTG], who had a lot of success. But you never know what may happen in the future.

“I’m obviously sad that this long-term relationship with BMW has come to an end. But who knows what might happen a couple of years from now.

“We’re big fans with BMW and I just wish them the best.”

Rahal indicated that he’s remained in discussions with BMW of North America to potentially continue the operation of its historic race car collection, along with the brand’s parts support truck.

“We’re working with [BMW of] North America because those are North American programs, the classic program as well as the parts support program,” he said.

“We’ve been in discussions with them and we’d like to stay with them and I think they’d like to stay with us.

“We still may have a relationship with BMW in the racing world, but just in a different capacity.”

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: John Dagys

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: BMW

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

Photo: BMW

John Dagys

John Dagys is the founder and Editor-in-Chief of Sportscar365. Dagys spent eight years as a motorsports correspondent for FOXSports.com and SPEED Channel and has contributed to numerous other motorsports publications worldwide. Contact John