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American LeMans
ALMS: 10 Questions With BMW’s Martin Birkmann
BMW of North America’s Motorsport Manager discusses BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team’s progress in the latest installment of ’10 Questions.'
John Dagys  |  Posted September 04, 2009   Chicago, IL
Martin Birkmann has been the leader behind BMW's return to the American Le Mans Series. (BMW of North America)
Judging by BMW Rahal Letterman Racing’s lackluster debut at Sebring in March, not many would have guessed the factory squad would turn into one of the leading contenders in GT2 just a few short months later.

Thanks to continual development and strong leadership, the team’s two E92-spec BMW M3s have put on quite a show in the second half of the American Le Mans Series season, with two class poles and a dominating 1-2 finish at Road America to its credit.

The Hilliard, Ohio-based team sits a comfortable third in the GT2 team championship, thanks to the performances put in by drivers Dirk Muller and Tommy Milner and Road America winners Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand. And now, the team sets their sights on the final two rounds of the season, before a possible trip to Japan for the inaugural Asian Le Mans Series championship.

Martin Birkmann, BMW of North America’s Motorsport Manager, sat down with me to discuss the team and manufacturer’s progress in the ALMS, and what the future could hold for BMW as a brand in motorsports. It’s all part of the latest installment of ’10 Questions.'

DAGYS: Eight races into BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team’s debut season with the M3, how would you rate the program as a whole?

BIRKMANN: Looking back, I’m very pleased with the progress made. We’re definitely now a top-three team. This is where we wanted to be. The first victory has certainly helped because you question things until you have that win under the belt. Now you can drive a little bit differently, develop a little bit differently, and some of the pressure is relieved. There’s always pressure in racing, but in these challenging times in the auto industry, there’s a lot of scrutiny and pressure on any program.

DAGYS: The program has come a long way since its debut at Sebring in March. What has BMW been able to learn from those early setbacks to transform the team and car into a consistent podium contender?

The team's 1-2 finish at Road America marked BMW's first ALMS class win since 2001. (LAT)
BIRKMANN: At Sebring, I said it would be great to take the checkered flag with one car, but we didn’t. In order to compete in this level, you have to push the level of engineering. We’ve done a couple of ‘nice’ things to the car, but we also went down a couple of new avenues. If you don’t take risks, you won’t gain anything. We took a couple of risks and had to learn as we went along.

Clearly Sebring was the most demanding circuit for the car and the drivers. It’s very relentless and not very friendly, and it did just that to us. It was a good reality check for everyone. We knew we had more homework to do reliability-wise and we eliminated all the weaknesses that we saw.

DAGYS: What kind of developments has the team made over the course of the season?

BIRKMANN: The car has not technically changed a whole lot. We’ve refined it a lot by working on setups and tire development. I think that’s the difference you see. There’s an advantage when you work with a focused tire partner. People were wondering if we made the right choice there and I think Road America proved it. When everyone goes one direction and you maybe go different direction, you can have an advantage for sure. We’re still exploring various setup options. We treat the dampers, springs and tires basically as one whole unit. The question has been how we can make the most of it.

The competition in GT2 has been fierce, especially with the addition of Corvette Racing and BMW RLR's recent rise. (LAT)
DAGYS: Some might argue that the BMWs, as well as the new Corvettes, have a leg-up on the GT2 competition at high-speed tracks where where straight-line speed is crucial. Do you feel that’s the BMW’s strength at the moment?

BIRKMANN: I think if you look at trap speeds right now, that’s still not where our strength is. The car has an extremely well developed balance and confidence-building grip through fast corners. That’s where we find the time. It’s a little bit like comparing a motorcycle to a car. I think most of our competitors have a leg up on us in sheer trap speed, but if we have a corner that carries speed into the straightaway, then we’ll have more straight-line speed.



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