ALMS 2013 - 3rd and 4th place finish for BMW Team RLL at shortened Baltimore Grand Prix due to large first lap crash

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Unfortunately, the Baltimore Grand Prix was not run at its full duration due to a crash on the first lap. The 2013 Baltimore GP is now officially the shortest ALMS Grand Prix ever run at one hour and fourteen minutes. The crash involved eight cars blocking the circuit but the twin BMW Z4 GTE's escaped unscathed. The BMW Z4's managed to cross the finish line in third and fourth place keeping BMW in second place behind Corvette Racing.

Three races remain and BMW is understandably frustrated by the shortened Grand Prix as they hoped to pick up more points. It is unfortunate but racing is unpredictable. The main thing to take away is that nobody was seriously injured. Everyone will live to race another day and three races remain in the season.

Results and quotes below.

“It seemed like amateur night,” said Bobby Rahal, Team Principal. “I’m very frustrated. We had a perfect plan and were leading the race. On the last restart a prototype car totally cocked up the chicane and Dirk nearly hit it. He was held up enough for the Corvettes to get by and that was that.”

“We knew this weekend would be rough and tough,” said Gordon McDonnell, BMWNA Motorsport Manager. “We thought the Z4 GTE would be extremely well-suited to this course and we saw that in qualifying. The race seemed to have a mind of its own and we were along for the ride. I’m really proud of the guys for keeping their heads down. They fought really hard and 3rd and 4th is a great result to leave this race with.”

Joey Hand, driver No. 56 Z4 GTE – (3rd) – “We’ll take a third-place but we’re not as excited as we would have been. Dirk did a good job but got unlucky during that restart with the traffic. But that’s what endurance racing is all about. I love racing and came here to race, but today I had to be a team player and get out of the car early. It was just a unique race, to say the least.”

Dirk Müller, driver No. 56 Z4 GTE – (3rd) – “What a race. What a strategy! We pitted early went from dead last, after yesterday’s penalty, all the way up to the front. I had the pace, and the car was strong. On the last restart I was fully prepared but everybody ahead checked up and I had to apply emergency braking into the chicane. Basically the two Corvettes just took advantage of it. Once behind them I was quicker, and was able to close the gap somewhat, but P3 is more than I was hoping for overnight. I’m really happy. There is still a ways to go in the championship; we are getting stronger and stronger. This result was a team effort.”

Bill Auberlen, driver No. 55 Z4 GTE – (4th) – “The team was poised for a 1-2 finish today, but it seemed most of the field came to crash instead of race. I’ve already had a double victory at the Circuit of the Americas this season in the GRAND-AM series driving BMWs so I’ll put today behind us and focus forward to Round Eight.”

Maxime Martin, driver No. 55 Z4 GTE – (4th) – “This certainly was a strange race; very short with no pit stops. We started quite okay but in a little crash I lost two places and the rear bumper, so in the end we weren’t quick enough to stay with the front pack. We are scoring points, but we could have had a much better day.”