A trip to America for his second race of the year there with BMW Team RLL in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship is on the cards for Augusto Farfus this weekend. This time it will be the ten-hour Petit Le Mans event at Road Atlanta in Georgia, a race that he has already competed in twice before.
In January Augusto was in the States for the first round of the series, the Rolex 24 at Daytona, where the BMW M6 GTLM had its debut, and this time he will be back for the final race of the season. Also once again he will be sharing the number 25 car with America’s Bill Auberlen and Germany’s Dirk Werner. “To be invited back to take part in what will be my third Petit Le Mans is an honour. The track is a very cool and challenging one,” said the Brazilian driver.
In January the team finished fifth in the gruelling 24-hour race, while last year in Road Atlanta they were fourth when the chequered flag was waved two hours early due to the driving rain and dangerous track conditions. “Last year the weather was very bad with difficult conditions due to a very wet race. I am looking forward to getting back in a car with Bill and Dirk, two guys who I know well and love racing with. I have been part of BMW Team RLL for a long time and I feel very comfortable with all the guys. The first time I raced with them in Road Atlanta was in 2011. That race was pretty special as we finished third and helped BMW win the manufacturers’ title. I am determined to help get the best result possible and, obviously, the dream result would be to get this car its first win.”
While this is the last race in the 11 round series for the team in America, Augusto still has to finish his DTM season in the Shell BMW M4 DTM with BMW Team MTEK as he explained: “I can think of nothing better to do than race, so the chance to sandwich this between the final two DTM races was fantastic. I still have two weeks until my final races in Hockenheim on the 15th and 16th October, and I hope to finish both series on a high.”
The first track action for the ISWC on this 4.088 kilometre (2.54 mile) circuit is on Thursday (29th September) from 11.15 to 12.15 for FP1. Later that day FP2 is from 15.25 to 16.25 and FP3 from 19.30 to 21.00. The fourth free practice session will be on Friday from 10.15 to 11.15, and then later in the day the GLTLM cars will qualify from 15.55 to 16.10. The ten-hour ‘Petit Le Mans’ race starts at 11.10 on Saturday and will finish at 21.10. All these are Eastern Standard Time, which is five hours behind BST.
