Rahal team to again run BMW effort in ALMS

Rahal Letterman Lanigan BMW

BMW will defend its American Le Mans Series GT titles in 2012 after announcing that Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing will continue to field a works team in the championship.

The announcement was made Saturday evening by BMW Motorsport director Jens Marquardt at BMW's Sports Trophy Awards Ceremony in Munich. Newly crowned ALMS champions Joey Hand and Dirk Muller, along with other factory drivers, were recognized for their achievements from the past year at the annual end-of-season banquet.

RLL ran BMW's factory assault in the series this year, winning the teams' and manufacturers' titles, while Joey Hand and Dirk Muller took the drivers' championship in one of its M3 GTs.

No drivers have been announced for the program.

BMW motorsport director Jens Marquardt said: "It goes without saying that we will not be sending a successful car like the BMW M3 GT off to the museum after a season like the one we enjoyed in 2011.

"BMW Team RLL will be back with this model to defend its GT titles next year."