24h Le Mans
This year, as the Automobile Club de l'Ouest celebrates its 110th anniversary, BMW will do the same for its 100th and the German manufacturer has added the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, the U.S. equivalent of the Le Mans Classic, to its calendar August 18th through the 21st with no less than 64 BMWs at the start of the races and two of the Art Cars previously exhibited at the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Three major vintage car gatherings take place every year in the U.S.: Scottsdale, Arizona is the exchange place of choice for vintage car collectors; Amelia Island, Florida allows the same collectors to show off their prize pieces; and Monterey, California affords them the opportunity to go head-to-head at the legendary Laguna Seca circuit during the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion, the guest of honour at which will be BMW in 2016.
BMW's American branch will enter several cars that have boasted its official colours in-race and the Director of BMW North America, Ludwig Willisch, will take the wheel of the BMW 3.0 CSL that won at the 12 Hours of Sebring in 1975 with Brian Redman, Sam Posey, Hans-Joachim Stuck, winner at the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1986 and 1987, and Allan Moffatt.
Lastly, though they will not compete, two of the BMW Art Cars that took the start at the 24 Hours of Le Mans will be on display over the weekend of August 18-21: the 1975 3.0 CSL decorated by Alexander Calder and the 2010 M3 GT2 decorated by Jeff Koons.
Cécile Bonardel / ACO - Translation by Nikki Ehrhardt / ACO
PHOTO: LE MANS (SARTHE, FRANCE), CIRCUIT DES 24 HEURES, 24 HOURS OF LE MANS, THURSDAY JUNE 10 2010, QUALIFYING. The BMW Art Car from the 2010 24 Hours of Le Mans will be one of the stars of the Rolex Monterey Motorsports Reunion at the Laguna Seca circuit in California, this August.
