Rahal: RLL Has “Highlighted Some Areas” for Improvement

Photo: Mike Levitt/IMSA

BMW M Team RLL co-owner Bobby Rahal said the team has identified areas of improvement following the first three IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship races, after it’s so far missed out on victories despite oftentimes having the quickest GTP car.

The Indianapolis-based squad, which has started on pole for all three races this season, courtesy of Dries Vanthoor, scored its first podium of the season last time out at Long Beach, while losing the lead in the pit lane to the pair of Porsche Penske Motorsport entries, which finished 1-2.

Speaking to reporters ahead of this weekend’s Monterey SportsCar Championship at WeatherTech Raceway Laguna Seca, Rahal indicated that changes are being implemented following the lessons learned from the first third of its 2025 campaign.

“I think on our part at BMW M Team RLL, it’s… constant[ly] trying to improve the car in all in all ways,” he said. “We’ve learned more about the car this year, I think.

“Of course, that learning process really took some speed last year about halfway through the year and then we saw the benefits of that of course at Indianapolis, where we won and then and Petit Le Mans where we were in the hunt for the lead right till the bitter end.

“We really came in over the winter time, I think with a better sense of what we needed with what we need to do to the car to get to where we want to go.

“Of course, we’ve been very fortunate. BMW has given us a great driver lineup. We’ve seen, Dries’ pace in qualifying, you know he’s obviously the fastest guy out there. That’s been a plus and just general things.

“After Long Beach, that highlighted some areas maybe of where we need to focus a bit more of our efforts, pit lane in particular and, I think we’re going to come into Laguna with some new things on that front.”

When asked specifically what kind of changes have been made for this weekend, Rahal said it’s case of doing things “a little differently” and “a little better” on pit lane.

“All the data is there to show where the deficit was,” he said. “The fuel is going in well, the tires are going and., well, it was just about getting in up.

“The drivers did a good job getting out of the car, but again, it’s so crowded in those cars that it’s hard to get everything sorted out and unfortunately… there’s [only] one stop.

“You got one pit stop and that’s it. And then it’s up to you to try to get by guys on the track at that point.

“As we’ve seen, the Porsches go particularly well in the race configuration and of course, Long Beach, there’s not many opportunities to pass, so, it takes a big effort to try to make up for that.

“So now we’re now we’ve got more than one pit stop. We’ve identified some areas that I think we can improve, and we’re making those improvements now.

“Our guys are always doing pit stop practice; I don’t think it’s a matter of that, but it’s doing things a little differently and consequently and hopefully a little better.”

Rahal “Hoping to Continue” Longstanding BMW Partnership

While declining to get into the specifics of the tender for BMW’s WeatherTech Championship service provider in 2026, Rahal said he’s hopeful of continuing what’s been a long-standing partnership with the German manufacturer.

The team’s contract is up for renewal next year, with multiple other teams reportedly in the running for 2026.

“We’re obviously hoping to continue this long relationship that we’ve had with BMW that’s dated back to 2008,” said Rahal. “I know you see some of these articles and a lot of guessing and a lot of speculation, but I think for us, there’s three quarters of the season left over.

“For us it’s just it’s all about and I can tell you about I think with BMW Motorsport it’s the same thing. Everybody’s just really focused on this coming race, Laguna Seca, and the race after that, and after that, and after that, there’s a lot of racing left.

“I think it’s premature to get too far into that. Because it’s really, you obviously you have a podium this past [race], regardless of how disappointing it was to be on the front row and then lose out during pit stops.

“Having a podium is a nice start; it’s a good little bump for the team, especially after the disappointments of Sebring and Daytona.

“We go win some races and that solves a lot of problems and so that’s what we’re intending to do.”