Auberlen, Hand lead BMW's return

Rahal Letterman Racing will run two of BMW's latest generation M3s in the GT2 class, and have announced Americans Hand and Auberlen - who both raced for BMW's previous GT2 project - as their first driver pairing.

Sportscar veteran Auberlen has been a BMW stalwart for most of his career and was part of the company's last Le Mans prototype programme, while 29-year-old Hand switched from junior single-seaters to GT racing four years ago.

"If you are going to start a new BMW team in the United States, it is nearly impossible to find a pair of drivers with more success or more experience with BMWs than Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand," said team boss Bobby Rahal.

"Bill is one of the most successful American sedan drivers of the decade and Joey has more than displayed his ability to run right with him, so we expect this driver pairing to be a strong one for the BMW Rahal Letterman Racing Team."

The new M3 GT2 has been developed by BMW Motorsport in Europe, and is testing at Road Atlanta this week with BMW's World Touring Car Championship drivers Andy Priaulx, Jorg Muller and Augusto Farfus, who will also drive the car for two days at Sebring later this month.