There are very few disciplines in which experience is as importance as in endurance racing. Teams must be able to react to changes in conditions as quick as a flash, and every decision regarding the race strategy can make the difference between victory and defeat. In 2011, BMW is once again putting its faith in the tried-and-tested combination of BMW engineers and Schnitzer Motorsport for the BMW M3 GT2's European outings.

The team has proven on more than one occasion in the past that it is up to the enormous challenges faced in 24-hour classics and endurance championships. This was substantiated in the GT racing environment even before last year’s victory in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring when the two BMW M3 GTRs took first and second places in the 2005 race – thus repeating the triumphant one-two of the previous year. In the American Le Mans Series Team BMW Motorsport had claimed the 2001 GT title using the same car.

Following the overall victory for Jörg Müller in the ALMS, Schnitzer Motorsport returned to touring car racing in 2002. From 2005, BMW Team Germany raced in the World Touring Car Championship, in which Schnitzer had already tasted success when Roberto Ravaglia claimed the very first title back in 1987. After three ETCC and five WTCC seasons, the team has celebrated 45 victories, 14 pole positions, and no less than 108 podium finishes.

In 2010 the team celebrated a triumphant comeback in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Five years after the team’s last victory, the BMW M3 GT2 bearing car number 25 scored BMW’s 19th overall victory. Driven by Jörg Müller, Augusto Farfus, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy, the car took the flag after 154 laps of the 25.378 kilometre circuit. Car number 26 placed seventh after an impressive chase through the field. In its comeback race in Le Mans, Team BMW Motorsport finished sixth in the LM GT2 class with BMW M3 GT2 (number 78). In Spa-Francorchamps a technical problem with just 40 minutes to go and victory in sight meant that Dirk Werner, Dirk Müller and Dirk Adorf dropped from first to third place. The sister car with Jörg Müller, Uwe Alzen and Pedro Lamy alternating at the wheel finished fourth.

With its headquarters in the Bavarian town of Freilassing, close to the Austrian border, Schnitzer Motorsport has won 16 titles with BMW over almost five decades – including three European Championships and national titles in Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Japan and Southeast Asia.

The team can also look back on some major success at endurance races. In 1997 Schnitzer celebrated victories in the FIA GT Championship with the McLaren BMW F1 GTR. In 1999 they took overall victory at the 24-hour race in Le Mans with the open-topped prototype BMW V12 LMR.

Schnitzer has not only enjoyed success at Le Mans, but also at other classics. It can boast an impressive five victories at the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps. The team crossed the finishing line as overall winner at the Nürburgring in 1989, 1990, 2004, 2005 and 2010.

Schnitzer Motorsport was also successful in the 2010 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup: At the season finale in Zhuhai, Jörg Müller and Dirk Werner scored victory in the LM GT2 class. This was the maiden win for the BMW M3 GT2 in this specification.

BMW of North America and Rahal Letterman Lanigan Racing have been a strong unit since 2009. The men behind the team, which is based in Hilliard, Ohio, are three-time IndyCar champion and winner of the 1986 Indianapolis 500, Bobby Rahal, TV presenter David Letterman, and former IndyCar team owner Mike Lanigan.

After countless victories and pole positions in American single-seater racing, the team has also established itself as a successful outfit in the American Le Mans Series. In its debut season with the BMW M3 GT2, BMW Team RLL immediately set about picking up pole positions and achieved a triumphant one-two in Road America.

2010 once again saw Team BMW RLL line up with four excellent drivers in the GT class of the ALMS: Bill Auberlen and Tommy Milner alternated behind the wheel of the no. 92 BMW M3 GT2, while the car number 90 was driven by Joey Hand and Dirk Müller. This proved to be a winning combination again at Road America: after 66 laps, Hand and Müller crossed the finishing line 2.6 seconds ahead of their closest rivals. The team travelled to the "Petit Le Mans" in Road Atlanta with one-point deficit to the leaders in the team and manufacturer classifications. A fourth-place finish was enough to convert this gap into a one-point lead, clinching the first ALMS titles for BMW since 2001.

In 2011, BMW Team RLL will once again line up with the BMW M3 GT2 in the USA, and has set its sights on the Drivers' Championship in the American Le Mans Series. Dirk Müller, Auberlen and Hand will be joined in the team by Dirk Werner, who will also contest the complete ALMS season.