American Le Mans Series Notes of Interest
AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES NOTES OF INTEREST
** BMW SETS SCHNITZER DRIVING TEAM: Two
of the most successful drivers in the American Le Mans Series for the past
two seasons will remain with the series in 2001 as part of a remarkable team
of drivers put together by BMW and Schnitzer Motorsport.
JJ Lehto of Finland and Jorg Muller of
Germany will be two of the four drivers for Schnitzer’s new effort with
the BMW M3 in the GT class of the ALMS in 2001. They will be joined in the
stable by Dirk Muller of Germany, the 2000 ALMS GT champion driver, and
Sweden’s Fredrik Ekblom.
Lehto, 34, and Jorg Muller, 31, spent the
2000 season as teammates in the BMW V12 LMR Prototype that was fielded by
Schnitzer. Competing in a car that was in its last year of racing, the duo
scored overall ALMS wins at Lowe’s Motor Speedway in Charlotte, N.C., and
at England’s Silverstone circuit. The two also won the 12 Hours at Sebring
in 1999, and Lehto co-drove with another driver to three other ALMS wins
that year.
Lehto and Jorg Muller will again be working
with Charley Lamm, team manager for Schnitzer Motorsport.
Dirk Muller, 25, was a four-time ALMS class
winner in 2000 while driving the Dick Barbour Racing Porsche. The
30-year-old Ekblom has American open-wheel racing experience in CART, and
has been in the Swedish Super Touring Car Championship the past three years.
"This team and these drivers are
top-notch," said Gerhard Berger, BMW Motorsport Director. "In
terms of manpower, we have the best prerequisite for making our M3
class-leader in America."
BMW is preparing the race version of the new
M3 in Munich, Germany. Four cars are being produced, with two going to
Schnitzer and two to the American-based BMW Team PTG. The new cars will not
be ready for the ALMS season opener at Texas Motor Speedway on Mar. 4, but
will most likely debut at Sebring on Mar. 17.
** MURRY JOINS NEW TEAM FOR 2001: David
Murry, who has competed in nearly every race since the ALMS was founded in
1999, has joined forces with Kelly Moss Racing of Madison, Wis., for the
2001 ALMS campaign. The team will field two Porsche 911 GT3 R cars in the GT
class.
Murry and a driver to be named will co-drive
one of the cars, while Rick Polk will drive the other car with a co-driver
to be named. The paint scheme and car numbers are not yet determined. The
team will debut in the season opener at Texas on Mar. 4.
Murry, who lives in Atlanta, spent most of
the 2000 season co-driving with Johnny Mowlem for Skea Racing International,
but Murry and the team parted ways after the Las Vegas race in October.
Murry and Mowlem scored a GT class victory in the ALMS race that was held at
California’s Laguna Seca Raceway in 1999.
Kelly Moss Racing, which has not raced
professionally since 1994, has a successful past, including winning the
World Challenge Championship and the Porsche Cup in that season.
"We are both very serious about
success," said Murry. "We will do whatever we can in our power to
win."
** BERETTA TO DRIVE NEW CHRYSLER
PROTOTYPE: Olivier Beretta, two-time American Le Mans Series driving
champion in the GTS class, has been named by Chrysler Team ORECA as one of
its drivers for the new Mopar-powered Prototype for the 24 Hours of Le Mans.
Beretta will co-drive with Yannick Dalmas in
the 69th running of the sports car endurance race in June. Team ORECA hopes
to build on the success that it had with the Dodge Viper, which included two
ALMS titles and numerous race wins, as well as three class victories at Le
Mans.
The Chrysler LMP900 Prototype has been
designed and developed by Chrysler engineers in Michigan, as well as the
French ORECA group. In addition, Italian chassis builder Dallara has had
significant input into the design.
** TEXAS MOTOR SPEEDWAY TO OPEN SEASON: The
2001 American Le Mans Series season will open with the Grand Prix of Texas
at Texas Motor Speedway in Ft. Worth on Sunday, Mar. 4.
Practice and qualifying for the two-hour,
45-minute race will be held on Saturday, Mar. 3. Sunday’s race will be
televised live on Speedvision, and Eurosport will have highlights on Mar.
11. Live coverage can also be heard online from the American Le Mans Series
Radio Web at www.americanlemans.com.
Tickets can be purchased online at
www.texasmotorspeedway.com. Information is also available from the speedway
ticket office at (817) 215-8500.
QUICK NOTES: Panoz Racing School has
been named the Official Racing School of the American Le Mans Series. The
school has locations at Mosport, Road Atlanta, Sebring and at Texas Motor
Speedway .... ALMS driver Milka Duno, who will also be running a full
Formula Nissan schedule in Europe this season, will test in Italy with her
Formula Nissan team Jan. 30-31 .... Former Women’s Global GT Series driver
Audrey Zavodsky has been invited by the NFL Super Bowl American All Stars to
speak and be part of Spirit Week. She will be in Tampa on Jan. 21 to address
a group of 1,000 girls ranging in age from eight to 18 ....
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MEDIA CONTACT: Andy Hall, American Le Mans
Series Director of Media & Communications (317) 295-3500, ext. 31.
Andy Hall
Director of Media & Communications
American Le Mans Series
(317) 295-3500, ext. 31
andyhall58@hotmail.com