ALMS Donington Preview: BMW Motorsport
9 April 2001
3rd race of the American Le Mans Series at Donington (GB) on 14 April 2001
BMW fields two BMW M3 GTRs for the first time
Munich. BMW is preparing to enter two of its new BMW M3 GTR models in the
inaugural European race of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) hosted at
England's Donington Park this weekend. After the successful debut of JJ
Lehto (FIN) and Jorg Muller (D) at the Sebring 12 Hours, in which they took
third place, another V8-powered GTR has been built for their team-mates
Fredrik Ekblom (S) and Dirk Muller (D).
"It was another feat of strength," BMW Motorsport Team Manager
Charly Lamm freely admits. Following a development phase of less than six
months, Chassis 01, the prototype, had been completed just in time for
practice in Sebring - and survived the round-the-clock marathon. "It
was a very intense experience," continues Lamm, "based on just one
working session which was extreme even by our standards. Afterwards there
was inevitably a lot deal of follow-up work."
Insights gleaned from this debut race already filtered into the construction
of the second car. In all, four BMW M3 GTRs are to be built: the other two
will be driven by the American BMW Team PTG in the second half of the
season. The two races in Donington (14 April) and Jarama, Spain (20
May) belong to the European Le Mans Series but count as part of the
eight-race ALMS insofar as they extend the choice of deletable results: for
their best placing in the events in England and Spain, drivers are permitted
to delete any lower result achieved in America.
More test miles needed for stability checks
Team BMW Motorsport spent a day testing on the A1-Ring in Austria in
preparation for the third race in the GT class of the endurance series (at
the season opener in Texas, BMW Motorsport was represented only by
Lehto/Muller on an M3 from the previous year). The drivers were Jorg Muller
and Dirk Muller, the incumbent ALMS GT champion.
"Performance and driveability of the V8 engine are good," stated
BMW Motorsport Director Dr. Mario Theissen, "but overall the car is
still very new to us. We need to clock up a few more test miles to be
properly prepared for racing in terms of stability as well."
Picturesque setting at Donington Park
"I'm really looking forward to Donington," says Lehto. The last
time the Finn and the BMW Team raced on this picturesquely sited race track
was in 1997 during the FIA GT Championship. The circuit is owned by Tom
Wheatcroft, who also has a private museum housing his collection of racing
cars, which is well worth seeing. The track length is 2.5 miles / 4.023
kilometres. Lehto gives a brief survey: "After the start, the Redgate
Corner right-hander is a good spot to overtake. Then you get to the Craner
Curves - a spectacular sequence on a steep downhill. You really have to
climb onto the brakes ahead of the Old Hairpin, at the lowest point of the
track." Coppice Corner is on a rise and leads into the circuit's
longest straight. A chicane and two hairpins complete the course.
"With the inaugural entry of two BMW M3 GTRs, we'll be going all-out to
catch up with the rivals," says BMW Motorsport Director Gerhard Berger.
"I hope that we've reached a position in this championship of being
able to close the gap to our GT class competitors Porsche and to launch a
challenge very soon."
The race on Saturday, 14 April, will take place between 12.10 and 2.55 pm UK
time (CET 1.10-3.55 pm).
Live commentaries on the Internet are available at www.americanlemans.com.
Eurosport TV channel:
Race summary: Sunday, 22
April, 8.45-9.45 pm CET
Programmes featuring ALMS reports: Wednesday, 25 April, 7.30-8.00 pm
(repeated Thursday, 26 April, 10.30-11 am and 2.30-3.00 pm and Friday, 27
April, 1.00-1.30 pm)
Sky Sports will provide live coverage of the event.
NBC Sports will televise the event on a same-day basis at 4 pm (Eastern).
Photos: www.press.bmwgroup.com.
BMW Press: Guido Stalmann, Tel +49 (0) 89 382 23401, Fax +49 (0) 89 382
27563, Mobile +49 (0) 170 5666 112, E-mail: Guido.Stalmann@bmw.de
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Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945