MAASSEN/LUHR KEEP CONTACT WITH FACTORY BMW DURING ALMS LAGUNA SECA EVENT, BUT SETTLE FOR THIRD BEHIND THE POWERFUL V8s

-With two laps to go, points-leading BMW was running second with Maassen/Luhr third, but intentional slowdown by lead car gives Jorg Muller big points lead-

MONTEREY, Calif - Sept 9, 2001 -  Sascha Maassen, from Aachen, Germany, and Lucas Luhr, from Monte Carlo, Monaco, stayed close to the factory BMW V8S in their #23 Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS to finish a fine third in Sunday's Monterey Sports Car Championships at Laguna Seca Raceway.

Maassen, who was trying to stay close to BMW driver Jorg Muller for the points championship, looked like he wouldn't lose much ground as Muller was only one place ahead of him, but the BMW Motorsports team had the leading Dirk Muller/Fredrik Ekblom slow down enough to allow Jorg Muller/J.J. Lehto to overcome its 30-second deficit on the last lap.

"Our cars and drivers ran a perfect race today - mistake-free from start to finish," said Alex Job, owner of the Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsches, "but it wasn't enough to overcome the extra power generated by the BMW V8s.  Sascha and Lucas took advantage of traffic and daring passes to keep close, and a yellow flag enabled them to finish on the same lap, but it just wasn't enough."

Maassen still has a chance for the title at the last event - Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on October 6 - but the Lehto/Muller would have to DNF (giving Muller 180 points after adding in his ELMS finish at Jarama), and Maassen/Luhr would have to win (giving Sascha 183 points after adding his ELMS points at Donington).

Randy Pobst, driver of the #22 Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS, said the change in weather threw off their set-up, and the car seemed to have brake bias, but, near the end of the event, he was able to run with Lucas Luhr in the team car.

"We had some problems, and lost some ground when we missed the yellow flag by pitting a lap too early, but Christian and I had a good ride today.  We just didn't the horsepower to catch the factory BMWs."  Pobst/Menzel finished sixth.

The Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Porsche 911 GT3 RS, co-driven by England's Johnny Mowlem and Germany's Timo Bernhard, had a great run, finishing fifth behind the Auberlen/Said PTG BMW.

Other Porsche 911 GT3 RS included The Racers Group entry of Kevin Buckler/Tyler McQuarrie (seventh); the other Racers Group Porsche of Robert Orcutt/Tony Colicchio (eighth); the Dick Barbour Racing entry of Mark Neuhaus/Randy Wars (ninth); Kyser Racing Porsche of Kye Wankum/Joe Foster (tenth), and the Canadian-based Seikel Motorsports car,  with Tony Burgess/Andrew Bagnall (12th).

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ALMS MONTEREY SPORTS CAR CHAMPIONSHIPS - FINAL GT RESULTS

Car #, driver, hometown; co-driver, hometown, team, car, laps completed

42, J.J. Lehto, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Jorg Muller, Monte Carlo, Monaco
    BMW Motorsport M3 V-8, 110 laps

43, Fredrik Eckblom, Orebro, Sweden; Dirk Muller, Monte Carlo, Monaco
    BMW Motorsport M3 V-8, 110 laps

23, Lucas Luhr, Monte Carlo, Monaco; Sascha Maassen, Aachen, Germany
    McKenna Porsche Alex Job Racing 911 GT3 RS, 110 laps

10, Boris Said, Carlsbad, CA; Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, CA
    PTG BMW M3 V-8, 109 laps

30, Timo Bernhard, Miesau, Germany; Johnny Mowlem, London, England
    White Lightning/Petersen Motorsports Westward Ho!
    Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 109 laps

22, Randy Pobst, Melbourne, FL; Christian Menzel, Kelberg, Germany,
    McKenna Porsche Alex Job Racing 911 GT3 RS, 108 laps

66, Kevin Buckler, Sonoma, CA; Tyler McQuarrie, Walnut Creek, CA,
    The Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 105 laps

67, Robert Orcutt, Santa Cruz, CA; Tony Colicchio, Berkeley, CA,
    The Racers Group Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 103 laps

69, Kye Wankum, Toronto, Canada; Joe Foster, Atlanta, GA
    Kyser Racing, Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 102 laps

15, Randy Wars, Mexico City, Mexico; Mark Neuhaus, Sun Valley, ID,
    Dick Barbour Racing Porsche 911 GT3 R, 99 laps

 6, Hans Stuck, Ellmau, Austria; Niclas Jonsson, Aliso Viejo, CA,
    PTG BMW M3 V-8, 74 laps (crash)

52, Tony Burgess, Toronto, Canada; Andrew Bagnall, Auckland, New Zealand,
    Seikel Racing Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 40 laps (engine)