ALMS Petit Le Mans Qualifying - BMW Motorsport
Qualifying Friday
Round 8, American Le Mans Series
5 October 2001, Braselton, Ga.
BMW Motorsport one-two in Petit Le Mans qualifying
Munich/Braselton. BMW Motorsport will start first and second in the
GT class for Saturday's Petit Le Mans, final race of the 2001 American Le
Mans Series. JJ Lehto (FIN) posted a record pole time of one minute
22.604 seconds on the 2.54-mile Road Atlanta road course in the No. 42 BMW
M3 GTR. The pole position was especially rewarding to the crew, who
rebuilt the car overnight, after it was hit by another car during Thursday
night practice. Lehto will co-drive with Fredrik Ekblom (S) and Karl
Wendlinger (A). Jörg Müller (D) and Dirk Müller (D) will start
second after Dirk Müller qualified the No. 43 GTR in 1:22.681. Both
cars finished on racing slicks after starting the qualifying session on
rain tires.
BMW Team PTG drivers Hans-J. Stuck (D), Boris Said (USA) and Bill Auberlen
(USA) will start third in the No. 6 BMW M3 GTR (1:23.617), and Niclas Jönsson
(S), Brian Cunningham (USA) and David Murry (USA) will start fifth in the
No. 10 GTR (1:24.041).
BMW Motorsport team manager Charly Lamm: "We have been first
and second on the grid before, but this qualifying was special.
After yesterday's accident, the guys did a fantastic job to repair BMW 42.
They got it out just in time for the qualifying. The wet conditions
made it difficult to be aggressive, but that is what JJ was after he
decided to change to slicks early. Seeing him charging through turn
12 that way was very special. Dirk's second-place, just
eight-hundredths behind JJ, makes the perfect qualifying result for BMW
Motorsport."
JJ Lehto #42: "The upsetting things that happened last night
really destroyed the car in a big way. I thought the crew couldn't
build it up again, but they said it would be okay in the morning.
They worked really hard and the car was ready just five minutes before the
qualifying. I went out for an installation lap and everything felt
quite good, so I just went for it. The weather was very difficult;
it was raining in the beginning, then it started to dry out. We had
to make the decision to come in at the right time to get the slick tires
and get them heated. I only had one clear lap, so it was really
difficult with traffic. But in the end we're on pole and it's
brilliant!"
Fredrik Ekblom #43: "The team did an exceptional job, and
likewise JJ. He was the man today and the team was just awesome.
I think we have a good setup with the car and it looks really good.
I'm comfortable and I'm enjoying the weekend."
Karl Wendlinger #42: "JJ did a very good job because the car
was ready just before qualifying, after the crash yesterday. He kept
his nerve and he was the fastest one when he needed to be the fastest one.
It was great!"
Jörg Müller #43: "It's good for BMW Motorsport, one and two.
But to be true, that means nothing in the race. It's important to
not have any contact and keep the car on the road, that's the key thing in
the race. I'm very happy with the qualifying, especially with JJ and
his guys. They had a hard night and they really deserve to be on
pole position."
Dirk Müller #43: "Second is not first, but it's first and
second for the team. Congratulations to JJ and the crew! I had
really, really bad luck. Each lap I did, there was some traffic, but
there was nothing to do. You can't really wait because no one knew
if it would start raining again, so we had to go for the opportunity.
The car was so brilliant I could have done the pole for sure."
BMW Press: Guido Stalmann, tel +49 (0) 89 382 23401, fax +49 (0) 89
382 27563, e-mail: Guido.Stalmann@bmw.de