ALMS: BMW M3 GTRs secure 1, 2, 4 and 5 starting positions

Posted By Terry Callahan
Motorsports Editor, The Auto Channel

September 9, 2001

JJ Lehto qualified the No. 42 BMW Motorsport M3 GTR on the GT class pole for tomorrow's two-hour-and-forty-five-minute ALMS Monterey Sports Car Championships with a new qualifying record of 1:26.265 around the 2.238-mile Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca. The No. 43 BMW Motorsport M3 GTR of Fredrick Ekblom posted the second fastest time (1:26.402) two spots ahead of the fourth-place No. 10 Team PTG M3 GTR of Boris Said. (1:26.705).

The twenty-minute qualifying session was shortened by a black flag for the No. 6 M3 GTR of Niclas Jönsson that was sidelined just below the corkscrew with mechanical problem after only three laps. Jönsson's time of 1:26.951 was good enough to secure the fifth starting position.

Boris Said, driver No. 10 PTG M3 GTR

"I went out early in the session and caught traffic on my fastest lap. The black flag then slowed us and took the edge off the tires. Going back out would have only meant a few more laps - not faster laps. We had the fastest car all weekend -- until now -- and it is disappointing that we could not show it."

Niclas Jönsson, driver No. 6 PTG M3 GTR

"It was the fastest lap all week for the car. Hans, our car chief, Larry Hahn and I sat down after practice and found out something that showed us a completely different direction. We changed the setup and - before the problem - the No. 6 M3 was the best it had been. The car had another half-second in it and that would have put us close to the front. The team worked hard to change the set up between sessions and we showed more speed. We'll get it in the race."

Tom Salkowsky, motorsports manager, BMW of North America, LLC

"Certainly it is unusual to have a failure in qualifying as we did with the No. 6 M3 and it is not the way we wanted this session to go, but BMW Motorsport has secured the first two starting positions and Boris did a very good job in a very short period of time to get fourth. Nic had the No. 6 car in the 26's for the first time this weekend in only three laps so that is quite an accomplishment."

Tom Milner, owner BMW Team PTG

"I am very interested to find out why we were one second slower in qualifying this afternoon than in practice this morning. We have some work to do."

Text provided by Bill Cobb

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