ALMS Petit Le Mans preview - BMW Motorsport
1 October 2001
ALMS final - Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta on 6 October 2001
Match point for BMW
Munich. Champion manufacturers BMW are 1,000 miles away from potentially
winning the driver and team classifications in the GT class of the American
Le Mans Series. That's the distance covered by the Petit Le Mans race, in
which BMW will be fielding a total of four M3 GTRs this coming Saturday. "For
us the final boils down to securing a match point," says BMW Motorsport Team
Manager Charly Lamm ahead of this challenging event on the Road Atlanta
circuit outside the city that hosted the 1996 Olympics.
If conditions are dry, the race is expected to take about nine hours. After a
maximum of ten hours, the eighth and final race of the 2001 ALMS will be
officially over even if the 1,000 miles (1,609 kilometres) have not been
completed.
In the fourth staging of this endurance event, Austrian Karl Wendlinger will
be supporting the two established driver duos of JJ Lehto (FIN)/Jörg Müller
(D) and Fredrik Ekblom (S)/Dirk Müller (D) of Team BMW Motorsport. BMW Team
PTG, backed by BMW North America, plans to send six drivers out onto the
track: Hans-Joachim Stuck (D) and Niclas Jönsson (S), as well as Americans
Bill Auberlen, Brian Cunningham, David Murry and Boris Said.
While BMW has already secured an unbeatable lead in the manufacturers'
standings, there's a chance that rivals Porsche could win the team and driver
classifications in the final race. These are the possible scenarios: if a
Porsche fielded by Alex Job Racing is first to cross the finishing line, a
Team BMW Motorsport car would have to gain no less than seventh place to
secure victory in the team classification. BMW Team PTG is currently in third
place. In the drivers' classification, sixth place would be enough for
front-runner Jörg Müller to clinch the title, even if a driver in the best
Porsche team wins the race. Under the same circumstances JJ Lehto, currently
in second place just one point behind Jörg Müller, would need a fifth-placed
finish to claim the title.
The 4.09-kilometre (2.54-mile) circuit in rural Georgia is a challenging and
varied one. Team BMW Motorsport spent two days there last weekend preparing
for the race. Jörg Müller takes us around the track: "After the start/finish
straight there's a high-speed right-hander that rises at the exit. Turns Two,
Three and Four take you over a hill, followed by a steep drop into the esses.
Turn Five is a fast left-hander ahead of a straight that leads into Turn Six.
Turn Seven is the slowest on the circuit and a crucial one because, as you
exit it, you need plenty of traction to build up momentum for the long
straight with the tricky hill. Then there's a tight chicane followed by a
fast, steep downward double right-hander that leads onto the back straight."
One lap at Road Atlanta requires 22 gear changes of the BMW M3 GTR. Over the
total race distance, that amounts to almost 8,000 shifts. Demands on the
car's stability are enormous, and with a field of 47 contenders with
significant speed differences thanks to four participating classes, this race
is also a tremendous challenge in terms of concentration.
"On the technical front, this race will be an endurance test for the
relatively new BMW M3 GTR," says BMW Motorsport Director Dr Mario Theissen,
who will be travelling on to Atlanta after the Formula 1 Grand Prix in
Indianapolis. "But as far as the Team is concerned, we're optimally equipped
to expect good technical preparations and first-class tactics."
The new GT sports car by BMW - the M3 GTR powered by a V8 engine with around
450 bhp - made its debut in March in the 12 Hours at Sebring, Florida/USA,
latterly gaining six consecutive victories.
Says Gerhard Berger: "The ALMS title means a great deal to us. The USA is the
most important export market for BMW, and nowhere are sales of M cars higher
than in North America." BMW's Motorsport Director adds: "We will also be
presenting the road version of the BMW M3 GTR on the occasion of the ALMS
final." The car will be on display in the paddocks during the race weekend.
Drivers' standings ahead of the final race, after deletable results have been
taken into account:
Drivers Manufacturers Points
1. Jörg Müller BMW 165
2. JJ Lehto BMW 164
3. Sascha Maassen Porsche 153
4. Lucas Luhr Porsche 152
5. Boris Said BMW 139
6. Dirk Müller BMW 137
Fredrik Ekblom BMW 137
8. Randy Pobst Porsche 128
Christian Menzel Porsche 128
Hans-Joachim Stuck BMW 128
The 1,000-mile race starts at 12.00 pm (8.00 pm CET) on Saturday, 6 October
2001 and lasts a maximum of ten hours.
Live information and radio coverage will be available at
www.americanlemans.com.
Sylvia Proudfoot
spur07@cs.com
403 287 3945
