All-BMW front row for Lime Rock's Touring Car race
BMW of North America, LLC Notes and Quotes Speed Touring World Challenge Round 3 Qualifying Lime Rock Park Saturday, May 24, 2003 Race Date: Monday, May 26, 2003 Contact: Bill Cobb 215-295-3115 LIME ROCK BMW SPEED TOURING CAR QUALIFYING REPORT: ALL-BMW FRONT ROW Fifty Speed Touring cars took the green flag for this morning's 20-minute qualifying session for Round 3 of the SCCA Pro Racing Speed Touring Car Championship at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., to be held on Monday, May 26. Will Turner was the fastest of the 24 BMW 3 Series in the field, qualifying his No. 92 Turner Motorsport 325i on the pole with a time of 1:14.994 around the 1.53-mile Lime Rock circuit. In only his third Speed Touring Car start rookie Matt Plumb's No. 50 duPont Motorsport 325 was just a tenth behind Turner with a 1:15.095 lap to make an all-BMW front row. Rounding out the top 10, Bill Auberlen will start his No. 93 Tuner Motorsport 325i fifth (1:15.796); Nic Jonsson will start his LectricAir/Techmark 325Ci eighth; and Ken Dobson's No. 7 Chili Pepper Racing 325Ci will start ninth. Only the top 25 cars from the qualifying session locked in a starting spot, with the rest of the field competing in this afternoon's consolation race for the remaining 23 spots in Monday's race. The 50-minute race is scheduled to start at 10:00 a.m. Monday, May 26. WILL TURNER, No. 92 TURNER MOTORSPORT BMW 325i (first): "We've done a fair amount of testing here, including one full day this year in the rain, but I still don't have a tremendous amount of experience here in the wet. This pole is huge for us as Turner Motorsports has fans and family here and the rain will not keep them away on Monday. We're thrilled to have BMW of Watertown (Conn.) with us for this race as well." BILL AUBERLEN, No. 93 TURNER MOTORSPORTS BMW 325i (fifth): "We made some changes before qualifying and the BMW worked well. We will just have to wait and see if it goes dry or stays wet on Monday. I am carrying a lot of extra REWards weight so a top-five qualifying spot is good." NIC JONSSON, No. 27 LECTRICAIR/TECHMARK BMW 325Ci (eighth:) "We are happy with our effort this weekend. I was fastest in yesterday's rain practice session, but we had a bit of confusion this morning and I had to go out at the rear of the field. It was difficult to get a clear lap, but if I had I think I may have been in the top five. We have a great race car and I know that I can run my qualifying time all race long so I am looking forward to Monday." KEN DOBSON, No. 7 CHILI PEPPER RACING BMW 325Ci (ninth): "We made a good attempt at a rain set-up for qualifying and it worked pretty well. I had a bit of a problem getting the power down, but, all in all, ninth is OK and we are in good shape for Monday. Last year I led the first 23 laps of the race before overheating the front tires, so hopefully this year I can lead them all." BMW qualifying positions: 1 (92) Will Turner, Newburyport, Mass., BMW 325i 2 (50) Matt Plumb(R), Newport, R.I., BMW 325 5 (93) Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, Calif., BMW 325i 8 (27) Nic Jonsson, Dankeryt, Sweden, BMW 325Ci 9 (7) Ken Dobson, Carmel Valley, Calif., BMW 325Ci 18 (38) Paul Gargiulo, Greenwich, Conn., BMW 325 19 (36) James Clay(R), Blacksburg, Va., BMW 325i 20 (51), Alfred duPont, Kennett Square, Pa., BMW 325 21 (98), Robert Stretch, Dallas, Texas, BMW 325Ci 22 (62) Eric Curran, South Deerfield, Mass., BMW 325i 23 (01) Walter Markes Jr., Bronx, NY, BMW325i 28 (98), Neal Sapp, Ellicott City, MD, BMW 325Ci 30 (35), James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., BMW 325i 33 (94), Frank Selldorff, Boston, Mass., BMW 325i 34 (37), Matt Richmond(R), Mooresville, N.C., BMW 328i 35 (71) Alex Juhasz, Norwalk, Conn., BMW 325is 36 (60) Fred Pignataro, East Northport, NY, BMW 325is 38 (90) Matthew Sklarz, Kent, Conn, BMW 325i 40 (72) Clare Greenland, Mamaroneck, NY, BMW 325 42 (75) Laurence Oliva, Dover, NH, BMW325is 44 (56) Mickey Miller, Costa Mesa, Calif., BMW328is 45 (33) Brad Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., BMW 328i 46 (16) Phil Parlato, Commack, NY, BMW 325i 47 (57) Scott Lang, Huntington Beach, Calif., BMW 325i ###