Five BMWs in Touring top 10 at LRP
BMW of North America, LLC Notes and Quotes SCCA Speed Touring Car - Round 3 Race Lime Rock Park Monday, May 26, 2003 Contact: Bill Cobb, 215-295-3115 FIVE BMWs in Top 10 in LIME ROCK TOURING CAR RACE; PLUMB SECOND IN THIRD CAREER TOURING START Matt Plumb finished in a career-best second place in only his third career Touring car start, keeping his No. 50 duPont Motorsport BMW 325 up front all day from his second starting spot at a very wet Round 3 of the SCCA Pro Racing Speed Touring Car Championship at Lime Rock Park in Lakeville, Conn., today. Pierre Kleinubing won the 38-lap contest in an Acura by 16.664 seconds over Plumb. Pole-sitter Will Turner jumped the start and was awarded a stop-and-go penalty, but recovered to finish ninth in his No. 92 Turner Motorsport BMW 325i. Round 1 Sebring winner Bill Auberlen finished fourth in his No. 93 Turner Motorsport BMW 325i, making it all top-five finishes for the season after a second at Mosport¹s round 2 race. Ken Dobson finished fifth in his No. 7 Chili Pepper Racing BMW 325Ci and Alfred duPont,in the No. 51 duPont Motorsport BMW 325, rounded out the top 10. Auberlen now stands second in the Driver¹s Championship, with Turner third, Ken Dobson seventh and Matt Plumb moving into ninth. BMW is second in the Manufacturer¹s Championship by two points, as the series heads to Round 4 at Road Atlanta in Braselton, Ga., on June May 27-29. MATT PLUMB, No. 50 duPONT MOTORSPORT BMW 325 (second): "Luckily it rained because we have not had a lot of time to test and the rain is a great equalizer. We knew we would be just a bit behind in the dry so we were happy to see the raindrops." KEN DOBSON, No. 7 CHILI PEPPER RACING BMW 325Ci (fifth): "We knew we did not have the best rain set-up, so to survive with a top-five is a good result. I had a little contact with Peter Cunningham¹s Nissan toward the end, which was unintentional, but racing in the rain is a risky business." WILL TURNER, No. 92 TURNER MOTORSPORTS BMW 325i (ninth): "I got away cleanly from the pole and thought I had a good start, but about two laps later I was called in for a stop-and-go penalty for jumping the start. I lost a lot of positions and made up as many as I could. The spray in the back of the pack made it very difficult to see anything. All in all, two Turner Motorsport BMWs in the top-10 make for a good weekend." ALFRED duPONT, No. 51 duPONT MOTORSPORT BMW325Ci (10th): "It was a great race for me as I have not raced a lot in the rain and I was happy to be up where I was. I started 20th and hearing that my teammate, Matt Plumb, was doing so well kept me charging. Matt helped me a lot by showing me the wet line around this track and with the set-up the crew came up with it was a great race." Unofficial BMW finishing positions: 2 (50), Matt Plumb(R), Newport, R.I., BMW 325 4 (93), Bill Auberlen, Hermosa Beach, Calif., BMW 325i 5 (7) Ken Dobson, Carmel Valley, Calif., BMW 325Ci 9 (92) Will Turner, Newburyport, Mass., BMW 325i 10 (51), Alfred duPont, Kennett Square, Pa., BMW 325 11 (62) Eric Curran, South Deerfield, Mass., BMW 325i 15 (72) Clare Greenland, Mamaroneck, NY BMW325 17 (60) Fred Pignataro, Northport, NY, BMW 325is 19 (90) Matthew Sklarz, Kent, Conn., BMW 325i 20 (71) Alex Juhasz, Norwalk, Conn., BMW 325is 24 (94), Frank Selldorff, Boston, Mass., BMW 325i 25 (33), Brad Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., BMW 328i 29 (35) James Sofronas, Newport Beach, Calif., BMW 325i 31 (57) Scott Lang, Huntington Beach, Calif., BMW 325i 33 (56) Mickey Miller, Costa Mesa, Calif., BMW 328is 34 (16) Phil Parlato, Commack, NY, BMW 325i 35 (75) Laurence Oliva, Dover, NH., BMW 325is 41 (37), Matt Richmond(R), Mooresville, N.C., BMW 328i 42 (38) Paul Gargiulo, Greenwich, CT, BMW 325 43 (36), James Clay(R), Blacksburg, Va., BMW 325i ###