BMW Motorsport: Nurburgring 24 preview

BMW
Corporate Communications





24h-Race Nürburging 2003 - 29 May -1 June - Preview

BMW Motorsport Gets Ready for the 24h-Race Nürburgring

The preparation is over and now it is time for the real thing. Tomorrow the
cars in the 31st 24h-Race Nürburgring will take to the famous 25.951
kilometre Nordschleife track for qualifying for this weekend's race. This
year BMW Motorsport has entered two of its M3 GTRs that have been mothballed
since the team’s last race in the American Le Mans Series in
2001. Schnitzer Motorsport, with help from the BMW Motorsport engineers, is
runing the cars.

BMW has gone for a combination of youth and experience for the seven
drivers. The drivers in car number 43 are the all German team of Claudia
Hürtgen and ETCC regulars Dirk and Jörg Müller, while the multinational team
in car number 42 are Germany's Hans-Joachim Stuck, Denmark's John Nielsen
and America's Boris Said. As if this isn't an impressive enough
line-up, BMW has also acquired the services of Belgium's Marc Duez, who has
won this race four times, as reserve driver for both cars.

On Wednesday (28th May) all the cars did a concours lap of the circuit and
this proved an eye opener to the newcomers to this event, as the fans were
allowed to be on the track. It took over an hour and a half and
approximately every hundred yards the drivers stopped to talk to the fans,
let them have a close look at the cars and sign autographs.

The first qualifying session on Friday (30th May) will be from 10.00 to
12.00 and the second from 19.00 to 23.00. The race, which will start at
15.00 hours on Saturday (31st May), will have over 200 cars on the starting
grid.

Car No 42 - BMW M3 GTR

Hans-Joachim Stuck:  "I have won this race twice and perhaps I know this
track as well as any of the other drivers. This race is where the true basis
of motorsport is. You have top level competition and you have inexperienced
people. This is great as it gives people who love motorsport the chance to
race against experienced people in works teams. This is the best circuit in
the world. There is not another track that can match it."

Boris Said:  "You can’'t explain the craziness of driving round yesterday in
the concours. You can’t put it into words. You have to experience it and see
it. The closest I can compare it to is if you take the craziest NASCAR race,
put the fans on the track and spread them out for 15 miles. My lap was an
hour and a half, but I think I will be a bit quicker now I have Marc (Duez)
here to teach me! I did a four hour race here with Dirk, which I loved, but
now we are in a good car and I can’t wait for the weekend to start."

John Nielsen:  "I have never done this race before. I have always wanted to
do it but there was never time or the right opportunity. It was on my list
to do and so I am delighted to be doing it now. I have done the long
distance trophy four-hour races, so I do know the track well. The car looks
beautiful and it is nice to drive. The competition is very tough, there is
no doubt about it, but being with BMW and Schnitzer I think we have a good
chance. I have only had a couple of days testing at Spa, but the car is easy
to drive and you get used to it very quickly. Mechanically I am pretty sure
it will do the distance.

Car No 43 - BMW M3 GTR

Jörg Müller:  "It was amazing when we were out yesterday as some of those
guys on the track were stroking the rear wing, some were praying in front of
the car and lying down in the road. It was fantastic. We have a lot of very
good fans here and I hope we are going to give them a nice show. It is a
long time since I last drove this car in America. I am very happy to drive a
car with such power again in this special surrounding at the Nurburgring. It
is tough to drive this car but it is fun. I have done the race three times,
with seventh my best position, so I am hoping to do better."

Dirk Müller:  "This will be my first 24 hour race here. I have only done a
4-hour race here and that was a few weeks ago with Boris. That was my first
experience so I am quite excited about this weekend. I really love being
here so many thanks to BMW. The cars are good and I am really pleased to see
the M3 GTR out again, we need this car for this race. BMW has won
this race 16 times, and I would like to be in the car that wins this race
for the marque the 17th time."

Claudia Hürtgen:  "I have raced here four times before. I love the feeling
you get here, especially with the spectators so close to the track. It is a
big event and I am very happy to be here. It is special for me to be here as
a factory driver for BMW. I know I am in a very good team and that is
important for this race.

Reserve Driver

Marc Duez: "I have won this race four times and competed in it about 15
times. This car is the best compromise you can imagine for such a race. You
have reliability, power, good team-mates, a good crew and so you have
potential for a good result. The race is long and there are lots of cars on
the track. We always have to race with a little reserve in case of strange
reactions from some of the drivers on the track because many of them are
amateurs."