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ALMS: Next Entry for BMW V12 Le Mans Roadsters

24 July 1999

Munich. For stages four and five of the American Le Mans Series (ALMS), the
BMW Motorsport team will be traveling to the North American west coast: On
July 25, two BMW V12 LMR will be at the starting line in Sears Point, north
of San Francisco. One week later, on August 1, they will be taking on the
competition in Portland, Oregon.

Each race will run two hours and 45 minutes; the drivers of the open sports
cars will be Bill Auberlen (USA), J.J. Lehto (FIN), Steve Soper (GB) and
Joachim Winkelhock (Ger).

Working in parallel with Formula 1 preparations and after the 24 hours race
of Le Mans, where Yannick Dalmas (Fra), Pierluigi Martini (Italy) and
Winkelhock captured a celebrated victory, BMW Motorsport is now giving
priority to the ALMS.

Another three races are on the agenda of the new series by the end of the
racing season: The 1000-mile "petit Le Mans" race at Road Atlanta
(September
18) as well as shorter distances at Laguna Seca (October 10) and San Diego
(November 7). At the kick-off race, of the American Le Mans Series, the 12
hours of Sebring, JJ Lehto, Jörg Müller and Tom Kristensen scored the first
victory with the BMW V12 LMR.

BMW's commitment to the American Le Mans Series means entering races in the
most important foreign market of the marque. In the first six months of
1999, BMW posted a new sales record in the United States: 78,110 vehicles
sold represent a 17 percent increase over the same period of the previous
year, which means that BMW in the first half of 1999 sold as many cars as
during the entire year 1993

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