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ALMS: BMW Team PTG test day report

16 September 1999

BMW Team PTG notes:  test day, Sept. 15
Petit Le Mans, Road Atlanta
race six, American Le Mans Series

driver championship

BMW Team PTG driver Johannes van Overbeek is leading the
American Le Mans Series GT driver championship.  "This is a
pleasant surprise.  The hard part will be maintaining the points
lead through the last three races," he said.  "I approached this
year as a learning year.  I wanted to learn from my more seasoned
and experienced teammates.  To be leading past the halfway point
of the season is excellent!"

twin team

Twins Brian and Mark Simo are both driving for BMW Team PTG
for the first time since the inaugural Petit Le Mans.  Brian co-drove
the winning GT2 (now GTS) car and Mark the winning GT3 (now
GT).

"I was having a bit of a struggle getting the feel of things, but we'll
just work on it really hard and get up to speed," Brian said. "It's
just getting acclimated to both the car and the track.  The car
works really well, but I don't think I'm really maximizing it yet.  Mark
seems to do very well in these cars and he seems pretty quick, so
maybe I can learn some things from him," Brian said.

BMW victory

BMW Team PTG drivers Brian Cunningham, Boris Said, Brian
Simo and Mark Simo scored their first victory of the week,
defeating Reiser-Callas Porsche drivers in a Slick Trax challenge
at SpeedZone on Sept. 14.  BMW won the manufacturer
championship with 28 points to Porsche's 17.  Said won the pro
driver title with his time of 16.732 seconds, and local BMW car
club member Melvin Hodges won the VIP race in 16.614 seconds. 
BMW club members traveled from as far as Knoxville, Tenn. to
compete.

"It's good to be king," Said mused.

congrats

BMW Team PTG driver Hans Stuck and Sylvia Berg were married
Aug. 28 in Austria, in the area where the Sound of Music was
filmed.  They exchanged matching wedding bands bearing the
Stuck family crest.  Stuck's parents also wore crested bands and
enjoyed 30 years of marriage together.

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