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ALMS: BMW Team PTG Heads to the High Banks in Texas

24 August 2000

          FORT WORTH, Tex. (Aug. 24, 2000) -- BMW Team PTG will
field its two newest 2001 BMW M3s in the inaugural American Le
Mans Series Grand Prix of Texas, scheduled for Saturday evening,
Sept. 1 at Texas Motor Speedway.  The race, seventh of 12 in the
2000 series, will be staged on a new 2.83-mile infield road course
that incorporates the high-banked 1.5-mile oval track.
          Hans Stuck of Austria and Johannes van Overbeek of
Danville, Calif., will drive the No. 7 BMW M3.  Their teammates
Brian Cunningham of Danville, Ky., and Nic Jonsson of Aliso Viejo,
Calif., will be paired in the No. 10 M3 for the two-hour 45-minute
race.  Both BMW M3s will carry the colors of team sponsors
Yokohama, Flextronics International and Level One.
          Although the road course is new, Jonsson has raced on the
Texas oval in an Indy car.  He is looking forward to a return visit.
          "I think it will be a wonderful place to race because it's a
great facility, with a big grandstand so the audience can see the
whole race, all the cars all the time," he said.  "I assume that
things are going to be very slippery on the infield, and that will fit
our cars better than the Porsches.  There is one long straight on
the front stretch, but it's very bumpy, so I think our cars will handle
the bumps much better going into turn one."
          "Since we've never raced at Texas Motor Speedway, this
poses a challenge, especially adding to the fact that it's a night
race," said Tom Salkowsky, motorsport manager for BMW of
North America, Inc. "We've made some significant developments
to the BMW M3 and it's starting to show in our qualifying and race
results.  I'd like to continue to maintain the momentum that we've
picked up since the Sears Point race in July."
          BMW Team PTG owner Tom Milner noted the unknown will
be a test for everyone.  "Nobody's been there and nobody will be
able to test, because the track will be finished right around the
time we get there," he said.  "Ovals don't generally favor our cars,
but we don't know yet where we'll race on the banking."
          Although he hasn't raced in Texas, van Overbeek is
confident about learning the track.   "I've always done pretty well
on the half-oval, half-road-course type of tracks, so I'm looking
forward to it," he said.  "We've been getting close to winning as a
team, with third at Sears Point and second at Mosport, so this
could be a great breakthrough event for us."
          The American Le Mans Series Grand Prix of Texas is
scheduled  to start at 7 p.m. CDT (8 p.m. EDT) on Saturday, Sept.
2.  It will be televised on NBC Sports on Sunday, Sept. 3 from 4
p.m. to 6 p.m.  The American Le Mans Series Radio Web will
broadcast live on Sept. 1 from 2 p.m. to 4 p.m. and Sept. 2 from 2
p.m. to 4 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. to 11:30 p.m.  (all EDT)