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ALMS: BMW Team PTG has tough Texas race

4 September 2000

BMW Team PTG finished sixth and seventh in Saturday's
grueling two-hour 45-minute race at Texas Motor Speedway,
after record temperatures, high track banking and debris took
their toll on the team's tires.  Brian Cunningham and Nic
Jonsson started eighth and raced in fourth place for much of
the race in the #10 BMW M3.  They finished sixth after tire
punctures and the loss of second gear.  Hans Stuck and
Johannes van Overbeek started ninth in the #7 M3, moved to
fifth at the start of the race, but were relegated to finish
seventh, also slowed by tire punctures.

Nic Jonsson, driver, #10 BMW M3

"We had a pretty good race car.  We had one of the fastests car in
the infield, but coming onto the banking and the front stretch, we
lost too much to the Porsches.  But what killed us was the first cut
tire because we had a prototype car slide into us and cut the tire
on the third or fourth lap of the race."

Johannes van Overbeek, driver, #7 BMW M3

"It was a frustrating race today.  I had two right-rear tire explosions
exiting NASCAR turn two at 135 miles an hour.  So it was kind of a
hair-raising experience.  But both Hans and I bear the heat and
Hans did a great job.  I'm happy that we even finished with the
circumstances."

Tom Salkowsky, motorsport manager, BMW of North America, Inc.

"It just wasn't our weekend.  We knew going in that this track
wasn't ideal for BMW.  But hats off to the team.  The drivers
endured 150-plus degrees in the car and the team worked all
Friday night to get an engine repaired.  The best thing we can do
is put this in the rear-view mirror and get to Portland."

Tom Milner, team owner, BMW Team PTG

"Obviously, it was not our race.  We had a total of four flat tires, so
of course that puts you behind.  One of the flat tires ruined our
system for the cooling system for the differential so we had to slow
down in order to save the differential.  Portland is a different race
track and it won't be quite as bad there for us because of the
straighaways here for us.  We'll take it one at a time and see what
we can do."

BMW victory

Rookie Don Salama of Avon, Conn., won the Speedvision World
Challenge race on Saturday.  It was the first World Challenge win
for BMW this season, breaking a six-race streak of victories for
Acura.  Salama led flag to flag to score the win in a BMW 328is.