Podium finish for the BMW M3 GTR at it's debut in Sebring

2nd round American Le Mans Series, 17 March 2001, Sebring (USA)

Successful debut of the new BMW M3 GTR: BMW works drivers JJ Lehto and Jörg
Müller finished third in the GT class in the 12 Hours at Sebring. BMW Team PTG
drivers Hans-Joachim Stuck, Boris Said and Peter Cunningham finished fourth in
class with their last year's BMW M3. The historic endurance event was the
second race in the 2001 American Le Mans Series, staged on the 3.7-mile Sebring
International Raceway road course.

BMW Motorsport driver JJ Lehto (FIN) started third in the GT class in the new
BMW M3 GTR, fitted with a V8-engine. He took the class lead 11 minutes into the
12-hour endurance race before handing off to Jörg Müller (GER), who set a track
GT race lap record in two minutes 6.682 seconds. The pair led much of the race,
exchanging the lead with the winning Porsche of Maassen/Luhr/Collard, and
ultimately finished third. Their finish moves Müller to seventh in the ALMS GT
standings and Lehto to eighth.

The BMW Motorsport pair of Fredrik Ekblom (S) and reigning GT champion Dirk
Müller (D) started sixth in class and moved to fourth just past the one-hour
mark. They held fourth for the first hour 35 minutes until a hydraulic line
failed on the engine's VANOS system. They returned to the race in 12th position
after a 22-minute pitstop and regained two positions before retiring with an
engine failure at seven hours.

BMW Team PTG's second M3, with drivers Bill Auberlen (USA), Nic Jonsson (S) and
Joey Hand (USA) retired after two hours with an engine failure.

BMW Motorsport team manager Charly Lamm: "It's fantastic to come to Sebring
with a new race car and finish on the podium in one of the toughest endurance
races. This result is a huge reward for the BMW technicians and the Schnitzer
crew who built the BMW M3 GTR in such a tight timeframe and an excellent start
for the program. We were unlucky with the engine in our last year's BMW M3, but
Fredrik gained valuable ALMS race experience and he and Dirk scored some points.

It has been a very special race for us, but also we are sad about the loss of
Bob Wollek, one of the great sports-car drivers and a friend to us for many
years. Our thoughts are with his family."

JJ Lehto: "Third place is a great finish for us, since the car is so new and we
really haven't had much time with it. This was a test race for us, so being on
the podium is pretty impressive. The crew deserves a big credit because they
worked so hard to get us here. I think we're going to have a very strong
season."

Jörg Müller: "Thanks to our guys because they worked like hell. They worked
until five o'clock this morning, just went to the apartments and showered and
came back. They did a fantastic job. The car was running without any big
problems and setup-wise we were also not too bad at the end, so I'm quite
happy. That car could do another 12 hours."

Fredrik Ekblom: "It was great while it lasted. Even though we were in last
year's car, it was a nice car to drive. Everything was going well the first
couple of hours, then we ran into problems. But it's a great experience to be
racing for BMW and Schnitzer: it's such a terrific team! I'm really looking
forward to the rest of the season."

Dirk Müller: "We're all a bit disappointed that we couldn't do it to the finish
of the race. Unfortunately, we got bad luck, but the team effort was really,
really strong. It was my first time with BMW and with Fredrik, and I have to
say I'm really proud to be a part of the team. I'm looking forward to the new
car to fight the battles for victory."

Hans-Joachim Stuck: "I'm very happy about fourth position because we did what
we wanted -- we got points to stay in the hunt for the championship. I enjoyed
every single lap, and for us it was like a victory. We carried the car around
as much as we could, stayed out of trouble and achieved the utmost possible.
We will get our new BMW M3 GTR with the V8 in July and should be front-runners
again."

Leading results of the GT class:
1. Sascha Maassen (GER), Lucas Luhr (GER), Emmanuel Collard (F), Porsche 911
GT3 RS, 326 laps
2. Randy Pobst (USA), Christian Menzel (GER), Timo Bernhard (GER), Porsche 911
GT3 RS, 326
3. JJ Lehto (FIN), Jörg Müller (GER), BMW M3 GTR, 324
4. Hans-Joachim Stuck (GER), Boris Said (USA), Peter Cunningham (USA), BMW M3,
318
5. Christophe Bouchut (F), Sebastien Dumez (F), Patrice Goueslard (F), Porsche
911 GT3 RS, 317
6. Gabrio Rosa (I), Fabio Babini (I), Alex Caffi (MC), Porsche 911 GT3 RS, 311