Team BMW Motorsport - 24h Nürburgring - Bulletin 3

Nürburging 24 Hour Race, 12th-13th June 2004 - Race Bulletin 3

One-two lead for Team BMW Motorsport at the halfway point.

Nürburg, 13th June 2004. Team BMW Motorsport has managed to defend its lead in
the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race during the night as well. After 82 laps, the
number 42 BMW M3 GTR continues at the head of the field. The other GT coupé run
under the aegis of Schnitzer Motorsport (car number 43) lies one lap behind in
second place.

Team manager Charly Lamm is happy with progress so far in this endurance
classic in the Eifel: "Due to the unstable weather situation, the choice of
tyres was crucial in the first half of the race. At least the racing crew had
no chance to get bored. But looking at the halfway results, our drivers are
clearly coping well with the perfectly functioning BMW M3 GTRs."

Dirk Müller (Burbach), leading the field in car number 42, had handed the wheel
over to Hans-Joachim Stuck (Ellmau) at the end of lap 54. During the night,
Stuck brought all his experience of 52 starts in the 24 Hour Race on this
24.358 kilometre circuit to bear. After ten laps he vacated the cockpit for
Jörg Müller (Hückelhoven). Afterwards conditions worsened once more,
necessitating an early pit stop to take on wet tyres. Team BMW Motorsport used
this opportunity on lap 71 to carry out the scheduled driver change with Dirk
Müller. Eleven laps later, Stuck returned to the cockpit of car number 42.

After lap 54, Pedro Lamy (PRT) handed over the controls of the second BMW M3
GTR (number 43) to Duncan Huisman (NLD). The 32-year-old soon advanced into
second place to give Team BMW Motorsport its double lead, which currently still
stands. Boris Said (USA) and Lamy, who manned the wheel of the 500 bhp car on
the two subsequent stints, consolidated this second position behind car number
42. After lap 80, Huisman took over at the wheel of car number 43 again.
Weather conditions in the Eifel remained unpredictable during the night. Sudden
cloudbursts meant drivers had to exercise the greatest caution on the track. "I
was still running on slicks when the rain started again," reported Said.
"That's why I had to cut back radically on my speed. The track was literally
flooded in places. I saw a lot of accidents and I'm glad to have made it back
to the pits unscathed."

After a driving time of fourteen hours and a total of 82 laps so far, Team BMW
Motorsport with Stuck/Huisman in a one-two lead is in a promising position to
maintain its successful performance for the remainder of this 32nd edition of
the 24-hour classic.

Press contact: Heike Bartsch, BMW Corporate Communications Motorsport,
Mobile: 0172 - 84 85 998, Tel: 089-382 33115, heike.bartsch@bmw.de
Latest pictures downloadable at www.press.bmw.de