24h-Race Spa-Francorchamps - Race Report

Team BMW Motorsport Takes The Class Win At Spa

Spa-Francorchamps. After an eventful 24 hour race at Spa the BMW M3 GTR car
number 142 has won the Group 2 class for Team BMW Motorsport, while in the
overall standings it finished sixth. The German trio of Jörg Müller, Dirk
Müller and Hans-Joachim Stuck showed their fighting spirit over the 525 laps
they completed, and did not let technical problems discourage them. At one
point the team, who won the recent Nürburgring 24 Hour Race, dropped as low as
28th but managed to fight their way back up the order.

The second BMW M3 GTR car number 143, driven by Andy Priaulx (GBR), Pedro Lamy
(POR), Kurt Mollekens (BEL) and Antonio Garcia (ESP) was on course for a podium
finish until shortly before the halfway mark. At 3.51am Garcia had to retire
his 500bhp GT sports car due to electrical problems while lying third.

"I am impressed with the fighting spirit of the drivers and the team," said BMW
Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, "There were occasions when the BMW M3 GTR
was setting the fastest lap times. This proves the car's good performance in
this particular race. Unfortunately some unexpected problems hit us again and
again. The car was developed for short distance races and, therefore, has
proved more difficult to service in longer events."

Car number 142 had to overcome several challenges in the Ardennes. The Team BMW
Motorsport crew, under the guidance of Team Manager, Charly Lamm, had hardly
any time to take a breather. Tyre difficulties at the beginning of the race, a
broken oil pipe and problems with the ignition were solved by the crew over the
course of the marathon. Despite spending a total of 92 minutes in the pits for
unscheduled repairs, Dirk Müller, Jörg Müller and Hans-Joachim Stuck fought
back after each stop. The fact only 22 competitors out of the 42 starters
crossed the finish line is proof of how tough the conditions have been on both
men and machines here in Spa, where the day time temperatures were as high as
30 degrees.

With this result the tally for BMW at the Spa 24 Hours remains at 21 outright
victories since the race was first held in 1924. The most recent BMW victory
was for Alain Cudini, Marc Duez and Eric Van de Poele in 1998 in a BMW 320i.

BMW M3 GTR Nr. 142 - Stuck/J.Müller/D.Müller
Rd. 1 - Starting driver: H.-J. Stuck - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 38 - Driver change to: Jörg Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 59 - Driver change to: Dirk Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 87 - Driver change to: H.-J.-Stuck - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 115 - Driver change to: Jörg Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 143 - Driver change to: Dirk Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 171 - Driver change to: H.-J.-Stuck - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 199 - Driver change to: Jörg Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 227 - Driver change to: Dirk Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 254 - Driver change to: H.-J.-Stuck - tyres: Slicks - change of ignition
Rd. 297 - Driver change to: Jörg Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 325 - Driver change to: Dirk Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 353 - Driver change to: H.-J.-Stuck - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 376 - Driver change to: Jörg Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 409 - Driver change to: Dirk Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 437 - Driver change to: H.-J.-Stuck - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 465 - Driver change to: Jörg Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 495 - Driver change to: Dirk Müller - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 525 - Finishing driver: Dirk Müller

BMW M3 GTRNr.143 - Lamy/Garcia/Priaulx/Mollekens
Lap 1 - Starting driver: Pedro Lamy - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 37 - Driver change to: Antonio Garcia - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 62 - Driver change to: Andy Priaulx - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 88 - Driver change to: Kurt Mollekens - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 116 - Driver change to: Pedro Lamy - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 145 - Driver change to: Antonio Garcia - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 171 - Driver change to: Andy Priaulx - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 200 - Driver change to: Kurt Mollekens - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 227 - Driver change to: Pedro Lamy - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 255 - Driver change to: Antonio Garcia - tyres: Slicks
Rd. 278 - retired due to technicalproblem

Overall Results: 1. Luca Cappellari/Fabrizio Gollin/Lilian Bryner/Enzo
Calderari (Ferrari 550 M) 558 laps , 2. Vincent Vosse/Mika Salo/Fabio
Babini/Philipp Peter (Ferrari 575 M) 557 laps, 3. Stephane Ortelli/Romain
Dumas/Emmanuel Collard (Porsche 996 GT3-RS) 545 laps, 4. Alexei Vasiliev/Timo
Berhard/Jörg Bergmeister (Porsche 996 GT3-RS) 543 laps, 5. Sascha Maassen/Lucas
Luhr/Marc Lieb (Porsche 996 GT3-RS) 528 laps 6. Dirk Müller/Jörg Müller/Hans-
Joachim Stuck (BMW M3 GTR) 525 laps, 7. Matteo Bobbi/Gabriele Gardel/Stefano
Livio/Miguel Angel de Castro (Ferrari 550 M) 524 laps, 8. Mike Jordan/David
Jones/Godfrey Jones (Porsche 996 GT3-RS) 521 laps.
Group 2: 1. Dirk Müller/Jörg Müller/Hans-Joachim Stuck (BMW M3 GTR) 525 laps,
2. . Jean André/Rudi Penders/Eric Jamar/Nicolas De Gastines (Porsche 996 GT3-R)
494 laps, 3. Bas Leinders/Sebastien Ugeux/Renaud Kuppens (Vertigo Streiff) 491
laps.

Press Contact:
Heike Bartsch, BMW Cooperate Affairs, Motorsport, Mobile: +49 172 8485998,
heike.bartsch@bmw.de

The press kit for the 24 Hours of Spa and photographs from qualifying and the
race are available to download from www.press.bmw.com