SUCCESS FOR BMW MOTORRAD AT LE MANS

SUCCESS FOR BMW MOTORRAD AT LE MANS

Woodcliff Lake, NJ - April 23, 2007... BMW Motorrad returned to world
championship motorcycle racing with impressive results this weekend at the
grueling Le Mans 24 hour race in France, culminating with a win in its class
and a highly impressive 16th overall on the modified R 1200 S sports boxer.

Despite a difference in horsepower compared with their rivals, BMW Motorrad
Motorsport team riders Thomas Hinterreiter, Rico Penzkofer and Marcus Barth
hustled the flat-twin around the 4.18-kilometre Bugatti circuit, entertaining
90,000 sun-soaked spectators with daring late-braking maneuvers and impressive
speed through the turns.

Throughout the 24 hours and 776 laps of the race, the bike's twin-cylinder
engine never missed a beat. Considering that the BMW R 1200 S has only had one
shakedown test - and that most of the top teams didn't suffer any serious
misfortunes or retirements - finishing 16th overall was a tremendous result and
one that will give the whole team a huge boost for the forthcoming season,
according to Markus Barth.

"This was an amazing result and it's largely due to the way the whole team
works together," said the German rider who had originally been the substitute
rider until an injury to Stéphane Mertens meant that Barth got the ride at Le
Mans. "All three of us put in very close and consistent lap times and that made
us very competitive. I am very happy with this result because, before the race,
I thought that we'd do well to finish in the top 20, so to get 16th is super. I
want to thank all the mechanics and everybody involved in the race effort
because they've all played an important part in our success. Considering we
were down on horsepower, I think we've done really well. I had no problems at
all during the race apart from a bit of a sore neck, but I'm looking forward to
celebrating this success with the rest of the team."

This was a view shared by Barth's teammate Thomas Hinterreiter.

"This World Endurance Championship race result is a perfect start and I'm so
happy because I never would have believed that we'd finish as high up as we
did," observed Hinterreiter. "Le Mans is a very tough place to race and most
of our rivals had much faster bikes, so to do what we did was great," he
added. "We knew we'd be at a disadvantage compared with the rest of the field,
but this is all part of the challenge. I didn't have any problems during the
race and I actually felt that the bike was getting better as the race wore on!
We've not had much time with the R 1200 S before coming to Le Mans, so this
result makes me very, very happy."

Rico Penzkofer was also very pleased with the team's performance and result in
this race, one of the toughest on the endurance calendar.

"I was thinking about a top 25 place before this weekend," commented Penzkofer.

"We did very well to finish 16th, especially as very few top teams crashed out
or retired," he remarked. "Our result was due to hard work and effort. The
team has done absolutely perfect work and the team spirit has been super
throughout the weekend. This is a great start to the season and it gives us
plenty of confidence for the next race."

Director of BMW Motorrad Motorsport, Berti Hauser, was delighted with the
team's first official outing and believes that Boxer fans can expect more of
the same throughout 2007.

"After five years of the Boxer Cup, we wanted a new challenge and we also
wanted to give something back to the fans," commented Hauser. "We wanted to
participate in a major race but knew we couldn't do Superbike with this bike
(because of the regulations) so we chose what is probably the toughest
discipline of all - endurance!"

"Le Mans is probably the most famous and also the toughest endurance race on
the calendar," Hauser added, "and with many strong teams participating, we knew
it wasn't going to be easy. However, I never expected we'd finish in the top
16 and I am both happy and delighted with this performance. The team's
motivation and spirit has been super throughout and this result is a great
reward for everybody's hard work and commitment. We've learned so much just
from being part of this race and we've got a lot of ideas to work on that I
know will help us improve the bike even more for the next challenge."

Results

1. S.E.R.T. - 818 laps.
2. S.E.R.T. - 818 laps.
3. Kawasaki Motor France - 817 laps.
4. Yamaha GMT - 811 laps.
5. Yamaha Austria Racing - 810 laps.
16. BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 776 laps.

Open Class

1. BMW Motorrad Motorsport - 776 laps.

Photos

Copyright-free press photos are available for editorial use via the following
links:

http://bmwinternational.rbplimited.co.uk/endurance/HinterreiterR5.jpg

http://bmwinternational.rbplimited.co.uk/endurance/Hinterreier_3su.jpg

http://bmwinternational.rbplimited.co.uk/endurance/BMW_pitstop6.jpg

http://bmwinternational.rbplimited.co.uk/endurance/Penzkofer_flag_1.jpg

http://bmwinternational.rbplimited.co.uk/endurance/BMW_pod_1.jpg

http://bmwinternational.rbplimited.co.uk/endurance/BarthR7.jpg

http://bmwinternational.rbplimited.co.uk/endurance/PenzkoferR4a.jpg