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