BMW driver line-up for Spa 24 Hours.

Munich, 21st April 2004. A good three months before the 24 Hour Race at
Spa, Belgium on 31st July/1st August, the drivers have been
definitively selected. For Antonio Garcia of Spain and British driver
Andy Priaulx it will be their first endurance event of this kind for
BMW Motorsport. They round off the team made up of the two German BMW
works drivers Dirk and Jörg Müller, their compatriot
Hans-Joachim Stuck and Pedro Lamy of Portugal, all four of whom will be
driving the muscular BMW M3 GTR in the preceding 24 Hour Race at the
Nürburgring on 12th/13th June. Garcia and Priaulx bring with them
experience of long-distance events and worthy achievements as BMW
drivers in the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC). 2004 sees
Garcia in his second year of ETCC competition for BMW Team Italy-Spain,
while Priaulx is in his second season for BMW Team Great Britain. Both
drivers, moreover, have experience with racing cars on a performance par
with the BMW M3 GTR. As part of his involvement in the 2002 FIA GT
Championship, Garcia has already competed in the 24 Hours of Spa.
Priaulx, who also works for BMW as an instructor in the Formula BMW UK
Championship, has raced in the V8 Supercar series in Australia. BMW
Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: "With these drivers we feel we
have a solid line-up for Spa as well. The driver teams for the
respective cars have yet to be decided. The Spa event will put an
extreme strain on the team and the drivers. Apart from Hans-Joachim
Stuck and Pedro Lamy, all of them will be racing in rounds 13 and 14 of
the ETCC immediately prior to the 24 Hours." The cars lined up for
the 24-hour races are two of the 500 bhp BMW M3 GTRs developed by BMW
Motorsport in Munich. They will be fielded by the same team that is
racing the BMW 320i models manned by Dirk and Jörg Müller for
BMW Team Deutschland in the ETCC. Both competition efforts are managed
by Schnitzer Motorsport of Freilassing. Under the aegis of Schnitzer's
team manager Charly Lamm, BMW touring cars have already won the Spa 24
Hours on five occasions: in 1985, '86, '88, '90 and '95. BMW has posted
a total of 21 overall victories in this endurance marathon which was
first staged in the Ardennes in 1924. The BMW M3 GTR marked its debut
in the 2001 American Le Mans Series (ALMS), in which it claimed victory
in every discipline: Jörg Müller won the Drivers' title, BMW
Motorsport took the Team trophy, and BMW was the Constructors' champion
in the USA. Antonio Garcia (ESP) Born 5th June 1980 in Madrid (ESP).
1988?1996: kart racing, 1994: winner World Championship Karting Inter A
category. 1997: third place Formula Campus Renault Elf, winner European
Championship Karting, Formula A. 1998: sixth place Open Fortuna by
Nissan, eighth place World Championship Karting, Formula Super A. 1999:
fifth place Euro Open Moviestar by Nissan. 2000: winner Open Telefonica.
2001: FIA GT Championship N-GT class, class win Nürburgring 24
Hours, International FIA Formula 3000 Championship. 2002: fifth place
World Series by Nissan, FIA GT Championship N-GT class. 2003: eighth
place ETCC (BMW 320i). 2004: also competing in the ETCC. Pedro Lamy
(PRT) Born 20th March 1972 in Aldeia Galega (PRT). 1978?1981: Mini
Motorbikes in Portugal, circuit racing and motocross, nine championship
titles. 1988: Portuguese Kart Champion. 1989 Portuguese Formula Ford
Champion. 1991: European Formula Opel Champion. 1992: German Formula 3
Champion (eleven wins). 1993: runner-up European Formula 3000
Championship, Formula One debut (Lotus). 1994: four F1 GPs for Lotus.
1995: eight F1 GPs for Minardi, one sixth place. 1996: F1 season for
Minardi. 1997 FIA GT Championship (Porsche). 1998: FIA GT Championship
(Chrysler Viper), eight wins. 1999: Le Mans 24 Hours (Mercedes), ALMS
and ISRS (BMW). 2000 and 2001: German Touring Car Championship (DTM)
(Mercedes). 2001 and 2002: winner Nürburgring 24 Hours (Chrysler
Viper). 2002: V8 Star (Jaguar) and Le Mans 24 Hours. 2003: V8 Star
Champion (Jaguar), Nürburgring 24 Hours (Dodge Viper), Spa 24
Hours (Chrysler Viper), fifth overall. Dirk Müller (GER) Born
18th November 1975 in Burbach, Siegerland (GER). Started kart racing in
1989. Race wins in Formula König and Formula Opel. 1996: German
Formula 3 Championship, one win. 1998: winner Porsche Carrera Cup. 1998
and 1999: second in class Daytona 24 Hours. 1999: Le Mans 24 Hours,
second in class. 2000: winner GT Class ALMS. BMW works driver since
2001. 2001: ALMS (BMW M3 GTR), one win. 2002: ETCC (BMW 320i), three
wins, fourth overall. 2003: ETCC (BMW 320i), two wins, fifth overall.
2004: also racing in the ETCC. Jörg Müller (GER) Born 3rd
September 1969 in Kerkrade (NLD). 1988: German Formula Ford Champion.
1989: winner German Formula Opel. 1990: winner European Formula Ford
Championship. 1991: winner Formula 3 GP Monaco. 1993: winner Formula 3
GP Macau. 1994: winner German Formula 3 Championship. 1995: winner ADAC
Super Touring Cup (BMW). 1996: winner European Formula 3000
Championship, winner Spa 24 Hours (BMW). 1997?1999: Formula One test
driver, incl. BMW. 1999: winner Sebring 12 Hours (BMW V12 LMR). 2000:
ALMS (BMW V12 LMR), two wins. 2001: winner GT Class ALMS (BMW M3 GTR).
2002: runner-up ETCC (BMW 320i), four wins. 2003: ETCC (BMW 320i), five
wins, second overall. 2004: also raced in the ETCC. 24-hour events:
three starts Le Mans, four starts Nürburgring, one start Daytona
and Spa. Andy Priaulx (GBR) Born 8th August 1974 in Guernsey, Channel
Islands. Started kart racing in 1984. 1990: winner Channel Islands
Motocross Championship 250 cc class. 1995: winner RAC MSA British
Hillclimb Championship. 1996: Formula Renault. 1997: British Formula 3
Championship scholarship. 1998: Renault Spider Cup, runner-up Formula
Palmer Audi Winter series. 1999: winner Renault Spider Cup, BTCC test
driver for Renault Williams, Vauxhall and Ford. 2000/2001: British
Formula 3 Championship and F3 races in Macau and Korea. 2002: fifth
place British Touring Car Championship. Competed in Australia in the
Bathurst 1000 and the Queensland 500 (Holden TWR). 2003: ETCC (BMW
320i), three wins. 2004: also racing in the ETCC. Hans-Joachim Stuck
(GER) Born 1st January 1951 in Garmisch-Partenkirchen (GER). 1970:
winner Nürburgring 24 Hours (BMW 2002ti). 1972: winner Spa 24
Hours, German Racing Champion. 1974: runner-up European Formula 2
Championship (March BMW). In total 74 Formula One GPs. 1979: winner
Procar Series (BMW). 1985: winner World Sports Car Championship. 1986:
runner-up World Sports Car Championship, winner Le Mans and Sebring 24
Hours. 1987: second win at Le Mans (in total 18 Le Mans starts to
1998). 1988: winner Sebring 12 Hours. 1990: winner German Touring Car
Championship. 1993: winner IMSA Supercar Series. 1998: winner
Nürburgring 24 Hours (BMW 320d). 1999/2000: class wins ALMS (BMW
M3 GT). 2001: class wins ALMS (BMW M3 GTR). 2003: races with BMW in the
USA and Nürburgring 24 Hours. 51 starts in 24-hour events to date.
Press contact: Heike Bartsch, BMW Corporate Communications, Tel.
089-382 33115, heike.bartsch@bmw.de