One-two win for Team BMW Motorsport at the Nürburgring.

Nürburg, 13th June 2004. The two BMW M3 GTRs sporting the numbers
42 and 43 were first and second to cross the start/finish line in the
Nürburgring 24 Hour Race. After a total of 143 laps, Dirk
Müller (Burbach), Jörg Müller (Hückelhoven) and
Hans-Joachim Stuck (Ellmau), watched by BMW Group's head of development
Professor Burkhard Göschel, took victory in the 32nd edition of the
Eifel marathon. The drivers of the second BMW M3 GTR, bearing the number
43 - Pedro Lamy (PRT), Duncan Huisman (NDL) and Boris Said (USA) - were
the second team to pass the chequered flag after 142 laps, clinching a
double victory for Team BMW Motorsport. "I was sweating it out
too all the way from Montreal, and was kept permanently posted on the
latest situation by GPS and data transmission," said BMW
Motorsport Director Mario Theissen at the Formula One Grand Prix in
Canada. "This is a fantastic result. A huge compliment to the team
and the drivers, who always managed to keep a cool head and made the
right decisions in spite of the most challenging conditions. BMW
Motorsport has added another memorable one-two victory to its numerous
touring car successes at the Nordschleife. The two BMW M3 GTRs ran like
clockwork. After their commanding successes in the ALMS, they have now
corroborated their qualities in Europe as well. We are well equipped to
take on the next 24-hour race at Spa." With this, its seventh
one-two win, BMW continues its story of success in the Nürburgring
24 Hour Races. The company with the blue and white emblem has claimed
overall victory for the 17th time. The last occasion that a BMW made it
to the top of the podium was in 1998, in a success which made racing
history: the BMW 320d became the first diesel-powered model to win a
24-hour event. Team Manager Charly Lamm noted with tears in his eyes,
"Of course we were bearing the burden of what happened in 2003.
You come here and you give your all, but a 24-hour race isn't over
until 24 hours have elapsed. There's always room for some drama just
before the end, as we witnessed among other participants here. What can
I say? It was a dream and it has come true. Everything worked out
perfectly for us." One of this year's drivers had been in the
winning team of 1998: Hans-Joachim Stuck. For the 53-year-old, it is
the third overall win of his career. Stuck's victories at the
Nordschleife have always doubled as premieres: in 1970 he won the first
24 Hour Race on the Nürburgring, 28 years later came victory in the
BMW 320d, and now the first triumph in a GT model. That takes the tally
of this seasoned driver to three wins each in the Le Mans 24 Hours and
in the Eifel classic. "Psychologically it was the most strenuous
race I have ever entered," said Stuck after the BMW M3 GTR had
crossed the finishing line. "The difficult weather conditions
meant you were constantly riding along a razor's edge. But despite that
it was tremendous fun. I have to express my special praise for the
engineers. They handed us a perfectly functioning BMW M3 GTR."
Stuck's team-mates Dirk Müller and Jörg Müller, by
contrast, celebrated their first overall victory in a 24-hour race.
"I'm just over the moon," said Dirk Müller. "In the
last laps I was concentrating on avoiding mistakes at all costs. When I
crossed the finishing line, I went totally goose-pimply all over."
Jörg Müller could hardly believe how hitch-free the 24-hour
classic turned out: "It was almost too perfect. We never touched
another car once and we had the right tyres on almost throughout. It
was the greatest race I have ever had. It's a dream." The complete
BMW press kit on the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race is downloadable at
www.press.bmw.com. Press contact: Heike Bartsch, BMW Corporate
Communications Motorsport, Mobile: 0172 - 84 85 998, Tel: 089-382
33115, heike.bartsch@bmw.de