24h-Race Spa-francorchamps - Bulletin 3
Team BMW Motorsport's 24 Hour Challenge Suffers a Blow
Spa-Francorchamps. The number 143 BMW M3 GTR retired from the Spa 24 hours race
during the night. Antonio Garcia retired at the Stavelot corner while lying
third due to a technical problem at 3.51am as the race approached half
distance.
The Spaniard tried to re-start the car but didn't succeed. This brought the
Safety Car out on the 6.947 kilometre track for the second time allowing the
marshals to remove several abandoned cars.
The number 142 BMW M3 GTR was also struck by bad luck. As Hans-Joachim Stuck
was scheduled to take over from Dirk Müller at 3.14am the 500bhp car suffered
an ignition problem. The Team BMW Motorsport crew solved the problem and
checked the rest of the car. The car was stationary for 33 minutes before Stuck
could rejoin the race. This dropped the car from seventh to 15th. In the Group
2 class the car is currently lying second.
Team BMW Motorsport Team Manager, Charly Lamm
"Antonio had a technical problem at the Stavelot corner. We suspect from what
Antonio has told us it is an electrical problem, but we don't know for sure as
the car is still out on the side of the track. Unfortunately this means that
car number 143 has been forced to retire from the race."
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 - broken oil pipe
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
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 technical problem
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