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Bill Cobb
Press Officer at the track
215-295-3115 / 215 431-7223 cellular / wrcobb@attglobal.net

BMW Team PTG M3s Score Ninth Rolex Series GT Win At Barber
Auberlen and Marks Lead Fifth 1-2 M3 Finish Of Season

Birmingham, Ala. (Oct. 12, 2004) – Under constantly changing weather conditions, BMW Team PTG scored its ninth Rolex Sports Car Series GT class victory and fifth 1-2 BMW M3 finish of the season in the Porsche 250 at Barber Motorsports Park on Sunday, October 10.

Bill Auberlen and Justin Marks, driving the No. 21 BMW Team PTG M3, completed 87 laps in the 250-mile race around the 2.38-mile Barber Motorsports Park circuit, finishing one lap ahead of the No. 22 BMW Team PTG M3 of Boris Said and Joey Hand.

The win moves BMW to a 13-point lead over Porsche in the Manufacturer Points and clinches the Team Points title for the No. 21 M3. Said and Hand’s second consecutive runner-up finish moves the No. 22 M3 to second place in the Team Points standings.

BMW Team PTG drivers have secured the top-three positions in the Driver Points with Auberlen continuing to lead by four points over Said. Marks’ win moves him to third. Hand stands in sixth place.

The win was Auberlen’s eighth of the season and second consecutive victory since setting a record six wins in a row in Rounds 2 through 7. Marks has now tallied four wins, all co-driving with Auberlen.

Said and Hand’s second-place finish was their third podium finish of the season. The duo shared a win in Round 8. Said shared four wins with Auberlen in Rounds 2 through 5. Tom Milner and Kelly Collins drove a third M3 and finished eighth, completing 83 laps. The duo started fourth and lost a number of laps early in the race after unscheduled pit stops for tire
changes.

Auberlen started the No. 21 M3 from its eighth pole of the season and took command of the race from the first lap. Because of the threatening rain Team PTG elected to start the No. 21 M3 on dry tires and both the No. 22 and No. 16 M3s on rain tires. The dry tire choice proved to be the correct one as the heavy rain held off and the No. 21 M3 was able to stay on track as both of the other M3s had to pit, and re-pit, for dry tires. It was on one of those stops that a wheel gun jammed on the left rear wheel nut of the No. 22 M3 resulting in a damaged airline and a stop-and-go penalty. The penalty cost Said and Hand one lap, but they were still able to hold onto a second place finish. The results were not as good for the No. 16 M3 as early race pitstops for tires cost Milner and Collins two laps. Hard driving in very slippery conditions by 18-year old Milner in the closing stages of the race was not enough to improve on an eighthplace class finish.

The final round of the Rolex Sport Car Series will be held at California Speedway in Fontana, Calif. on October 29-31. The race will be televised live on Speed Channel on Oct. 31 at 4:00 p.m. ET.

BILL AUBERLEN, DRIVER NO. 21 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (first):
“ Today it was a real dog-fight. We went from first under the green to last under the yellow and back to first under green again. Luckily, this weather played to one of our strengths. Justin is one of the few drivers I know who likes changing conditions. He told me that if it rained off and on he would outrun everyone. He delivered and I can breathe a little easier about the championship.”

JUSTIN MARKS, DRIVER NO. 21 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (first):
“ The No. 21 M3 was perfectly set-up for anything that the track or the rain could send our way. The effort the team made to get us out front and keep us there was fantastic.”

BORIS SAID, DRIVER NO. 22 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (second):
“ We started on rain tires and I thought that it was the right choice. We lost a lot of track position as it stayed dry and had to pit for slicks. We were able to get it all back, but the penalty ultimately cost us one lap.”

JOEY HAND, DRIVER NO. 22 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (second):
“ I was not going to take any chances in these conditions, especially after we lost a lap due to the stop-and-go penalty and I began to develop a brake problem. I knew that I was safely ahead of the third place car so I ran to preserve our 1-2 M3 finish.”

TOM MILNER, OWNER, BMW TEAM PTG:
“ This probably was not one of our best races from the standpoint of strategy. We were very unsure of when and how much it would rain so we started the No. 21 M3 on dry tires and the No. 22 and 16 M3s on rain tires. We made a number of tire changes on the No. 16 M3, but just not at the optimum time and lost laps. We got the No. 22 M3 back on the right tires at the right time, but the penalty cost us a lap. It was not pretty, but we raced the conditions and took another 1-2 M3 finish.”

HERNANDO CARVAJAL, MOTORSPORT MANAGER, BMW OF NORTH AMERICA, LLC:
“ Another great day for BMW Team PTG. They gambled with the tires as the weather could have gone either way. The win went to the No. 21 M3, but the No. 22 M3 was never far behind. Rain or no rain everyone did everything possible to ensure a ninth victory.”

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