BMW
Team PTG M3s Finish 1-2 in Brumos Porsche 250;
Hand and Marks Score 50th Win for M3 Racing Program, Auberlen and Milner Second
Daytona
Beach, Fla. – June 30, 2005… Joey
Hand and Justin Marks, driving the No. 16 BMW
Team PTG F1 Air M3 led a 1-2 BMW M3 GT-class finish in tonight’s Brumos
Porsche 250 to
score the team’s fourth win of the season and the 50th victory of BMW
of North America’s M3
racing program. Having to start at the rear of the 28-car GT field because
of an engine change,
they completed 67 laps of Daytona International Speedway’s road course
in the two-hour-andforty-
five-minute contest, finishing four seconds ahead of the No. 21 BMW Team PTG
M3 of Bill
Auberlen and Tom Milner.
The No. 17
BMW Team PTG F1 Air M3 of Kelly Collins and RJ Valentine finished
eighth,
completing 66 laps. The No. 22 BMW Team PTG M3 of Chris Gleason and Ian James
was
involved in an accident and did not finish.
The win consolidates
BMW’s second place position in Manufacturer points, moving
seven points
closer to first. Hand and Marks move to third and eighth respectively in Driver
points.
The race began
under dry skies although the track was still slick in spots from
a heavy afternoon
downpour. The No. 16 BMW Team PTG F1 Air M3 of Justin Marks and Joey Hand enjoyed
a
trouble free race after losing an engine in qualifying. Required to start at
the rear of the field after
the engine change, Marks stood in third position at the end of the first hour.
Hand quickly took
over the second position, but the race was not decided until five laps from
the finish when the No.
14 Porsche had to pit for fuel. Turning his fastest lap of the race on lap
62, Hand kept the No. 16
M3 in the lead for BMW Team PTG’s fourth win of the season.
Tom Milner
moved the No. 21 BMW Team PTG M3 forward from his fourth starting
position. By
lap seven he was in second and Auberlen inherited the lead on lap 22 after
Milner pitted during
the race’s first caution period. Just before the green flag flew, the
No. 26 Porsche hit the left front
of the No. 21 M3, spinning Auberlen into the wall. After a quick pit stop,
he rejoined the race in
fifth. The experienced veteran was able to drive through front end damage to
finish second.
Round eight of the Rolex Sports Car Series, The Porsche 250, will take place
on July 31st at
Barber Motorsports Park. The race is scheduled to be televised live on Speed
Channel beginning
at 1:00 p.m. ET.
JUSTIN MARKS,
DRIVER NO. 16 BMW TEAM PTG F1 AIR M3 (first): “I won here
last year so
this is a very special race for me. To win again, and win the 50th for PTG,
is awesome. I can’t
believe how hard the team worked to change the engine and give us a perfect
M3 for the race.”
JOEY HAND,
DRIVER NO. 16 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (first): “Justin and I only
got three laps each
in practice and not one in qualifying. Justin had to start the race without
even an installation lap on
the new engine and he did a great job. At the end of the race I heard over
the radio that I was only
14 seconds from the leader so I just stood on the throttle.”
BILL AUBERLEN,
DRIVER NO. 21 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (second): “I can’t
believe I was hit before
the green came out. Before that the No. 21 M3 was awesome. Dave Gahagan (No.
21 car chief)
always gets it right on the mark for the race. He made one change before the
race that was right
on. After I was pushed into the wall, it was all I could do to hold the car
straight.”
TOM MILNER,
DRIVER NO. 21 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (second): “I couldn’t
be happier for the
team. We got lucky at the end, but we were there to take advantage and gain
second place. You
can feel PTG’s momentum growing again. We’ll be back on top of
the podium before you know
it.”
TOM MILNER,
OWNER BMW TEAM PTG: “We can’t get much luckier than
we did today. Bill
was almost taken out of the race, but came back for second. Joey and Justin
did a great job to
come from the back to win. Everyone worked hard and I am proud that we could
deliver the 50th
win for BMW of North America’s M3 racing program.”
LARRY KOCH,
BMW OF NORTH AMERICA MOTORSPORTS MANAGER: “About midway
through the race it looked like it was not going to be our day. We lost the
No. 22 car and things
were starting to look down, but PTG is never down for long. A 1-2 BMW M3 finish
is a great way
to win the 50th of our program.”
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