Road Atlanta PTG BMW Race Notes

PTG BMW M3s SWEEP TOP TWO SPOTS IN GT3, WIN GT2

Bill Auberlen and Mark Simo led a 1-2 sweep in GT3 while Marc Duez, Boris Said and Brian Simo took GT2 honors in today's 3-hour, 45-minute Sports Car Grand Prix at Road Atlanta, Round Four of this year's Professional Sports Car Racing, Inc.-sanctioned GT Series Presented by Virgin Interactive. Auberlen and Simo guided the No. 10 Yokohama/Fina BMW M3 four-door to the checkered flag ahead of the No. 1 Yokohama/Fina BMW M3 four-door of teammates Ross Bentley and Peter Cunningham for the team's sixth consecutive 1-2 finish, including events this season sanctioned by the revived United States Road Racing Championship. The team has won 10 GT3 races in a row dating back to last year's SPORTS CAR event at Pikes Peak. PTG BMW M3s are also unbeaten in four GT2 events this season. In all, BMW M3s have won 24 of their last 27 outings in GT3 and GT2.

BILL AUBERLEN, No. 10 Yokohama/Fina BMW M3 Four-Door (GT3): "We had a perfect car again today. It was really hot (almost 100 degree) and humid. Gas mileage was really a factor today, and we just made it to the end. Our Yokohama tires dealt really well with the heat. We had a bit of a problem at the start, but the tire engineers did a remarkable job solving the problem by the time we pitted for the first time."

MARK SIMO, No. 10 Yokohama/Fina BMW M3 Four-Door (GT3): "It was really special having my brother Brian around. We don't get to run together often. I'm looking forward to doing it again next week at Minneapolis. I feel my driving really starting to improve. Our competition had a problem, so it became important to just be reliable and conservative. That was our strategy and reliability is one of the strong suits of the BMW M3s."

BORIS SAID, No. 6 Yokohama/Fina BMW M3 Coupe (GT2): "I'm sore. My ribs are still bothering me from my crash (in the NASCAR Craftsman Truck Series race at Texas World Speedway two weeks ago), and racing at Bristol last night took a lot out of me. Fortunately, the guys did a great job setting up the car. We got through another one. Now I'm going to rest up this week and come back strong."

MARC DUEZ, No. 6 Yokohama/Fina BMW M3 (GT2): "My teammates did a very good job. We were all very even. The (No. 99 GT2) Porsche was very competitive today, so it was good that we could run a very strong pace. The heat was almost unbearable."

SCOTT DONIGER, M Brand Manager, BMW of North America, Inc.: "Road Atlanta treated us better this year than last (when PTG BMWs managed only a fifth-place finish and two DNFs for its three-car entry). The heat and a lively GT1 vs. World Sports Car race played havoc with our strategy. But our car and tire setups helped counter all that. It was another consistent effort by the whole team. Unfortunately, two of our top competitors in GT3 dropped out after crashing hard in practice on Saturday. We expected a real dogfight this weekend, but we know they'll be back, and we'll be prepared."

TOM MILNER, PTG Team Owner: "It was closer than it really looked, especially in GT2. We lost our two top competitors before we even got to qualifying. I would rather have had them here duking it out with us. But, then again, I think back to just two years ago when we were struggling and I can't complain. Everyone did a marvelous job once again."