Winchester, Va. (April 5, 2004) -- After a 1-2 BMW M3 GT-class finish at Homestead-Miami Speedway in February BMW Team PTG heads to the April 10th Food City 250 at Phoenix International Raceway for Round Three of the Rolex Sports Car Series aiming for another newsworthy finish.

With BMW now securely second in the GT manufacturers standings and all four PTG drivers in the top-10 of the GT drivers championship this will be the first visit to Phoenix for Team PTG, but not the first for the BMW M3.

Packing 11 turns in 1.51 miles, Phoenix’s road course is well suited to the handling and braking qualities of the BMW M3 as was proven in the last two year’s Rolex Series contests. Driving the entire race without a co-driver, Boris Said won the GT class in 2002 driving a 5.0- liter, M5-powered M3 for Bell Motorsports. Craig Stanton and Mike Fitzgerald, co-driving the same M3, finished a strong second in last year’s event – only losing the lead in the very last turn of the race.

With the Homestead-winning team of Bill Auberlen and Said in the No. 21 M3, BMW has another excellent chance for a great Phoenix result. But only if they keep ahead of PTG’s newest driving pair, Justin Marks and Joey Hand. Inspired by their second place finish at Homestead the duo is ready to show their more experienced teammates what the rear of the No. 22 M3 looks like.

“I've never been to Phoenix before so this will all be new to me like Homestead was,” said Marks. “I have really been looking forward to this race ever since we parked the cars after the Homestead race. We proved that the team is very competitive and Joey and I had a very good pace, which was encouraging for the rest of the season. From what I know, Phoenix is a good track for the M3 and I really enjoy racing at night. Joey and I get more comfortable every time we are in the racecar and we are only going to get faster so I am very anxious to get back in the car at Phoenix and try to give our teammates a run.”

“We worked hard between Daytona and Homestead and our 1-2 does not mean we are taking it easy,” said PTG owner Tom Milner. “The competition in the Rolex Series is tough. It is two BMW M3s against a host of quality competitors so we must continue to improve to stay in front. If Justin and Joey can continue to push Bill and Boris it only makes our effort stronger.”

The five weeks since Homestead have been busy ones for the PTG drivers. Joey Hand has returned to live in Sacramento, Calif. to make it an all California-based PTG driving squad. Both Bill Auberlen and Justin Marks had a very successful opening round of the SCCA Speed Touring Car Championship in their Turner Motorsports BMW 325i’s. Defending 2003 Drivers Champion Auberlen won the 17-lap Round One Sebring sprint race and Marks finished fifth. Boris Said was nominated by BMW Motorsport as one of six drivers to campaign the M3 GTRs at this summer’s Nurburgring and Spa endurance races and recently returned testing at the Belgium circuit.

The Food City 250 is scheduled to be broadcast on Speed Channel beginning at 9 p.m. ET on April 10th. Practice begins on Thursday, April 8 with qualifying set for Friday.

Only registered users can write comments.
Please login or register.

Powered by AkoComment 2.0!