In the third of three practice sessions leading up to today’s qualifying, all four M3s were in the top-10, with the No. 21 BMW Team PTG M3 of Bill Auberlen and Joey Hand setting the second fastest GT time (1:42.666). In  2004,  BMW  Team  PTG  finished  a  10-win  season  with  a  1-2  BMW  M3  finish  here.  Tom Milner,  in  only  his  third  professional  race,  and  Kelly  Collins  scored  the  victory  in  the  No.  16 Team  PTG  M3.  The  duo  won  from  the  pole  and  finishing  38  seconds  ahead  of  the  No.  22 BMW Team PTG M3 of Boris Said and Joey Hand. The 400-kilometer Grand American 400 is scheduled to begin at 1:00 PM PDT tomorrow and will televised live on Speed Channel. Background: 2005 marks the tenth season of competition for BMW M3s of BMW Team PTG and 30th anniversary of BMW of North America’s motorsport programs. In nine seasons, BMW Team PTG has won a total of 46 races in both sprint and endurance racing series and 14 sports car racing championships. In 2004, BMW Team PTG swept the Rolex Sports Car Series GT class Manufacturer, Driver and Team Points championships, winning 10 of 12 races.

BILL AUBERLEN, DRIVER NO. 21 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (first): “Twice last year, I thought I had a pole but didn’t get it because I went out front and allowed my competitors draft me. Today, I picked someone to follow and he pulled me all the way down the front straight. What a difference! We had a bit of a fight, but I got ahead of him coming out of turn two and pulled away in the infield. These tires are the best on the first lap and I had a great first lap. Their performance does fall off during the race so we will continue to work on the balance of our M3 to ensure consistency tomorrow.”

TOM MILNER, DRIVER NO. 16 BMW TEAM PTG F1 AIR M3 (second): “The M3 was very good today. I got held up a little coming onto the straight during my fast lap, so I had to breathe off the throttle a bit. Other than that, everything went well. I don’t think that all of our competitors had their fastest drivers in  for qualifying. We are ahead now, but, I am sure they will be closer to us in the race. Bill put in a great lap, so I am pleased to be second fastest.”  

CHRIS GLEASON, DRIVER NO. 22 BMW TEAM PTG M3 (fifth): “New racing cars always make for a difficult start to the season. We have worked very hard and the  results  are  starting  to  show.  Handling  is  very  important  here  as  the  infield  is  very demanding. You also need the speed on the straights. Today, we had the entire package.”

RJ VALENTINE, DRIVER NO. 17 BMW TEAM PTG F1 AIR M3 (12th): “Even though the M3 has been good in previous races, they have gotten much better. I am very pleased. The infield section feels very good and we are keeping up with the competition on the straights. For me, the best thing is that my confidence in the car is increasing.”