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 Saturday July 05, 2008 |
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A Second Test Session Complete, BMW Team PTG Heads to Mosport For Round Two of SCCA Speed GT |
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Written by Jeff Seabrook
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Thursday May 15, 2003 |
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WINCHESTER, Va. (May 15, 2003) - BMW Team PTG completed another productive test session last week in advance of the second round of the 2003 SCCA Speed GT Championship race at Mosport International Raceway on May 18 in Bowmanville, Ontario, Canada.
This second test, at Summit Point Raceway in West Virginia, included all four of Team PTGıs BMW M3s. The team feels it is now ready to attack the often treacherous 2.459-mile circuit outside of Toronto, a site where the team has enjoyed success in past years.
In endurance races in 1995-2001, BMW Team PTG took home victories at Mosport in 1996, 1997 and 1998, and finished second in 1999 and 2000. In 2001, the last year BMW Team PTG raced at Mosport, it posted another podium finish, a third.
"Mosport has always been an excellent track for our BMWs," says team owner Tom Milner. "I think the track favors the BMW M3. It requires good handling and a lot of braking. Our M3s have always handled well, and braking has been one of the brandıs strongpoints throughout the years."
This season brings unique challenges for the team, as it now competes in the SCCA Speed GT Series, which features 50-minute races for production-based race cars, and a weight-equalization system based on each competitor's finishing position in each race. This will be the first sprint race for the team at Mosport.
Hans Stuck, of Austria, who drove a PTG-prepared Jeff McMillin Motorsports M3 at the first race of the year at Sebring (Fla.) International Raceway to a brilliant fourth-place finish, will drive a new PTG M3 in Mosport.
"Mosport always makes my heart go true." he says. "For a long time I was overall record holder in lap times and Mosport is one of the last pure tracks which has not been destroyed by any chicanes. Itıs like it was back in 1974, my first time there in Formula 1. I think itıs a track that also suits our BMW pretty well."
Justin Marks, of Chico, Calif., will drive for the first time for BMW Team PTG at Mosport, a track he says has not been particularly kind to him. "Itıs a very unique track," he comments. "You drive it differently than you drive a lot of tracks in this country. Itıs very fast. It can be really rewarding when you learn it well and you can drive it on the limit."
Bill Auberlen, who finished fifth in Sebring, tested all four of the M3s at Summit Point and deems turns one through four at Mosport to be the most important. "I consider them all one turn," said the Rolling Hills Estates, Calif., resident. "The minimum speeds in these corners will be 110-120 mph. This is where the BMWs will make up the difference on the competition."
Boris Said, of Carlsbad, Calif., who had a tough Sebring race, finishing 23rd, also drove all four cars at Summit Point. He compares the Mosport circuit to VIR and Summit Point, where the team has held its only test sessions for the Speed GT BMW M3s. "Summit Point is quite bumpy, but VIR is a lot like Mosport," he says, "and we had a very good test there. Turns two, four and eight at Mosport are probably equally important. Mosport requires a lot of handling with one long horsepower straight that may give us some trouble. But we have all the handling sections covered."
"BMW Team PTG has two long weeks and three races ahead of it, with a visit to both BMW of Canada before Mosport and to BMW of North America in N.J. before rounds 3 and 4 at Lime Rock Park," adds Tom Salkowsky, Motorsports Manager for BMW of North America, LLC. "From the BMW perspective, going from Mosport to Lime Rock is going from strength to strength. We have always had an M3 on the podium at both tracks since 1996, including four wins at Mosport. I know the team has been hard at work and it will be great to see all four of the new M3s on track."
Round 2 of the SCCA Pro Racing Speed GT Championship is scheduled for 10:45 a.m. on May 18 and will air on Speed TV on May 24 at 5:00 p.m .
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