Sebring, Fla. – March 17, 2006… Bill Auberlen qualified the No. 21 BMW Team PTG M3 seventh in the GT2 class for tomorrow’s 12 Hour of Sebring. His lap of 2:04.471 minutes around the 3.7-mile Sebring International Raceway was only .908 seconds off the class pole time. He will be joined by drivers Joey Hand and Ian James in Saturday’s 12-hour contest.

“We are still working on getting familiar with and finding the fast blend of all the new components on our M3s,” said Auberlen. “We will make changes for tonight’s practice, as well as tomorrow morning’s session. Everyone has their eyes on the same goal. We are certainly not where we want to be, but stay tuned.”

This morning’s practice session ended with an engine problem for the No. 22 BMW Team PTG M3. A quick change by the crew before this afternoon’s qualifying session allowed Justin Marks to make a few laps. He qualified 14th in class with a 2:07.001 minute lap.

“I am just pleased that we were able to make the session,” said Marks. “It is a testament to how hard the PTG guys work every minute. Teething problems have not allowed us to find the set-up so far this week, but I am confident that we will.”

The 54th annual 12 Hours of Sebring will mark BMW Team PTG’s first full season of ALMS competition since 2001. BMW Team PTG has entered the 12 Hours of Sebring seven times previously, in 1995 through 2001. The team’s first class pole translated into the team’s first podium appearance (third) in 1996 and two more poles produced two GT class wins in 1997 and 1998. Only in 2000 did the team fail to score a top-10 finish.

Background:

2006 marks the 11th season of BMW of North America’s sponsorship of BMW Team PTG. In 10 seasons of competition BMW Team PTG has won a total of 53 races in both sprint and endurance racing series and 14 sports car racing championships. In 2005, BMW Team PTG won 7 of 13 Rolex Sports Car Series races entered.

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