Portland, Ore. – July 21, 2006… BMW Team PTG rebounded after a disappointing previous weekend’s Utah Grand Prix to run strongly in practice and qualifying for tomorrow’s Portland Grand Prix.

Bill Auberlen qualified the No. 21 BMW Team PTG M3 he will share with Joey Hand fourth for the team’s second best qualifying effort of the season. His time of 1:13.375 minutes around the 1.944-mile Portland International Raceway was only .606 seconds from pole sitter Jaime Melo’s Ferrari.

“It is so hot here that I knew I would only get one lap to set a quick time,” said Auberlen. “As I was exiting the pits I moved over to give a competitor room, but he slowed and held me up costing me valuable time. A little more than a tenth of a second would have put me second in class.”

Bryan Sellers, driving the No. 22 BMW Team PTG M3, qualified eighth with a lap of 1:14.010 minutes. He will co-drive with Justin Marks.

He said, “We have struggled a bit with balance so far this weekend, but have made progress every session. With a little more time I believe we could have certainly moved up a few positions, but the No. 22 M3 is definitely raceable. This is by far the hottest the inside of the car has ever felt. The shifter is so hot that you can’t keep your hand on it for long. I don’t think there is anything we can do except hydrate and prepare for a long, hot race.”

BMW Team PTG last raced in Portland in the 2001 with Boris Said and Hans Stuck winning the GT class from the pole in a M3 GTR.

The two-hour-and-forty-five-minute Portland Grand Prix is scheduled to start at 6:00 p.m. PT tomorrow and will be broadcast on CBS television Sunday, July 23 at 3 p.m. ET.