American Le Mans Series

BMW Team PT PTG M3s Qualify 5 5th th and 9th for Petit Le Mans

© Planetlemans

Bill Auberlen, driving the No. 21 BMW Team PTG M3 he will share with Joey Hand and Boris Said in tomorrow’s Petit Le Mans, qualified fifth in the 10-car GT2 class with a 1:23.092-minute lap around the 2.54-mile Road Atlanta circuit. Auberlen’s time was only .670 seconds slower than the pole-sitting Ferrari. The entire GT2 field was within one second of the leader.
“Heads-up, in qualifying, we are a fifth-place car,” said Auberlen. “But, as we’ve shown all season, we come to race and we always aim to win. Yes, qualifying matters as an indicator of speed, and I would always like to look back at the field, but I am confident we can have a good race. How can I be anything else when I have two co-drivers like Joey Hand and Boris Said and a team like PTG with me?”

Bryan Sellers qualified the No. 22 BMW Team PTG M3 ninth with a 1:23.307-minute lap. He will co-drive with Justin Marks and Ian James.

Sellers said, “I put the No. 22 crew in a tough position with the crash in testing last Friday so I am pleased that I qualified the car and gave a good effort. That is as fast as we have gone all week and says that the guys have worked hard and we have a good race car. We may have left a little bit of time on the table in this session, but we are ready for the race.”

BMW Team PTG last raced in the Petit Le Mans in 2003, previously competing in the inaugural 1998 event through 2001. The team’s three BMW M3s finished second, third and fourth in ’99 and won the GT class in 2001 with Auberlen, Said and Hans Stuck sharing the victory.