# The M3 GTR at the Nurburgring 24 hours



## SteveT (Dec 22, 2001)

From BMW Motorsport










04.03.2003 
BMW ETCC drivers join 24-hour-race 
With top-flight drivers BMW Motorsport will be on the starting grid at the 24 hour race on the Nuerburgring on May 31st and June 1st.

The two BMW M3 GTR will be driven by Hans-Joachim Stuck (52 years old, Germany), Boris Said (40, USA) and John Nielsen (47, Denmark) as well as the team around the two ETCC drivers Joerg Mueller (33, Germany) and Dirk Mueller (27, Germany) as well as Claudia Huertgen (31, Germany).

"With this team we have a young timer trio and a youngster trio starting at the Nuerburgring. The criteria applied for choosing the team have been clear: experience of the Nuerburgring-Nordschleife, the world's most demanding circuit, as well as experience in driving GT sports cars and 24-hour-races", BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen explained.

Not only BMW works driver Dirk and Joerg Mueller but also Huertgen, Nielsen, Said and Stuck have already been successful with BMW many times.

Even with the teams in charge, BMW will not run any risks. BMW Motorsport and the Team Schnitzer from Freilassing (Germany), headed by team manager Charly Lamm, are in charge of the two BMW M3 GTR cars, each of which has the power of more than 400 hp. With Lamm as strategist BMW Touring Cars can already record two overall victories in the 24 hour race at the Nuerburgring, five victories at the 24 hour races of Spa-Fracorchamps (Belgium) and one victory in the classic 24 hour race in Le Mans (France) in 1999, then with the open prototype BMW V12 LMR.

BMW Motorsport Director Gerhard Berger puts the line of approach as follows: "We are going to compete for the overall victory in this traditional long distance race."

Since the 24 hour race at the Nuerburgring took place for the first time in 1970, BMW has emerged as overall winner 16 times, most recently in 1998. Back then, the BMW 320d was the first touring car equipped with a diesel engine to win a marathon race like this.

The BMW M3 GTR had its debut in 2001 in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) and was successful in all disciplines: Joerg Mueller won the drivers' championship, BMW Motorsport was on top of the teams' ranking, and BMW stood out as best constructor in the most important foreign market of the company.

The 4-litre V8 engine of the BMW M3 GTR has the power of more than 400 hp. The especially designed chassis, optimisation in aerodynamics and targeted light-weight construction of the bodywork components made from carbon fibre make the M3 an impressive GT sports car.


----------



## BalticVid (Dec 1, 2002)

Good info. 
Thanks.....................:thumbup:


----------



## BikeGuy1 (Feb 20, 2003)

*Question: Nurburgring Video Link??*

I'm looking for the link to a video shot from inside an SMG M3 chasing a 6-speed M3 (both Phoenix Yellow) at the Nurburgring. I believe it's an amateur British video, about 150 megs (approx 10 minutes long), and contains a few sub-titles to aid in understanding the track's layout.

Thanks for the help!


----------

