BMW Takes 1-2 in Nurburgring 24H
European Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx helped his BMW team to another victory in the Nurburgring 24 Hours on Sunday, as the German car manufacturer celebrated their eighth 1-2 finish in the event
The Briton joined Pedro Lamy, Duncan Huisman and Boris Said in taking a five-lap win over their sister car of Jorg Muller, Dirk Muller and Hans-Joachim Stuck, which had lost time early in the race with mechanical problems.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen was delighted at the Nurburgring success, having followed the race over the Spanish Grand Prix weekend on a GPS system.
"A huge complement to the whole team," said Theissen, "To repeat last year's one two under these extreme weather conditions is a fantastic achievement.
"With this the M3 GTR has earned an honorary place in the BMW Museum. Here in Barcelona for the Formula 1 Grand Prix we were kept in constant touch with what was happening and were following the action with great anticipation."
The winning BMW had moved into the lead at 6am after the leading works Porsche retired with mechanical problems at Bergwerk.
Third place went to the Zakspeed Dodge Viper of Peter Zakowski, Robert Lechner and Bert Sascha.
Top 25 Finishers of the 2005 Nurburgring 24 Hours
1. E1 Lamy/Said/Duncan/Priaulx BMW M3 GTR 139 Laps 2. E1 D.Müller/J.Müller/Stuck /Lamy BMW M3 GTR - 5 laps 3. A8 Zakowski/Lechner/Bert Dodge Viper GTS-R - 7 laps 4. A7 Beil/Fischer/Hulverscheid/Althoff Porsche 911 GT3 - 9 laps 5. A7 Bermes/Koll/Schornstein/Bovensiepen Porsche GT3 Cup - 9 laps 6. A7 Ickx/Duve/Hemroulle/Lambrecht Porsche GT3 Cup - 10 laps 7. A7 Schmidt/Ney/Bär/Irmgartz Porsche 911 GT3 RS - 11 laps 8. A7 M.Morin/H.Morin/A.Morin/Levin Porsche 996 GT3 Cup - 11 laps 9. A7 Luhr/Bernhard/Collard/Tiemann Porsche 911 GT3-MR - 12 laps 10. A8 J.Alzen/U.Alzen/Ludwig/Dumbreck Porsche 996 Turbo - 13 laps 11. A3 Motopark/Bohnhorst/Hennerici/Hürtgen BMW 320 i - 13 laps 12. A6 Schlesack/Niedzwiedz/Kather Honda NSX Type R - 14 laps 13. S1 Schürg/Neuberger/Bartels/Scheider Alfa Romeo 147 ITD - 15 laps 14. A6 Shimizu/Yoshida/Sarrazin/Sato Subaru Impreza WRX - 15 laps 15. A3 Hürtgen/Björk/Göransson/Schubert BMW 320 i - 16 laps 16. A3 Luostarinen/Rauno/Bastuck/Haugg Opel Astra Coupe - 16 laps 17. A7 Lemm/Bach/Luhr Porsche 964 Cup - 17 laps 18. A3 Riemer/Chmiela/Mühlenbruch/Riemer Renault Clio RS - 17 laps 19. N2 Bermes/Thönnes/Engels/ Honda Civic Type-R - 18 laps 20. S1 Haider/Kutsch/Hiltscher/Kraus BMW 330 d Fuchs GT1 - 19 laps 21. V5 Rösler/Kitzerow/Silvester/Springel BMW M 3 GT - 19 laps 22. A3 Venn/Allan/Cate/Hoppe Honda Civic Type-R - 19 laps 23. N2 Nett/Schütz/Reuter Peugeot 206 RC - 20 laps 24. N2 Uetrecht/Fricke/David/Lohmann/ Honda Civic Type-R - 20 laps 25. V5 Khalifa/Gusenbauer/Herwerth/Nittel BMW M 3 - 21 laps
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