V-8 POWERED BMWS TAKE TOP FOUR SPOTS IN FINAL QUALIFYING FOR SUNDAY'S GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND

For Immediate Release

Contact:

Bob Carslon          (770) 290-3676
Andy Schupack     (401) 739-5677
Fred Hammond      (201) 750-3533
Cell at the track     (917) 865-1248

V-8 POWERED BMWS TAKE TOP FOUR SPOTS IN FINAL QUALIFYING FOR SUNDAY'S GRAND PRIX OF PORTLAND

Top six qualifiers all break existing track record for GT class

PORTLAND, Ore. - Aug. 4, 2001 - Despite crash debris and a layer of oil and water left by the preceding Trans-Am race, six GT cars broke existing track record in today's final qualifying session for tomorrow's Grand Prix of Portland.

The fastest Porsches in the session were the number 23 Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche 911 GT3 RS driven by Sascha Maassen and the number 22 driven by Christian Menzel.  Turning only the minimum necessary number of laps, Maassen turned a 1:13.783 to claim the fifth starting spot in the GT-class behind the four V-8 engined BMW M3s.

"We're not really satisfied with our times," said Alex Job, leader of the Alex Job Racing McKenna Porsche team.  "The Trans-Am race really covered the track with junk. We called it a day early to save our tires for the race."

The number 22 Alex Job McKenna Porsche entry will start sixth for tomorrow's race with a clocking of 1:14.138.  They will be followed on the grid by the Petersen Motorsports/White Lightning Porsche 911 GT3 RS qualified by Johnny Mowlem with a time of 1:15.158.

The Grand Prix of Portland will be telecast on the Speedvision network starting at 8:30 PM Eastern Time on Monday, August 6 (check local listings for the exact time in different time zones). The race, along with qualifying sessions starting August 4, will be broadcast live on the American Le Mans Radio Network, which can be accessed on the Web at www.americanlemans.com. That same American Le Mans Series Web site will also have live timing and scoring during qualifying and the race event.


The official Porsche Web site - www.porsche.com - will have qualifying information on the Grand Prix of Portland for all the Porsches entered, and will file stories and photos during and after the race. Porsche Web site users should choose "North America" on the home page when prompted to choose a country, then choose "motorsports," then "motorsport news" to find the ALMS updates.

Other Web sites that will follow the overall event include the American Le Mans site mentioned above, the ON TRACK ONLINE site, (www.ontrackonline.com), TotalMotorsport (www.totalmotorsport.com); The Race Site (www.theRaceSite.com), the Speedvision site (www.speedvision.com), Motorsport.com (www.motorsport.com) and the CompuServe site (www.motorsportsforum.com).

###

 GT Class Starting Grid
1.      Said/Stuck                           BMW M3 GTR              1:13.291
2.      Lehto/J. Muller                      BMW M3 GTR              1:13.331
3.      Auberlen/Jonsson                 BMW M3 GTR              1:13.407
4.      Ekblom/D. Muller                  BMW M3 GTR              1:13.454
5.      Maassen/Luhr                      Porsche 911 GT3 RS     1:13.783
6.      Menzel/Pobst                      Porsche 911 GT3 RS      1:14.138
7.      Mowlem/Bernhart/Petersen   Porsche 911 GT3 RS     1:15.158
8.      Foster/Wankum                   Porsche 911 GT3 R       1:17.665
9.      Wars/Neuhaus                     Porsche 911 GT3 R       1:20.992