WINNING LE MANS BMW V12s, TEAM ORECA VIPERS TO COMPETE IN AMERICAN LE MANS SERIES GRAND PRIX AT MOSPORT INDIANAPOLIS

June 16, 1999 - Fresh off Sunday's victory in the 24 Hours of Le Mans, the winning BMW V12 LMRs will head for Mosport International Raceway in Bowmanville, Ontario for the June 27 American Le Mans Series Grand Prix at Mosport.

The BMW entry driven by Joachim Winkelhock of Germany, Pierluigi Martini of Italy and Yannick Dalmas of France completed 350 laps during the gruelling Le Mans test to win by more than a lap. For Dalmas, it was his fourth victory in the road racing classic, following wins in 1992, 1994 and 1995. Dalmas now trails only Jacky Ickx (six) and Derek Bell (five) in alltime wins at Le Mans.

In March, the BMW entry driven by J.J. Lehto of Finland, Tom Kristensen of Denmark and Jorg Muller of Germany took the Superflo 12 Hours at Sebring, the inaugural American Le Mans Series race. BMW Motorsport has not yet named its drivers for the Mosport round but both sets of drivers competed for the marque at both Sebring and Le Mans.

Two Team Oreca Dodge Viper GTS-Rs, one of which captured the GTS class at Le Mans, are also entered at Mosport. Olivier Beretta of Monaco and Karl Wendlinger of Germany co-drove one of the Team Oreca machines to first in GTS and 10th overall at Le Mans and will be joined by David Donohue of Malvern, Pa., at Mosport.

In all, 20 of the drivers in the 24 Hours of Le Mans are listed on entries for the Mosport round, led by Didier Theys of Scottsdale, Ariz., who co-drove the Audi Team Joest Audi R8R to third at Le Mans. Theys will drive the Lista Ferrari at Mosport with Fredy Lienhard of Switzerland.

The new Panoz LMP-1 Roadster S/Fords which took eighth and 11th overall at Le Mans in their initial voyage to the fabled circuit are also entered at Mosport. David Brabham of England and Eric Bernard of France, two-thirds of the eighth-place team, will be in one entry at Mosport and Johnny O'Connell of Flowery Branch, Ga., and Jan Magnussen of Denmark will again share driving duties in the other.

An injury to San Diego's Eric van de Poele leaves a seat open in the Team Rafanelli entry which won the Grand Prix at Road Atlanta in April. Mimmo Schiattarella of Italy co-drove the car to victory with van de Poele in the earlier race and is listed as a driver for Mosport. Schiattarella was a co-driver with Alex Caffi of Italy in the sixth-place entry at Le Mans. Caffi will share Wayne Taylor's Doyle-Risi Ferrari at Mosport.

Track action starts Friday, June 25 for the Mosport event, the third of eight races in the inaugural American Le Mans series season.

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Contact: Jan Shaffer, American Le Mans Series, (317) 388-8745, email
jan@shaffercommunications.com
Glenn Butt, Mosport International Raceway, (905) 983-9141