51st Macau Grand Prix - Guia Race - Qualifying1

51st Macau Grand Prix - Guia Race
18/19/21 November, 2004

QUALIFYING 1
Weather: Warm - Ambient temperature 24ºC, Track 32ºC

Macau, 18 October, 2004: Jörg Müller (GER) was the quickest driver round the
Macau street circuit in his BMW Team Germany BMW 320i after the first of two
qualifying sessions for the Guia Race at the 51st Macau Grand Prix. The German
driver was quickest by a second with his team-mates, Dirk Müller (GER) and Andy
Priaulx (GBR) second and fourth respectively.

Jörg, a regular at the Chinese track and a winner here in Formula 3 in 1993,
knows there is still a lot of work to do: "This is just the first day. It is
not going to rain tomorrow and we have only used one set of new tyres. For
second qualifying everyone will use a new set of tyres and then the times will
come down." His Team Manager from BMW Team Germany, Charly Lamm, was happy with
the work done by all three drivers and also happy to be back at the circuit:
"It has been a long break since we were last here in 1998, but we competed
regularly in the Guia Race in the eighties and nineties. Jörg and Andy did
well, making good use of their knowledge of the circuit. For Dirk it is his
first visit and he did a great job to find the rhythm so quickly."

Dirk was delighted with his performance and has fallen in love with the track.
However, he admitted that he was not a total stranger as he had been learning
the circuit from a computer game. "It is amazing. I am really enjoying driving
here and, touch wood, I have not hit anything," he said. The winner for the
past three years has been Duncan Huisman (NLD) in the Carly Motors BMW 320i.
Along with his team-mate, Tom Coronel (NLD), he has had a busy day as the team
has opted to run on Yokohama tyres, rather than Michelin tyres as used in the
FIA ETCC races. Both Duncan and Tom admitted this gave the car a different
feel, but believed they were going in the right direction.

A total of 34 cars took part in first qualifying for the touring car race with
the BMW and SEAT teams from the FIA ETCC joining not only privateers from
Europe, but also the leading touring car drivers from the Asian Touring Car
Series and the Hong Kong Touring Car Championship. While winning the Guia Race
would be prestigious for any driver, if either Jörg Müller or SEAT driver
Rickard Rydell were to take victory they would be the first driver to have won
both the F3 and touring car races round what is considered one of the most
demanding tracks in motorsport. Jörg is not the only BMW driver to have started
his Macau career in Formula 3, as both Andy Priaulx and Tom Coronel have raced
here in the category.

The fastest overall times from the two qualifying sessions will determine the
grid for the first of the two Guia Races on Sunday. Then the grid for race two
will be the finishing positions from race one. The second qualifying session
will be at 15.10 local time on Friday (19th November) - 8 hours ahead of GMT
and 7 hours ahead of CET. The touring car teams will have a free day on
Saturday, while their first eight lap race round the 6.2 kilometre track will
be at 11.45 on Sunday (21st November). After race one there will be a 15 minute
break before the start of race two.

BMW Team Germany
No 15 - Jörg Müller (GER) 1st - 2m 33.942s
No 16 - Dirk Müller (GER) 2nd - 2m 34.975s
No 17 - Andy Priaulx (GBR) 4th - 2m 35.285s

BMW Privateer Teams
Carly Motors
No 1 - Duncan Huisman (NLD) 8th - 2m 36.751s
No 2 - Tom Coronel (NLD) 5th - 2m 36.751s
Edenbridge Racing
No 5 - Rob Collard (GBR) 15th - 2m 45.156s
Team Schubert Motors
No 18 - Claudia Hurtgen (GER) 7th - 2m 36.653s
No 19 - Angelo Barretto (PHI) 17th - 2m 46.451s
Team Wiechers
No 21 - Marc Hennerici (GER) 10th - 2m 39.531s
Team Engstler Racing
No 10 - Franz Engstler (GER) 6th - 2m 36.417s
No 11 - R S Prutirat (THA) 14th - 2m 44.301s
Team San Miguel
No 12 - Jody Coseteng (PHI) 21st - 2m 48.996s

Results: 1. Jörg Müller (GER/BMW 320i) 2m 33.942s, 2. Dirk Müller (GER/BMW
320i) 2m 34.975s, 3. Rickard Rydell (SWE/SEAT) 2m 35.072s) 4. Andy Priaulx
(GBR/BMW 320i) 2m 35.285, 5. Tom Coronel (NLD/BMW 320i) 2m 35.771s, 6. Franz
Engstler (GER/BMW 320i) 2m 36.417s.

Contacts: Heike Bartsch, BMW Press, mobile +49 (0) 172 8485998,
heike.bartsch@bmw.de
Ann Bradshaw, race press officer, mobile +44 (0) 7713 317006,
annbradshaw@tiscali.co.uk.