The Art Car is out. Here's the official press release:
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Originally Posted by BMW Press Sport
No. 79 BMW M3 GT2 retires early from 24-hour race in Le Mans.
Le Mans, 12th June 2010. The BMW M3 GT2 Art Car has retired early from the Le Mans 24 Hours (FR). Despite the fact Andy Priaulx (GB) should have been able to finish the lap without any problems, based on the amount of fuel calculated to have been put into the car at the previous pit stop, he ran out of fuel on the way into the Indianapolis curve. The exact cause is yet to be analysed. Car number 79 had already lost a lot of time due to unscheduled pit stops for repairs.
The second BMW M3 GT2 of Team BMW Motorsport is enjoying a better race. After stints from Augusto Farfus (BR) and Uwe Alzen (DE), the starting driver, Jörg Müller (DE), is now back behind the wheel and running in eighth in the LM GT2 class. In contrast, the race is over for Priaulx and team-mates Dirk Werner (DE) and Dirk Müller (DE).
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen:
“It’s a great pity to retire from the race in such a way. It’s an even bigger shame, as the 17th BMW Art Car had developed into one of the favourites with the fans here in Le Mans. During the race, however, car number 79 suffered a dose of bad luck. It was impeded by several incidents on the track and the subsequent unscheduled pit stops. This is a disappointing end for the whole team, but most importantly for Jeff Koons, who brought a lot of passion to this project and was really engrossed by being at the track. But in racing sometimes things just don’t go according to plan. With car number 79 we suffered more incidents today than with both cars in our victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours.”
Andy Priaulx (Car Number 79):
“I am very disappointed the Le Mans 24 Hours ended in this way for us. It simply was not our race. We had several doses of bad luck and lost a lot of time in the pits for repairs. Despite this, as a driver, you always want to keep fighting and make up ground in the class. We were not given that opportunity today. We will now keep our fingers crossed for our team-mates in BMW M3 GT2 number 78.”
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Best regards,
south