BMW will not be participating in the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in 2002.

The M3 GTR had dominated the GT category of the US series in 2001. Notes BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: "Unfortunately, in December, the M3 GTR was affected by a change in the regulations which would have a radical impact on the vehicle's competitiveness." Neither Team BMW Motorsport nor the BMW North America-backed Team PTG will be deploying the M3 GTR this year. "We would have had to invest major staff and technical resources to try to compensate for the ensuing disadvantage," Theissen elaborates, "but our main focus on our Formula One involvement means we can't spare the capacity."

That brings to a close the M3 GTR's success story after just one year. This sports machine enabled BMW to make an immediate breakthrough in last season's GT class with seven wins out of ten races. Jörg Müller won the drivers' classification in the M3 GTR, BMW took the manufacturers' title and BMW Motorsport the team title. There are no plans to compete in the GT category of the ALMS with another BMW model in 2002.

Car and Driver explains why the M3 GTR's fantasy season will be its last.

At Sears Point, the GT class victory went to former Formula One and CART driver JJ Lehto of Finland, who teamed with Jorg Muller of Germany to finish seventh overall. Driving a BMW M3 GTR, Lehto and Muller led a BMW sweep of the top four spots in GT, the first loss in the series this year for Porsche. The GT cars of Fredrik Ekblom and Hans Stuck collided on the last lap while battling for second place in class, with Stuck spinning and losing the position to Ekblom. After the race, officials of Professional Sports Car Racing, the sanctioning body for the ALMS, announced that Ekblom was penalized 35 seconds, which placed him behind Stuck in the final finish order. In addition, Ekblom was placed on probation for one race.

The M3 GTR, developed by BMW Motorsport, will be campaigned in the ALMS races by both teams, with PTG introducing its M3 GTRs in Sonoma, Calif., in July. It features a compact, short-stroke 4.0-liter V8 engine in place of the traditional in-line six-cylinder engine that has been developed to its maximum. The 3.2-liter 6-cylinder continues to power the 2001 M3 production models with 333 horsepower. Building a strong foundation for future competition and renewing its commitment to the M Brand, the GTR comes at a time when more V8-powered cars are entering the GT class.

"Early last year, as we began development of the new M3 for the 2000 season, we recognized the need for increased displacement and torque to be competitive," says Tom Salkowsky, motorsport manager for BMW of North America, LLC. "Team PTG fully developed the 3.2-liter 6-cylinder, but we realized this wouldn't be enough for the long-term competitiveness of the M3. Our focus is to gain more of a competitive position with the 4.0-liter V8." Click here for the full press release.

The largest crowd ever to watch a sports car race in the USA was on hand at Sebring International Raceway for the 49th Annual 12 Hours at Sebring. 

In front of a crowd estimated at 168,000, the Audi team of Rinaldo Capello, Michele Alboreto and Laurent Aiello took victory Saturday, March 17, in the closest finish in the history of the 12 Hours At Sebring. 

The BMW M3 GTR finished third in the GT Class Debut, while the PTG M3 entry took fourth place.

In its debut race the new No. 42 BMW Motorsport M3 GTR of JJ Lehto and Jorg Muller finished third in class, covering 323 laps around the 3.7-mile circuit and setting the fastest GT race lap and a track record in the process. (Muller 2:06.682 on lap 32)

The No. 6 Team PTG M3 of Hans Stuck, Boris Said and Peter Cunningham finished fourth, covering 318 laps, providing a fitting end to the current M3 CSL’s career. 

The No. 10 Team PTG M3 of Bill Auberlen, Niclas Jonsson and Joey Hand and the No. 42 BMW Motorsport M3 of Erik Ekblom and Dirk Muller both fell out of the race before half distance with engine problems.

BMW started the new American Le Mans Series (ALMS) season on March 4 at Fort Worth, Texas.

A BMW M3 GT from last year has drivers JJ Lehto (FIN) and Jörg Müller (D). The new BMW M3 GTR will be driven by the works team comprising Fredrik Ekblom (S) and Dirk Müller (D) and the drivers in the American BMW Team PTG.

The BMW Team PTG will continue to use Yokohama tires and will start in Texas. Hans-Joachim Stuck will alternate with the American Boris Said. The second BMW M3 entered by the PTG Team will be driven by Bill Auberlen and Nic Jonsson (both from the USA).

The Texas Motor Speedway is an oval circuit with two 24° banked curves. The track was extended in 2000 by a twisting section in its interior. This means that the circuit now measures 3.737 kilometers in length (2.323 miles) and its variety places heavy demands on tuning work.