Whether in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, or countless other
championships: Week after week BMW teams and drivers around the
world do battle for points, victories and titles. Away from the
track too, members of the large BMW Motorsport family around the
world are also creating headlines. The “BMW Motorsport News” allows
us to regularly summarise all the action for you in a compact and
informative manner. This way, you are always up to speed.
GT4 European Series: Two one-two results for the BMW M4 GT4.
BMW Motorsport Juniors Beitske Visser (NED) and Nico Menzel (GER)
celebrated their first GT European Series victory of the season in
Sunday’s race at the Hungaroring (HUN). When the stewards aborted the
turbulent race after 24 laps because of heavy rain, Visser/Menzel, in
the #110 RN Vision STS BMW M4 GT4, had a lead of around 30 seconds
over their team-mates Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Razvan Umbrarescu
(ROM), who also competed in a BMW M4 GT4, thereby gifting the car
another one-two result. At the start of the Hungaroring weekend, the
BMW M4 GT4 celebrated a one-two result when on Saturday, Simon Knap
and Max Koebolt (both NED) in the #1 MDM Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 crossed
the finish line in first place. Like Sunday, Piana/Umbrarescu finished
second on the podium. In the Pro-Am class, the WD Racing team
celebrated a podium, finishing third place in the final race of the weekend.
Blancpain GT Sports Club: Race win and championship victory
for
Karim Ojjeh.
Karim Ojjeh (KSA) is the new Blancpain GT Sports Club champion. The
Boutsen Ginion Racing driver clinched the title with his victory in
the main race at the Hungaroring (HUN) on Sunday. Going into the final
event in Barcelona (ESP) on 29th/30th September, he currently leads
the driver’s standings with an unassailable 136 points. This is
Ojjeh’s first Blancpain GT Sports Club title. In addition to his sixth
class win of the season, he also clinched the trophy for the overall
victory in the Titanium Cup.
VLN: Podium success for the BMW M6 GT3 in “Green Hell”.
The Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER) fans experienced another thrilling
race in the “Green Hell”. First, the #36 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6
GT3 secured pole position in the qualifying session for the sixth
round of the VLN Endurance Championship. However, David Pittard (GBR),
Andreas Ziegler and Rudi Adams (both GER) were forced to retire from
the race. BMW fans still had reason to celebrate when after four
hours, Stef Dusseldorp (NED) and Alexandre Imperatori (SUI) in the
Falken Motorsports #3 BMW M6 GT3 crossed the finish line in second
place. The #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 finished seventh
overall. Augusto Farfus (BRA) also took on the “Green Hell”, lining up
for BMW Team Schnitzer. Next weekend sees the Brazilian battle for
points in the DTM on the 3.629-kilometre version of the Nürburgring.
In the SP10 class, the BMW M4 GT4 celebrated as sensational
one-two-three-four finish. First and second place went to Securtal
Sorg Rennsport. Heiko Eichenberg (GER) and Yannick Mettler (SUI) were
the first to see the chequered flag. Third and fourth place went to
the #178 Ring Racing BMW M4 GT4 and the #191 Walkenhorst Motorsport
car. In the BMW M235i Racing Cup, Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport
retained the upper hand. David Griessner (AUT) and Yannick Fübrich
(GER) secured victory with a lead of more than 21 seconds. The other
spots on the podium went to the #694 Securtal Sorg Rennsport BMW M235i
Racing in second place, followed by the #666 Scheid – Honert
Motorsport car in third place. BMW racing cars celebrated a total of
six class wins. The seventh round of the VLN Endurance Championship
Nürburgring will take place in three weeks. Dortmund MC’s 58th ADAC
Reinoldus endurance race on 22ndSeptember will last the
standard four hours.
Pirelli World Challenge: BMW victorious in manufacturers and
team standings in the TC class.
It was a successful weekend for the BMW M235i Racing in the TC class
of the Pirelli World Challenge. At the season finale at Watkins Glen
(USA), the car celebrated top-three and top-five lock-outs. On
Saturday, Classic BMW’s Karl Wittmer (USA) stood atop the podium as
the winner. Johan Schwartz (DEN) of Rooster Hall Racing followed in
second place. Matt Travis (USA) crossed the finish line in third. All
three drivers were on the podium once again in the final race of the
year, in a slightly different order. In the BMW M235i Racing’s
top-five lock-out, Schwartz was victorious, ahead of Wittmer. Travis
finished third again. Despite his victory and the second place,
Wittmer narrowly missed out on winning the driver’s championship.
Classic BMW won the team championship and the manufacturers’ title
went to BMW.
International GT Open: Podium success for Teo Martín Motorsport.
The International GT Open race weekend took BMW Team Teo Martín to
Silverstone, the “Home of British Motor Racing”. In the first race of
the weekend, Fran Rueda (ESP) and Andrés Saravia (GUA) in the #47 BMW
M6 GT3 finished third to celebrate on the podium. Their team-mates
Beirão da Veiga (POR) and Juan Cruz Álvarez (ESP) crossed the finish
line in tenth place. The second race of the weekend proved to be
difficult for the team when an incident forced Beirão da Veiga/Álvarez
to retire. The Rueda/Saravia duo crossed the finish line in sixth
place, and, with nine points to their name, are currently in second
place in the driver’s standings. In the Am classification, Marcio
Basso (BRA) and Alexey Chuklin (UKR) finished fourth on Saturday. They
rounded off the weekend with second place, which saw them make it onto
the podium.