Whether in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the
IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the ABB FIA Formula E
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.
24-hour qualifying race: Top-three lock-out for the BMW M6 GT3.
The BMW M6 GT3 celebrated a top-three lock-out in the qualifying
race for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (GER). After 41 laps of
the Nordschleife, Christian Krognes (NOR), David Pittard and Nick
Yelloly (both GBR) were first to cross the finishing line in the
Walkenhorst Motorsport #101 BMW M6 GT3. Second place went to Jesse
Krohn (FIN) and John Edwards (USA) in the ROWE Racing team #99 car.
Their team-mates Connor De Phillippi (USA), Tom Blomqvist (GBR) and
Mikkel Jensen (DEN) finished third to ensure that they also reached
the podium in the #98 BMW M6 GT3. The BMW Team Schnitzer #42 BMW M6
GT3 finished in 14thposition overall. The second GT3 car from
Walkenhorst Motorsport claimed 22ndplace. The delighted winner Krognes
said: “That is one of the most intense moments I’ve had this year.
It’s the first win for the team for some years.” De Phillippi
commented: “Third place is OK, as we didn’t have a perfect race. We
made an error and received a time penalty, but we are still on the
podium. That is a good result. We can still find a bit more
performance for the 24-hour race. Then we will return and hopefully we
will be two positions higher up.”
BMW teams also
celebrated more class wins in the qualifying race. In the SP10
category, the #71 BMW M4 GT4 from the Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport
team claimed the win ahead of the #77 BMW M4 GT4 from Pixum Team
Adrenalin Motorsport with Philipp Leisen, Danny Brink, Christopher
Rink and Marcel Lenerz (GER). In the BMW M240i Racing Cup, Yannick
Fübrich, Daniel Zils and Oskar Sandberg (all GER) from Pixum Team
Adrenalin Motorsport were victorious. Second place went to Will
Tregurtha, Ben Tuck, Jordan Witt (all GBR) and Jörg Breuer (GER) from
the Walkenhorst Motorsport team. Third place was claimed by Stefan
Branner, Andreas Schaflitzl and Ethan Tremblay (all GER) from FK
Performance. In the V4 category, the win went to the Avia Sorg
Rennsport team. The Speedline Racing team was successful in the SP
9-LG category. The highlight of the endurance season at the
Nürburgring, the 24-hour race, takes place from 22ndto 23rdJune.
W Series: Beitske Visser wins second race of the season at Zolder.
BMW Motorsport Junior Beitske Visser (NED) celebrated her first
win in the second race of the newly-created W Series at Zolder (BEL).
Visser had started from fourth place and took the lead right away on
the approach to turn one. She was able to extend her lead despite two
safety car periods and secured a dominant win ahead of Jamie Chadwick
(GBR). “I had a perfect start,” said Visser. “I was able to take the
lead right away and add to my advantage, despite the two safety cars.
Once I was able to move further ahead after the second restart, it was
clear that I was on course for victory.” Having claimed fourth place
at the season-opener of the women’s formula series at Hockenheim
(GER), Visser now has 37 points and is in second place, six points
behind Chadwick.
Blancpain GT World Challenge America: BMW teams celebrate two
class wins.
Numerous BMW customer racing teams were back in action in the
Blancpain GT World Challenge at the ‘Canadian Tire Motorsport Park’
(CAN) this weekend. There was a BMW win to celebrate in the GT4
America East and in the GT4 America SprintX. In the GT4 America East
race on Friday, Randy Mueller and James Clay (both USA) in the Epic
Motorsports #3 BMW M4 GT4 crossed the finishing line first in the Am
class. In the Pro-Am category, the Classic BMW team claimed second
place with regular drivers Justin Raphael (USA) and Stevan McAleer
(GBR). In race two, Mueller and Clay claimed second place to return to
the podium. The Raphael/McAleer duo crossed the line in fourth place
in the #29 BMW M4 GT4.
In the second GT4 America SprintX
race, Greg Liefooghe and Sean Quinlan (both USA) recorded the second
BMW win of the weekend in the #19 BMW M4 GT4 from Stephen Cameron
Racing. First place in the Pro-Am category also equated to overall
victory. Chris Ohmacht and Toby Grahovec (both USA) also reached
second place in the Pro-Am class to score points for Classic BMW. In
the Am class, Kris Wilson and John Allen (both USA) also reached this
placing at the wheel of the #16 BMW M4 GT4, repeating their result
from the previous day. Quinlan and Liefooghe had finished second in
race one on Friday, just missing out on the win. The Classic BMW #92
BMW M4 GT4 claimed third place. The race on Sunday had not finished at
the time of going to press.
British GT: BMW M6 GT3 reaches podium twice.
This weekend, the British GT Championship visited Snetterton
(GBR). In the first race on Saturday, Tom Gamble and Jack Mitchell
(both GBR) celebrated a third-place finish in the Silver Cup in the #9
BMW M6 GT3 from the Century Motorsport team. One day later, the duo
improved by one place to finish second and reach the podium again in
the second race of the event. Their team-mates Dominic Paul and Ben
Green (both GBR) were not so fortunate; they had to be content with
Pro-Am class seventh and eighth positions in the #3 BMW M6 GT3.
Century Motorsport competed with two BMW M4 GT4s in the GT4 category.
The best result was recorded by Mark Kimber (GBR) and Jacob Mathiassen
(DEN), who finished fifth in race one. The next British GT
Championship race weekend takes place on 8th and 9th June at the ‘Home
of British Motor Racing’, on the legendary Silverstone (GBR) circuit.
BTCC: One-two result for BMW driver Jordan at Thruxton.
Andrew Jordan (GBR) celebrated a one-two result on the third
race weekend of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at
Thruxton (GBR). In both races, the BMW Pirtek Racing driver crossed
the line in first place in his BMW 330i M Sport. Reigning BTCC
champion Colin Turkington (GBR) finished fourth in the first race in
his BMW 330i M Sport. In the second race, he crossed the line in
second place, 0.613 seconds behind Jordan. In race 3, Tom Oliphant
(GBR) was the best-placed BMW driver in seventh position. Turkington
finished ninth and Jordan crossed the line in 17thplace.
GT4 France: Podium finish for BMW Team France in Pau.
In the first GT4 France race at Pau (FRA), BMW Team France
reached the podium in the Pro-Am class in the BMW M4 GT4. Laurent
Hurgon and Julien Piguet (both FRA) crossed the line in fourth place
overall, corresponding to second place in their class. The duo missed
out on a top result in Sunday’s second race.
Italian GT: Podium finish for the BMW M4 GT4 in Misano.
At the Italian GT Championship’s 3-hour race in Misano (ITA),
BMW Team Italia finished second in the GT4 category with the #207 BMW
M4 GT4. Drivers Giuseppe Fascicolo, Francesco Guerra and Andrea
Fontana (all ITA) were all in action. BMW Motorsport Junior Erik
Johansson (SWE), BMW works driver Alexander Sims (GBR) and Stefano
Comandini (ITA) finished tenth overall in the #15 BMW M6 GT3.
