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.
Alex Zanardi: Treble at the Para-cycling World Cup in Canada.
BMW works driver and brand ambassador Alessandro Zanardi (ITA)
continued his winning run on the international paracycling scene. The
Canadian city of Baie-Comeau hosted the UCI Para-cycling Road World
Cup at the weekend. Zanardi lined up in three races, and won all
three. Win number one came in the individual time trial on Thursday.
He then won the team relay with his team-mates Paolo Cecchetto and
Luca Mazzone in the Italian national team. Saturday’s closing road
race turned out to be a real thriller in which Zanardi produced a
fantastic sprint finish to take the lead in the final metres and claim
his third win in three races.
W Series: Beitske Visser on the podium again at the season finale.
BMW Motorsport Junior Beitske Visser (NED) ended the inaugural season
of the W Series with another podium at Brands Hatch (GBR). Third place
at the season finale ultimately meant second place in the overall
standings. With 100 points to her name, Visser ended the season just
ten points behind the first W Series champion, Jamie Chadwick (GBR).
Victory at Brands Hatch went to Alice Powell (GBR). “It has been a
fantastic season,” said Visser. “The pace was there in every single
race. We were unlucky with technical issues at the season-opener at
Hockenheim, but we always had the necessary speed. I knew that it
would be tough here at Brands Hatch, as I did not know the circuit. I
gave it my all today and am happy with my race, even if I
unfortunately came up just short in the title race.” After six races,
Visser ended the first season of the W Series with one win and a
further three podium finishes to her name.
ADAC GT4 Germany: Second win of the season for RN Vision STS.
Marius Zug (GER) and Gabriele Piana (ITA) claimed their second win of
the season in ADAC GT4 Germany, having previously tasted success at
Oschersleben (GER). After 33 laps of racing, the RN Vision STS duo
crossed the finish line first in the #7 BMW M4 GT4 to take victory in
Saturday’s race at Zandvoort (NED). Zug started the race from pole
position, but initially dropped back through the field. An early pit
stop and a change of driver brought the BMW M4 GT4 back to second
place. Piana showed plenty of fighting spirit to regain the lead and
finish the race with a comfortable advantage of 19.9 seconds. This
success was enough to guarantee that Zug wins the Junior competition.
In Sunday’s second race, Michael Schrey (GER) and Thomas Jäger (GER)
finished fourth in the Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport run #2 BMW M4
GT4. They were followed home by Piana and Zug in fifth place. Claudia
Hürtgen (GER) and Michael Fischer (AUT) also had a top ten finish in
the #3 BMW M4 GT4, again fielded by Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport.
They crossed the finish line in ninth place.
China GT Championship: Race terminated after rain roulette.
The races in the China GT Championship at Qinhuangdao, China, became
a slippery affair for all the teams and drivers. Torrential rainfall
and abysmal conditions on the track led race control to terminate the
second race with roughly ten minutes remaining for safety reasons.
Jesse Krohn (FIN) and Betty Chen (TWN) were classified as finishing
sixth in the #91 BMW M6 GT3 of FIST-Team AAI. Their team-mates Nick
Yelloly (GBR) and Junsan Chen (CHN) followed in seventh place. They
were the best-placed BMW drivers in fifth place in Saturday’s race.
Krohn/Chen failed to finish race one.
In the GT4 category, the Master Champ team finished sixth overall
with the #999 BMW M4 GT4 in the opening race of the weekend. This
equated to first place in the AM/AM class. They then finished seventh
(third in the AM/AM class) in race two.
ADAC GT Masters: Fightback in the dunes.
Jens Klingmann (GER) and Nicolai Sylvest (DEN) showed fighting spirit
at the ADAC GT Masters weekend at Zandvoort. The pair found themselves
down in 17thplace after qualifying for the first race on
Saturday. Over the course of the race, Klingmann and Sylvest gradually
climbed through the field and eventually came home sixth in the #14
BMW M6 GT3 after 34 laps of the circuit in the dunes. The MRS
GT-Racing drivers failed to finish Sunday’s race.