Nürburgring 24 Hours: Action-packed classic at the “Green Hell”.
Once again, the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (DE) offered
everything that GT fans from around the world love about this event;
constantly changing weather conditions with rain and hail, an
interruption that lasted several hours and countless accidents that
played havoc with the classification time and again. On its first
outing at the “Green Hell”, the new BMW M6 GT3 finished in the top
five. Dirk Werner (DE), Maxime Martin (BE), Alexander Sims (GB) and
Philipp Eng (AT) finished in fifth place for ROWE Racing in the number
23 car. The two Walkenhorst Motorsport cars also made it into the top
30, finishing in 12th (number 999) and 22nd (number 101) place. The
win went to the Mercedes quartet in car number 29. The best-placed BMW
M235i Racing in the field finished in a strong 25th place overall:
Class victory went to Michael Schrey (DE), Alexander Mies (DE), Emin
Akata (DE) and Dries Vanthoor (BE) in the number 305 Bonk Motorsport car.
Nürburgring 24 Hours: Glock impresses as a TV expert.
While his BMW Motorsport driver team-mates battled for good positions
on the track, Timo Glock (DE) also contested the 24-hour race at the
Nürburgring (DE) – but from the more unusual perspective of a TV
expert. The DTM driver was in the pit lane for RTL Nitro to analyse
the turbulent results at the endurance classic alongside former
motorcycle rider Alex Hofmann (DE). “It was so much fun,” said Glock
after the race. “RTL Nitro set a new broadcasting record and showed
the entire race live. It is exciting to go behind the scenes of this
type of production. My voice was suffering after the first half of the
race, but we kept going. I think the viewers enjoyed the programme overall.”
Nürburgring 24 Hours: New helmet design for Lucas Luhr.
For the Nürburgring 24 Hours, Lucas Luhr (DE) presented a new helmet
design. The BMW works driver asked fans to produce a design to
celebrate the ten-year anniversary of his first win in the Eifel. He
picked the winning design himself. The competition received a
fantastic response, with the BMW works driver left with plenty to
choose from; in the end, he chose Andy Werner’s design. “I really
wanted to involve my incredible fans and do something cool for them,
so I’m honoured to wear this helmet,” said Luhr. “I chose Andy’s
design because he put a lot of thought into it, and a lot of hard
work. It looks fantastic, it’s really sharp, and it gives me a real
sense of pride. I hope it brings me more success in the future than at
this 24-hour race.”
Australian GT Championship: Spengler makes guest appearance on
Phillip Island.
BMW DTM driver Bruno Spengler (CA) was in action in the BMW M6 GT3 on
Phillip Island (AU) at the weekend. He contested the Australian GT and
Australian Endurance Championship for the new BMW customer team MARC
GT. Spengler finished in 13th place alongside his team-mate Morgan
Haber (AU) in the endurance race. The duo started from second and led
the race temporarily, but two punctures saw them drop down the field.
Spengler was knocked out of the sprint race on Saturday. BMW Team SRM
finished tenth in the first of the two sprint races and was knocked
out of the second race. The BMW M6 GT3 finished 18th in the endurance
race. The BMW Z4 GT3 and the Modena Engineering team had a more
successful race weekend: They clinched fifth and seventh in the two
sprint races.
Italian GT Championship: Fifth place for BMW Team Italia.
The second race weekend in the 2016 Italian GT Championship saw BMW
Team Italia pick up valuable points. At the “Autodromo Enzo e Dino
Ferrari” in Imola (IT), Alberto Cerqui (IT) and Stefano Comandini (IT)
in the number 15 BMW M6 GT3 finished in fifth place in their
classification. The win went to the two Audi drivers Marco Mapelli
(IT) and Filipe Albuquerque (PT).
Pirelli World Challenge: BMW M235i Racing narrowly misses out
on podium.
Toby Grahovec (US) narrowly missed out on the podium at the Pirelli
World Challenge races in Lime Rock Park (US). He finished in fourth
place in his BMW M235i Racing in both of the weekend’s races. His
team-mate John Roberts (US) finished seventh in the first race and
sixth in the second.