BMW Motorsport News – issue 26/2017.

VLN: BMW teams claim the win and third place overall.

Celebrations for the Falken Motorsports team: at the 48th Adenauer
ADAC Trophy, the team celebrated a long-awaited first win on the
Nürburgring Nordschleife (GER) with the BMW M6 GT3. At the fourth
event of the 2017 VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring season, Stef
Dusseldorp (NED) and BMW works driver Jörg Müller (GER) shared driving
duties in the BMW M6 GT3. Starting from second place, Müller took the
lead on the second lap and the duo was able to stay in front. After
four hours of racing, Falken Motorsports claimed victory 35 seconds
ahead of the nearest challenger. Third place on the podium went to the
Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 driven by Christian Krognes (NOR),
Michele Di Martino (GER) and Matias Henkola (FIN). The trio enjoyed a
thrilling battle for second place with Manthey Racing. In the end,
they missed second place only by 0.286 seconds. BMW Motorsport used
the fourth VLN race as an opportunity to continue development work on
the new customer racing BMW M4 GT4 car. The car was run by ROWE Racing
with Dirk Adorf, Iain Wright and Thorsten Drewes (all GER) sharing
driving duties. The trio won the SP8T class and finished in 29th place
overall, out of nearly 150 starters. A total of 47 BMW race cars
competed at the 48th Adenauer ADAC Trophy. In addition to the overall
win, they also claimed four class wins.

 

IWSC: BMW Team RLL starts from the front row in Canada.

Just one week after the first win for the BMW M6 GTLM in North
America, the BMW Team RLL has travelled to Bowmanville, Canada for the
next race in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. The Bobby
Rahal team has once again secured a good start position for the race
in the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Bill Auberlen (USA) and
Alexander Sims (GBR), fresh from last week’s win in Watkins Glen
(USA), reached the front row in qualifying as they secured a
second-place start in the GTLM class, in the #25 BMW M6 GTLM. Their
team-mates Martin Tomczyk (GER) and John Edwards (USA) claimed fourth
place in qualifying in the #24 car. The race had not been started at
the time of publication. 

 

BMW M235i Racing Cup: Schrey celebrates second win of the season.

In the fourth VLN Endurance Championship race of the season at the
Nürburgring (GER), reigning BMW Sports Trophy winner Michael Schrey
(GER) claimed his second win of the season in the BMW M235i Racing Cup
class. After 25 laps, the driver from the Bonk Motorsport team
finished 22.235 seconds ahead of David Greissner (AUT) and David Zils
(GER) from Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport. Heiko Eichenberg (GER)
secured third place on the podium in the BMW M235i Racing from the
Securtal Sorg Rennsport team A total of 15 cars from this class were
on the starting grid.

 

24h Spa: BMW teams continue preparations on official test day.

With just three weeks to go to the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps
(BEL), the BMW teams visited the Ardennes circuit for the official
test day. Two four-hour sessions on Tuesday offered teams and drivers
the opportunity to prepare their cars for the endurance classic and to
gather valuable data. More than 60 race cars took to the track. A
number of teams returned to the circuit on Wednesday for another day
of testing. This year, four BMW M6 GT3s will start the 24 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps. The ROWE Racing team, which won last year, and
Walkenhorst Motorsport will both field two cars. The regular drivers
will once again be joined by BMW DTM drivers in Spa, including last
year’s winner Maxime Martin (BEL) and Bruno Spengler (CAN), who will
both drive for ROWE Racing. 

While Martin is an old hand in Spa, Spengler is preparing for his
second outing in this race, having made his debut in a BMW Z4 GT3 in
2015. “It was a very productive test day,” said Spengler. “We gained
an awful lot of information, which will help us prepare for the race.
The test was also very valuable for me, as, although I did know the
track already, this was my first time driving the BMW M6 GT3 in Spa.”
The 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps take place on
29th/30th July. Spengler, his BMW DTM colleague
Tom Blomqvist (GB) and Nick Catsburg (NED) will drive the number 98
ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3. Martin will share the duties in the number 99
car with BMW works drivers Alexander Sims (GBR) and Philipp Eng (AUT).
Among those in action for Walkenhorst Motorsport will be BMW
Motorsport Junior Nico Menzel (GER), who will be joined in the number
35 BMW M6 GT3 by Markus Palttala, Matias Henkola (both FIN) and
Christian Krognes (NOR). The number 36 Walkenhorst car will be driven
by Henry Walkenhorst (GER), Stef van Campenhoudt (BEL), David
Schiwietz (GER) and Werner Hamprecht (GER).

 

ICTSC: Fifth race of the season in Canada.

The fifth race of the year in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar
Challenge (ICTSC) took place at the Canadian Tire Motorsports Park in
Bowmanville (CAN). The BMW teams recorded their best results of the
season so far in the street-tuner ST class. Stephen Simpson (RSA) and
Michael Johnson (USA) claimed fourth place in the class, in the BMW
228i from the JDC-Miller Motorsports team. James Clay and Tyler Cooke
(both USA) were right behind them in fifth place, in the BMW 328i from
BimmerWorld Racing.

 

Classic: Famous BMW race cars at the “Legends Parade” ahead of
the Austrian Grand Prix in Spielberg.

A trip back into motorsport history for the fans: the “Legends
Parade” saw legendary, historic race cars on track ahead of the
Austrian Grand Prix. This year, the parade at the Red Bull Ring (AUT)
took place under the “Le Mans” motto – and the BMW Group Classic was
represented by two historic BMW race cars that enjoyed success at the
24-hour race in Le Mans (FRA): the 1973 BMW 3.0 CSL and the 1999 BMW
V12 LMR. In 1973, the BMW 3.0 CSL won the European Touring Car
Championship as well as the touring car class at the 24 Hours of Le
Mans at the first attempt. It went on to become the most successful
touring car of the 1970s. At the “Legends Parade” in Spielberg, the
car was driven by a Le Mans winner from 1973: Austria’s Dieter
Quester, who triumphed that year with Toine Hezemans (NED). The BMW
V12 LMR is also very closely linked to Le Mans. This twelve-cylinder
prototype claimed the overall win in 1999 at the famous 24-hour race
near the Sarthe river. Gerhard Berger (AUT) was behind the wheel of
the BMW V12 LMR at the “Legends Parade” in Spielberg. Berger was BMW
Motorsport Director at the time of the Le Mans win in 1999.