Whether in the DTM, 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.
VLN: BMW M6 GT3 in the Top 3 – Bonk drivers continue to
dominate the BMW M235i Racing Cup.
A successful race
on Saturday in the “Green Hell” for numerous BMW teams: three BMW M6
GT3s finished in the top ten at the highlight of the VLN Endurance
Racing Championship season, the six-hour race on the Nürburgring
Nordschleife (DE). BMW works driver Jörg Müller (DE), Felipe Fernández
Laser (DE), BMW Motorsport Junior Jesse Krohn (FI) and Victor Bouveng
(SE) all made it to the podium. They saw the chequered flag in third
place, driving the number 36 car from Walkenhorst Motorsport powered
by Dunlop. The quartet also recorded the fastest lap time of 08:04.638
minutes. This was the first appearance in a BMW M6 GT3 for Laser.
Müller and Krohn gave themselves a very special birthday present, in
the form of the podium finish. BMW works driver Philipp Eng (AT) also
delivered a convincing performance in his seventh VLN race of the
year. After securing 11th in qualifying, Stef Dusseldorp (NL) and the
winner of the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps (BE) put on a
faultless display of driving. After 43 laps of the Nordschleife, they
crossed the line in fifth in the ROWE Racing team’s BMW M6 GT3. The
third car in the top ten was the Frikadelli Racing Team’s BMW M6 GT3 ,
in seventh place. The Walkenhorst team’s number 50 BMW Z4 GT3 rounded
off the good overall result for BMW, with a 12th place finish in the
“Green Hell”. Victory in the six-hour race went to Porsche.
Alexander Mies and Michael Schrey (both DE) remain the drivers
to beat in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class, as they recorded their
seventh win in seven races. The duo from Team Bonk Motorsport extended
their lead in the Cup standings and in the overall VLN championship.
Second position in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class went to Thomas Jäger
(AT) and Rudi Adams (DE) from the Scheid-Honert Motorsport team. The
Team Securtal Sorg Rennsport BMW M235i Racing finished in third place
with Heiko Eichenberg and Kevin Warum (both DE) at the wheel.
VLN: Double debut on the Nordschleife.
BMW DTM
driver António Félix da Costa (PT) and BMW Motorsport Junior Ricky
Collard (GB) both started a race in the “Green Hell“ for the first
time in their respective careers. They took on the
Nürburgring-Nordschleife (DE) together at the wheel of a BMW M235i
Racing in the seventh round of the VLN Endurance Championship on
Saturday. This was the second time this year that Félix da Costa had
made a debut, having previously contested a race in the BMW M6 GT3 for
the first time in the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring (AT) in
July. The race in the Eifel Mountains was the perfect end to a great
week for the Portuguese, who celebrated his 25th birthday on
Wednesday. “The Nordschleife is the toughest circuit in the world. It
is every racing driver’s dream to race there at least once,“ said
Félix da Costa. “That dream came true for me today. It was unique to
experience the myth of the “Green Hell“ in the BMW M235i Racing. I had
great fun, and can certainly imagine returning to race here again.“
Félix da Costa will be back in action in the Eifel region in just one
week’s time: the BMW Team Schnitzer driver will contest races 13 and
14 of the DTM season on 10th and 11th September, when the BMW M4 DTM
will do battle on the Nürburgring’s 3.629-kilometre Grand Prix Circuit.
BMW Motorsport Junior Collard was also making his first
appearance in the “Green Hell“. “The race on the Nordschleife was a
real highlight. The circuit demands everything of you as a racing
driver,“ said Collard. “I came here to learn, and I am grateful that I
was able to do that with a great racer like António by my side. This
weekend has provided me with a lot of valuable information. This will
be very useful for my future career. It was my debut for BMW and I
feel very proud to wear the racesuit and represent the brand for the
first time.“ Collard had impressed a jury of BMW Motorsport experts at
a shoot-out in March, after which he was rewarded with the opportunity
to receive comprehensive training on the BMW Motorsport Junior
programme. Collard’s family enjoys a close association with BMW. His
father Rob Collard (GB) has been driving BMWs in the British Touring
Car Championship (BTCC) since 2008. He is at the wheel of a BMW 125i M
Sport in 2016, and has so far won two races this season. Ricky Collard
has also been extremely successful this year. He leads the Drivers’
Championship in the British Formula 3 Championship going into the
final event at Donington Park (GB). Collard and Félix da Costa came
home 61st on the Nordschleife on Saturday.
DTM: Tomczyk and Wittmann go full throttle at the
Lausitzring.
Like the DTM, the Red Bull Air Race also
represents unbridled power and breath-taking action. For the first
time since 2010, the most spectacular air show in the world returned
to the Lausitzring (DE) and captivated the visitors. The two BMW DTM
drivers Martin Tomczyk (DE) and Marco Wittmann (DE) were part of the
spectacle again this year. On Saturday and Sunday, Tomczyk in his BMW
M Performance Parts M4 DTM and Wittmann in the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM
completed two show runs. For 20 minutes on each run, Tomczyk and
Wittmann smoked their tyres and fascinated the spectators with
burnouts and doughnuts. Fans had the opportunity to admire the two BMW
race cars up close and personal in the paddock before and after their
appearances. Both Tomczyk and Wittmann also made time for several
autograph sessions in addition to the show runs. The Red Bull Air Race
World Championship is a series of airplane races organised by Red Bull
– Premium Partner of BMW Motorsport in the DTM. The aim is to fly
through a course of air gates in 350 hp propeller planes as quickly as
possible while performing the specified manoeuvres correctly. The
sixth of the total of eight events in the 2016 season took place at
the Lausitzring.
BMW M6 GT3: A fast lap with Jens Klingmann in South
Africa.
The BMW M6 GT3 does not just compete around the
world in customer sport: it featured at the “South African Festival of
Motoring” this week. The event took place from 31st August to 4th
September 2016 at the “Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit” in Midrand (ZA),
which regularly hosted the Grand Prix of South Africa from 1967 to
1993. BMW South Africa had invited Team Schubert Motorsport to present
the BMW M6 GT3 to a wider public with its special design for the 100th
birthday of the BMW Group – as seen during the 24-hour race at the
Nürburgring (DE). The “South African Festival of Motoring” attracts up
to 150,000 visitors each year. BMW customers and local media
representatives were delighted to have the chance to experience laps
in the race taxi with BMW works driver Jens Klingmann (DE).
DTM: Unique fan promotion with Augusto Farfus in the Shell BMW
M4 DTM race taxi.
Twenty three years after the last
race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (DE), a DTM car will drive
through the “Green Hell“ again on Monday 12th September. After the DTM
race weekend in the Eifel region, BMW works driver Augusto Farfus (BR)
will be driving laps on the longest permanent race track in the world
in his Shell BMW M4 DTM. The winner of a fan promotion from Shell –
Premium Technology Partner of BMW Motorsport in the DTM – will be in
the passenger seat. Matthias Malmedie (DE), best known from “Grip –
Das Motormagazin“ on the German TV station RTL II, will be
commentating on this unique taxi journey. This driving experience with
Farfus is being made possible by special conversion work to the Shell
BMW M4 DTM, to adjust it to the specific requirements of the
Nordschleife. “The Nordschleife is as familiar to me as my living
room, I know every centimetre of asphalt here. I have competed in the
24-hour race countless times, and I won it in 2010,“ said Farfus.
“However, I have only experienced the “Green Hell“ from the cockpit of
a GT car. Being allowed to drive a few laps here with the Shell BMW M4
DTM race taxi will be a real highlight – especially as I am the first
DTM driver to have this honour for 23 years. I am really looking
forward to this unique promotion and to my fans, who should really
enjoy this.“ Next weekend, the DTM will be taking place at the
legendary Nürburgring for the 50th time. There have been 73 races at
the historic circuit in the Eifel in this touring car series, a number
only bettered by Hockenheim (80) in Germany. The races will take place
on the 3.629-kilometre short version of the Grand Prix circuit on 10th
and 11th September. The 1993 season was the last occasion on which DTM
cars were able to attack the Nordschleife.
24H Barcelona: Two class wins at the “Circuit de
Catalunya”.
The 24H series paid a visit to Barcelona
(ES) this weekend. The sixth race of the season took place at the
“Circuit de Catalunya” (ES), which also hosts the Spanish Grand Prix
in Formula 1. A total of nine BMW cars were competing at the “24H
Barcelona”. After 601 laps, Daan Meijer, Pieter van Soelen, Mark van
der Aa and Koen Bogaerts (all NL) from Team JR Motorsport celebrated
the class win in the SP-3 category, securing 17th in the overall
standings. Second position in the class went to Patrick van Glabeke
(BE), Martin Lanting, Bob Herber and Harry Hilders (NL), who were also
competing for JR Motorsport. In the A3 category, Mark Bus, Simon Knap,
Rob Severs and Bas van de Ven (all NL) crossed the line in third place
after 24 hours in their MDM Motorsport car. Jimmy de Breucker (BE),
Mario Timmers (BE), Del Bennett (GB), Fortia Pares (ES) and Alvaro
Vela (ES) claimed victory in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class for the
DUWO Racing team. Porsche secured the overall victory at the “24H Barcelona”.