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.
DTM: CATL new BMW M Motorsport Premium Partner.
Joel Eriksson (SWE) can look forward to having a new strong partner
at his side at the DTM season opener at Hockenheim (GER). After the
announcement of ZF, Schaeffler and BMW Bank as BMW M Motorsport
Premium Partners for the cars of Philipp Eng (AUT), Marco Wittmann
(GER) and Bruno Spengler (CAN), the next partnership has now been
decided. Joel Eriksson will be fighting for DTM points and wins in the
#47 CATL BMW M4 DTM this year. Previously, the energy storage system
manufacturer was involved in works-supported customer racing and in
the FIA WEC. “With CATL, we have gained another committed Premium
Partner for the DTM,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.
“It’s always great when collaboration can be developed and expanded
continuously over the years. That was the case with CATL in recent
seasons. Now we want to celebrate success together in this new
dimension of the partnership.” Matthias Zentgraf, President Europe,
CATL, said: “CATL is a strong partner for the car industry which is
why I am really pleased that we can display CATL’s messages on the
track with Joel Eriksson as of this season. As a new Premium Partner
of BMW M Motorsport in the DTM, we want to deepen our partnership with
BMW and enjoy success together.” Eriksson added: “I’m delighted to be
contesting the DTM with CATL as Premium Partner this season. This will
be my second year in the DTM and I’ve set myself plenty of goals. I
hope to be driving for the top positions as often as possible with
CATL, and will give it my all.”
About CATL:
CATL is a leader manufacturer of energy storage systems. The Chinese
company was founded in Ningde in 2011. CATL develops and distributes
high-performance lithium-ion batteries for electric cars and electric
buses, as well as stationary energy storage systems for customers
around the world. Based on the latest materials, the batteries and
systems guarantee maximum safety, reliability, quality and charging
efficiency. CATL’s objective is to develop state-of-the art concepts
and technology that can be used to drive the green energy revolution.
DTM: Wittmann visits new BMW M Motorsport Premium Partner Schaeffler.
As of this DTM season, Marco Wittmann (GER) will compete in the new
Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM, reason enough for the two-time DTM champion to
visit the new BMW M Motorsport Premium Partner in Herzogenaurach (GER)
last Tuesday. In addition to an autograph session and a comprehensive
factory tour, a QA session with Formula Student junior engineers
was the order of the day. “That’s how to kick off a successful
partnership,” said Wittmann, who grew up just 15 kilometres away from
Schaeffler HQ in Herzogenaurach. “I really enjoyed swapping views with
some of Schaeffler’s employees and getting to know the impressive
factory on a tour. The QA session with the Formula Student
participants was also really exciting. Just like me, they love and
live for the fascination of motorsport. Formula Student is a great
entry point for them and some of the BMW Team RMG employees come from
Formula Student.” The Schaeffler Motorsport Academy that has taken
place annually since 2014 gives the junior engineers who will compete
in Formula Student with their teams two days to exchange ideas and
talk shop with Schaeffler experts on topics such as automated driving,
project management, engineering and electric mobility. Participants
take practice-based workshops, get involved in exciting discussion
sessions and attend panel discussions with top-class experts. Also
on-site in Herzogenaurach was a new Schaeffler BMW M4 DTM show car,
which – like Wittmann – made for a popular subject of numerous
selfies. The striking green and white racing car will be in action on
the track for the first time this week. The official DTM test drives
will be held at the Lausitzring (GER) from 16th to 18th April, before
the new season gets underway at the Hockenheimring (GER) on 4th May.
DTM: BMW M1 Procar Revival at the Norisring.
40 years after the start of the Procar series initiated for the BMW
M1, the car is captivating motorsport fans once again. As part of the
DTM races at the Norisring (GER, 5th-7th July 2019), 14 models of the
racing car built according to Group 4 regulations at that time and
then driven by Formula 1 drivers and international privateers will
make a spectacular comeback on the track. BMW Group Classic has been
able to attract famous drivers back into the BMW M1 cockpit for the
Procar Revival on the Nürnberg street circuit. Former Formula 1
drivers Jan Lammers (NED) and Marc Surer (SUI), two motorsport legends
who were crowd pleasers in the original Procar races four decades ago
will be in action. With historic motorsport on the DTM support
programme, BMW Group Classic is evoking the BMW M1’s racetrack debut
that was extraordinary in many ways. The mid-engine layout sports car
that was designed for both racing action and road use was presented in
autumn 1978. Delays in the production process prevented homologation
from being completed on time, so the director of BMW Motorsport GmbH
at that time, Jochen Neerpasch, along with the Formula 1 managers Max
Mosley and Bernie Ecclestone started a totally new race series. The 19
Procar series races held in total in 1979 and 1980 shaped up to be an
ideal stage for the BMW M1 that went on to enjoy success in other
international competitions.
VLN: Snow causes race cancellation in the Eifel Mountains.
Race two of this season’s VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring
(GER) felt the full force of this weekend’s late onset of winter in
Germany. Heavy snowfall and temperatures around freezing point caused
the race to be cancelled just two laps in. The #42 BMW Team Schnitzer
BMW M6 GT3, with Martin Tomczyk (GER) at the wheel, was leading at
that point. Tomczyk was sharing the car with BMW works drivers Timo
Scheider (GER) and Sheldon van der Linde (RSA), who gained his first
experience at the wheel of the BMW M6 GT3 during Friday’s test and
qualifying on Saturday morning. In qualifying, when it was still dry,
BMW works driver Jens Klingmann (GER) and Peter Dumbreck (GBR) had
secured second place on the front row of the grid in the FALKEN
Motorsports BMW M6 GT3. In total, roughly 70 BMW cars were registered
for the 44th DMV 4-Hour Race. These included more than 20
BMW M240i Racings in the CUP5 class, as well as six BMW M4 GT4s in the
SP10 class and five BMW M6 GT3s in the SP9 class.
GT4 European Series: Successful start to the season for the
BMW M4 GT4.
BMW Customer Racing teams enjoyed their first successes with the BMW
M4 GT4 at the opening round of this season’s GT4 European Series at
Monza (ITA). Simon Knap (NED) and Alec Udell (USA) finished third in
the MDM Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 in Saturday’s opening race. Gabriele
Piana (ITA) and Marius Zug (GER) came home sixth for RN Vision STS,
earning themselves victory in the Pro-Am class in the process. They
repeated their sixth-place finish in race two on Sunday, which this
time meant second place in the Pro-Am class. Piana and Zug lead the
Pro-Am standings with 43 points after the opening race weekend.