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.
Formula E: BMW i Andretti Motorsport tests in Spain.
Preparations for the second season in the ABB FIA Formula E
Championship are in full swing at BMW i Andretti Motorsport. The next
testing session is scheduled for the coming week, at “Circuit Calafat”
in Spain. At the wheel will be BMW works driver Alexander Sims (GBR)
and Maximilian Günther (GER). Last season, 22-year-old Günther drove
for Geox Dragon in Formula E. He started his single-seater racing
career in the 2011 Formula BMW Talent Cup – the BMW talent promotion
programme at that time. Over the coming weeks and months, various
drivers will be involved in BMW i Andretti Motorsport’s preparations,
and will complete tests in the simulator and on the track.
GT4 France: BMW M4 GT4 reaches the podium.
At the fourth race weekend of the season in the GT4 France,
Ricardo van der Ende (NED) and Christopher Campbell (FRA) claimed
second place to reach the podium in Saturday’s race at
Spa-Francorchamps (BEL). After 21 laps in the #17 BMW M4 GT4, the duo
from Team L’Espace Bienvenue was just 0.785 seconds away from first
place. In Friday’s race, Laurent Hurgon and Julien Piguet (both FRA)
put in a strong performance, finishing fourth in the BMW Team France
#3 BMW M4 GT4 and just missing out on the podium. They secured third
place in the Pro-Am category. Both races were part of the supporting
programme for the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
VLN: Comeback for legendary “Eifelblitz”.
A legend returns: The legendary 2009 version of the BMW M3 GTR S
will be returning to the Nordschleife (GER) this coming weekend, at
the fifth race of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring. At the
wheel: Johannes Scheid (GER). The former champion and Scheid
Motorsport team principal will be appearing behind the wheel of the
legendary car to complete a demo lap on the Nordschleife at the ROWE 6
Hours ADAC Ruhr-Pokal race. The “Eifelblitz” will compete for the FEV
Racing team, which has owned the car with cult status since 2012.
Together with Scheid Motorsport, the team celebrated two overall wins
in the VLN, four class wins and a fifth place at the Nürburgring
24-hour race between 2003 and 2009. “It is a lovely gesture from FEV
to allow me to drive a demo lap in the car to mark my 50 years of
involvement in motorsport,” said Scheid. “I was involved in
constructing this car from scratch, every single part. The steering
and the entire front axle were adjusted to the conditions on the
Nordschleife, and we also had to modify the transmission and the
exhaust. But after all this time, I will have to check again to see
where the buttons and everything are. Of course, I won’t be driving at
race speed.”
