Munich. BMW Motorsport provides a real highlight in their
promotion of grass-roots level racing. The 2018 BMW Sports Trophy
winners and VLN champions, Christopher Rink, Danny Brink and Philipp
Leisen (all GER), are set for their race debuts at the wheel of the
BMW M4 GT4. The trio, which won the Drivers’ title in last year’s
VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring (GER) in the BMW 325i, will
drive the latest BMW Customer Racing car at the iconic Nürburgring
24 Hours in June. To prepare, the three drivers will also start in
the 6-hour qualifying race on 19th May.
The race outings in the BMW M4 GT4 are BMW Motorsport’s way of
recognising the extraordinary performances that Rink, Brink and Leisen
produced on the Nordschleife last season. The car will feature a
special BMW M Motorsport livery with the letting ‘BMW Sports Trophy’
at the 24-hour race. BMW works driver Dirk Adorf (GER) will take his
place in the cockpit as the fourth driver, and will comment live
during his stints for TV station Nitro. Furthermore, with his vast
wealth of experience on the Nordschleife and in the development of the
BMW M4 GT4, Adorf will also serve as an important advisor for Rink,
Brink and Leisen.
“I am really pleased that, as well as the prize money and trophies,
we are also able to present our BMW Sports Trophy winners with these
extraordinary race outings in recognition of their impressive
performances,” said BMW Group Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt.
“Customer Racing is one of the central pillars of the BMW M Motorsport
programme. It is the customer racing drivers who, with their success,
do such an outstanding job of representing the BMW brand as
ambassadors. We are very grateful for that. I will have my fingers
crossed for Christopher Rink, Danny Brink and Philipp Leisen, and can
hardly wait to see the BMW M4 GT4 race at the 24h race and follow the
fascinating live commentary from Dirk Adorf in the cockpit.”
A test at Portimão (POR) provided Rink, Brink and Leisen with the
opportunity to gain their first experience at the wheel of the BMW M4
GT4. “The Portimão test was very important for us, because we were
able to get a lot of laps in the BMW M4 GT4 under our belt, to
familiarise ourselves with the car. The data analysis with the BMW
Motorsport engineers was obviously also extremely valuable,” said
Brink. Rink added: “The test at Portimão was super! I have also had
the opportunity to drive the car on the Nordschleife once, in VLN1. It
makes a very good impression there too. The driving experience is
absolutely nothing like the production-based BMW 325i.” Leisen said:
“The BMW M4 GT4 is a real racing car. I am excited to see how it feels
on the Nordschleife. The qualifying race will be an important test for
us, before it really counts in the 24-hour race.” Marcel Lenerz (GER)
will contest the qualifying race as the fourth driver this Sunday,
before Adorf will be in action at the iconic endurance race in June.
“I have been involved in the development of the BMW M4 GT4 from the
first test kilometres to its race outings, so I know the car very
well. As such, I am obviously happy to offer advice to my three fellow
drivers,” said Adorf. “In Christopher, Danny and Philipp we have the
three VLN champions from 2018 on board. That means I don’t need to
tell them anything when it comes to racing on the Nordschleife, as
they already have plenty of experience.” Adorf primarily sees himself
as the link between the racing action and the spectators. “I will be
an expert, commentator and racing driver, so I can give the spectators
an all-round package,” said Adorf. “I feel my main job is to bring the
fans watching at home as close as possible to the fascination of the
24-hour race on the Nordschleife.”
The BMW M4 GT4 race outings will be organised by Adrenalin Motorsport
– the team with which Rink, Brink and Leisen achieved so much success
in 2018. Team principal Matthias Unger and his crew won the BMW Sports
Trophy Team Competition four times in a row between 2014 and 2017.