Season finale in South Africa: Three BMW M6 GT3 to contest the 9 Hours of Kyalami.

Munich. The fifth race on the fifth continent draws the
Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) season to a close this weekend.
At the legendary track in Kyalami (RSA), BMW Team Schnitzer is set
to compete with a BMW M6 GT3 and will send a local hero, Sheldon van
der Linde (RSA), to do battle. With the second race within a week,
BMW Team Schnitzer master a huge organisational challenge, which was
preceded by long and complex planning. In addition to the team from
Freilassing, Walkenhorst Motorsport will also be competing in South
Africa. Henry Walkenhorst’s (GER) team will field two BMW M6 GT3 at
the IGTC season finale.

As throughout the entire season, the Walkenhorst
Motorsport team will compete with the #34 BMW M6 GT3 and the three
regular drivers Nick Catsburg (NED), Mikkel Jensen (DEN) and Christian
Krognes (NOR). In addition, the team will race with another BMW M6
GT3. Michael Von Rooyen, Gennaro Bonafede (both RSA) and team
principal Henry Walkenhorst himself will take it in turns at the wheel
of the #36 BMW M6 GT3.

The cockpit of the #42 BMW M6 GT3 of BMW Team Schnitzer will be
shared by Martin Tomczyk (GER), local hero Sheldon van der Linde, who
contested the DTM for BMW in 2019, and Augusto Farfus (BRA). The
nine-hour race in South Africa will be Farfus’ and BMW Team
Schnitzer’s second race within a matter of days. Just last weekend the
Brazilian was in action in the #42 BMW M6 GT3 at the FIA GT World Cup
in Macau (CHN). There he took fourth place both in the qualifying race
on Saturday and in the main race on Sunday.

BMW Team Schnitzer master huge logistical challenge.

The two races within a matter of days pose an enormous challenge not
only for the Brazilian. BMW Team Schnitzer has accomplished a
logistical tour de force with the organisation of the two race
appearances, which was preceded by complex planning.

At the FIA GT World Cup in Macau last weekend, the same BMW M6
GT3 that contested the ninth round of the VLN Endurance Championship
Nürburgring (GER) was in action. The team only had a week to modify
the BMW M6 GT3 after its appearance in the Eifel region, apply foils
and deliver the car to Luxembourg. From there, the GT3 car was
transported to Macau by aeroplane. Tools, spare parts and other
equipment were transported from Europe to Asia by sea at the same time.

A total of nine team members from the Schnitzer crew were on
duty in Macau. While three of them remained there to load the
containers, the others travelled to Johannesburg (RSA), around 11,000
kilometres away, on Monday morning. After about 14 hours in the air,
they were received by seven other BMW Team Schnitzer employees in
Kyalami, who had travelled to Kyalami the previous week to prepare the
car and the equipment for the IGTC race weekend. The BMW M6 GT3 that
contested the 10 Hours of Suzuka (JPN) will also take on this race.

BMW Team Schnitzer started planning for the race weekend at the
start of the year. They not only had to consider the availabilities of
the cars and organisation of the freight, but also the greater
personnel effort required by an endurance race. More pit stops and
more tyres mean a need for more personnel than last weekend in Macau.
On top of this are the special conditions at the track at every IGTC location.

BMW and South Africa: a special relationship.

After stopping off on four continents, in Bathurst (AUS), Laguna Seca
(USA), Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) and Suzuka, already this year, the IGTC
is breaking new ground in Kyalami. The series is hosting its first
ever race on the African continent. It gets underway on Saturday,
23rd November at 12:00 (CET).

BMW has a special relationship with the former Formula 1 track.
In the final Formula 1 race of the 1983 season, Nelson Piquet (BRA)
clinched the world championship title on the track in the province of
Gauteng. This was also the first Formula 1 title for BMW and the first
for a car with turbo drive.

And it’s not only in motorsport that BMW enjoys a close
relationship with South Africa. The plant in Rosslyn, located only
around 60 kilometres away from Kyalami, was in 1973 the first plant
that the BMW Group established outside Germany. Over 35 years and five
generations, more than a million units of BMW 3 Series have been
produced here. After a major investment the plant has been upgraded to
produce  the BMW X3 from 2018.  BMW South Africa employs more than
40,000 employees directly and indirectly, and is one of the country’s
leading exporters of cars.

Sheldon van der Linde (#42 BMW M6 GT3, BMW Team Schnitzer):

“I’m full of high expectations ahead of Kyalami. For the first time
in my career, I will contest a race in front of my home crowd. This
makes me even more motivated to put in a good performance. We have a
really good package for the race, and I think the track is suited to
the car. I used to live near the track. Since I will be staying with
my parents for the race weekend, I will be waking up in my own bed and
driving to the track before a race for the first time since I was
involved in karting. That feels very special to me. Just recently, I
drove on the track at the BMW M Festival in South Africa in the DTM
race taxi, and I completed test drives here a few years ago. However,
I’m not expecting this to give me a great advantage compared with
other drivers who have never driven here before. For me, the racetrack
is one of the best in the world. The surface and the layout are new,
and the surrounding area on the outskirts of Johannesburg is unique.
From my perspective, there is no better place to hold the season
finale of the IGTC.”

Augusto Farfus (#42 BMW M6 GT3, BMW Team Schnitzer):

“After the race in Macau, this will be the second event within a week
for me and the whole BMW Team Schnitzer. Naturally, this is a major
challenge for us all. The tracks and the approaches in the two races
are totally different. Macau was a sprint race, which was all about
going on the attack. Whereas Kyalami will be an endurance race. On the
other hand, it definitely has advantages contesting a race with the
same car and the same tyres two weekends in a row. In Kyalami, we are
all breaking new ground and are starting at a similar level. It’s been
a long time since I was last in South Africa, but I only have good
memories of the country and I am really looking forward to it. I think
that we had a strong package, recently in Suzuka and throughout the
entire season, but as yet have not been rewarded with a spot on the
podium. So, I hope that we will make up for this at the season finale
and end the year on a high.”

Nick Catsburg (#34 BMW M6 GT3, Walkenhorst Motorsport):

“We haven’t competed in Kyalami yet, so it’s quite difficult to make
a prediction. Personally, I have never been to South Africa before. So
it’s an event with plenty of firsts. I have heard that the tyre wear
is meant to be very low there, which I think should suit us. We have
been very competitive throughout the season and I hope that this will
also be the case in Kyalami and that we will be able to be up there
battling for the podium. Even though we were a little unlucky in part,
I really enjoyed the first season in the IGTC. The tracks and
locations where we have raced have been very special. And being given
the privilege of representing the Walkenhorst Motorsport team was a
great experience. Now, I am hoping for a positive end to the season.”