Munich. BMW Team MTEK heads to the 6 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps (BEL), the penultimate round of the 2018/2019
World Endurance Championship (WEC) Super Season, next weekend
(2nd to 4th May). The squad, headed by Team
Principal Ernest Knoors, will be pushing for a strong result before
the team returns to Le Mans (FRA) in June for the season finale.
BMW drivers Martin Tomcyzk (GER) and Nick Catsburg (NED) will be
looking to repeat their Sebring (USA) success where the pair put the
#81 BMW M8 GTE on the second step of the podium in the 1000km WEC
race. The #82 BMW M8 GTE, which took a podium in the 6 Hours of Fuji
(JPN), will once again compete, with drivers António Félix da Costa
(POR) and Augusto Farfus (BRA) taking the helm.
Comments ahead of the 6 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps.
Ernest Knoors (Team Principal, BMW Team MTEK): “It’s
nice to come back to Spa, where we started our BWW M8 GTE campaign a
year ago. We’re aiming to continue the strong performance from the
recent events and stand on the podium for a third time. The team is
enjoying racing the BMW M8 GTE in the well-balanced GTE Pro field and
we look forward to more close racing. As always at Spa, the big
unknown is the weather, which looks particularly ‘challenging’ in
terms of precipitation and temperature this weekend.”
Martin Tomczyk (#81 BMW M8 GTE): “It’s the last race
before the 24 Hours of Le Mans but, after a very good result in
Sebring, I’m really looking forward to the 6 Hours of Spa. It’s the
second time that we have raced there, so we have lots of data. We saw
at Sebring that the competition is really close but we also saw that
we are in range to fight for the podium, so this is definitely our
goal. Nicky and I got a good boost at Sebring and we are hoping to
ride this wave into Spa!”
Nick Catsburg (#81 BMW M8 GTE): “I’m really looking
forward to returning to the Six Hours of Spa. Last year it was the
first WEC event for the BMW M8 GTE but this year we’re in a much
better position. We’re coming from a podium finish in Sebring and I
think we can do really well at Spa. It’s one of my favourite tracks
and we’re aiming to get another strong result.”
António Félix da Costa (#82 BMW M8 GTE):
“I’m really looking forward to going back to Spa – it’s where the WEC
adventure started for BMW and myself 12 months ago. It will be good to
go back there and re-evaluate how much we’ve improved in that time.
Let’s hope for a good result, score some points and get the team ready
for Le Mans.”
Augusto Farfus (#82 BMW M8 GTE):
“It’s good that we get to go to Spa twice in the Super Season. Last
year when we were here it was our first race as a WEC team and we
struggled a little, so we will return this year with the aim of
putting that right. The team is much stronger and I think António and
I can fight for a podium.”