Nürburgring. BMW teams competed with nine BMW M6 GT3s in this
weekend’s 6-hour qualification race, the dress rehearsal for the
Nürburgring (GER) 24-hour race. Three cars ended the race on the
Nordschleife in the top 10. Three BMW M6 GT3s also claimed their
places in the top 30 qualifying in a bit more than
four weeks.
The qualification event for the Nürburgring 24-hour race was a close
affair: the best-placed BMW M6 GT3 was less than one minute behind the
victorious Audi after six hours of racing. The first 13 cars were only
separated by three seconds in qualifying. It all points to a thrilling
battle in a bit more than four weeks, as the iconic endurance race
takes place on the Nordschleife for the 45th time on
27th and 28th May.
The #99 ROWE Racing car, with Alexander Sims (GBR), Philipp Eng
(AUT), Maxime Martin (BEL) and Marc Basseng (GER) at the wheel, was
the best-placed BMW M6 GT3 in sixth position. Jens Klingmann, Jörg
Müller (both GER), John Edwards (USA) and Tom Onslow-Cole (GBR) from
Schubert Motorsport, and António Félix da Costa (POR) and Alex Lynn
(GBR) from BMW Team Schnitzer followed close behind in seventh and
eighth places respectively. The second cars from ROWE Racing and the
BMW Team Schnitzer finished in places eleven and twelve. The #101 BMW
M6 GT3 from Walkenhorst Motorsport finished the race in
18th place. The #100 car from the same team and the #33 BMW
M6 GT3 from Falken Motorsports both had to retire after an accident.
The second Schubert Motorsport car suffered from technical problems.
Before the race, three BMW M6 GT3s had secured starting places in the
top 30 qualifying for the 24-hour race. This weekend, just the top 10
from qualifying and the top 5 in the qualification race were awarded
one of the sought-after spots in the individual time trials for the
best starting positions in a bit more than four weeks’ time. The #100
from Walkenhorst Motorsport (position 3), the #33 from Falken
Motorsports (position 6) and the #42 from the BMW Team Schnitzer
(position 9) were able to reach that target. All other BMW crews will
have the chance to be included in the top 30 qualifying on the weekend
of the 24-hour race.
Victory in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class went to Christopher Rink,
Danny Brink, Philipp Leisen and Yannick Fübrich (all GER) from the
Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport. Norbert Fischer, Christian Konnerth,
Daniel Zils (all GER) and David Griessner (AUT) completed the one-two
for the team headed by Matthias Unger (GER). Walkenhorst Motorsport
claimed third place in the class.
The BMW M4 GT4 completed its next endurance test on the Nordschleife.
The new customer racing car from BMW Motorsport, which will be in
customers’ hands from 2018 and is involved in regular testing during
this season, was driven by BMW Motorsport Junior Ricky Collard (GBR),
Dirk Adorf (GER), the mentor for the BMW Motorsport Juniors, and Jörg
Weidinger (GER).
Reactions to the race:
Alexander Sims (ROWE Racing, 6th place):
“Sixth place is a solid result. Of course, we would have liked to have
secured the starting place for the top 30 qualifying here already, but
now we have to do that in four weeks. I would think that we will be OK
to do it. We learned a few things during the race that will help us
with the 24-hour race. The tyres seemed to start working a bit better
during the race, which was the main difference to qualifying and why
our racing speed was better. All in all, I am satisfied with the
qualification race.”
Jens Klingmann (Schubert Motorsport, 7th
place): “The qualification race is always the major dress
rehearsal for the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. That is how we
approached it. It was important to get to know the new tyres better
and to perfect our internal processes as a team. This was the first
time this season that we were competing with all the drivers.
Coordinating how we work together can make a difference in such a
tight field. In general, I have the feeling that the level of
performance has become even higher so we are pleased with seventh place.”
Martin Tomczyk (BMW Team Schnitzer, 12th place):
“To start with, we are very happy that we were already able
to secure our blue light for the top 30 qualifying at the 24-hour
race, in qualifying. This means that we can approach things in a more
relaxed manner and concentrate on important preparations. However, we
also noticed that the times were all very close together in
qualifying. It’s going to be very exciting in a bit more than four
weeks. We had a minor incident during the pit stop in today’s race,
which cost us a better position but apart from that, we came through
it without any problems.”