BMW M Motorsport News, 28th June 2022

IMPC: Turner Motorsport celebrate acclaimed victory at Watkins Glen.

The BMW M Motorsport team Turner Motorsport delivered gripping racing in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge races at Watkins Glen (USA) – and celebrated an acclaimed victory with the #95 BMW M4 GT4. The turbulent two-hour race on Saturday was only going in one direction for Bill Auberlen and Dillon Machavern (both USA), and that was forwards. Machavern started the race from seventh on the grid and gained ground before tyre damage forced him to pit halfway through the race. But fortunate timing with one of the four yellow phases overall in the race enabled the #95 to keep up with the frontrunners.

IMSA record holder Auberlen took over for the final stint and wowed fans with his famous overtaking manoeuvres once again. He was in fifth place with 20 minutes to go, but he only needed eight minutes to get past his rivals and take the lead. His manoeuvre to overtake Mercedes driver Pilot Christian Szymczak (USA), which saw him take the lead, was voted the move of the race.

After difficult races thus far, this was the Auberlen/Machavern duo’s first win of the season. “I could run really hard because it was kind of do-or-die, and I knew that going up against people who were in the championship, I could try moves that are a bit lower percentage than I normally would,” Auberlen said. “I would not have done that move early in the season, but Szymczak was nice enough to give me enough room and I tried to give him as much room as I could. It was fun – I had a really good time out there.”

Their team-mates Vincent Barletta and Robby Foley (both USA) finished the race in the #96 BMW M4 GT4 in ninth place. Stephen Cameron Racing finished in 23rd place with the #43 BMW M4 GT4, in which Sean Quinlan and Greg Liefooghe (both USA) took it in turns at the wheel.

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NLS: Pole position and podium for Walkenhorst Motorsport.

After a two-month break, the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) season returned to action at the weekend. And the BMW M Motorsport team Walkenhorst Motorsport took on one of the leading roles. In qualifying, Christian Krognes (NOR) in the #34 BMW M4 GT3 secured pole position with a time of 7:54.472 minutes.

In the four-hour race, Krognes and his team-mate Sami-Matti-Trogen (FIN) battled for the win down to the wire, and were only just beaten, finishing in second place on the podium. Their team-mates Jörg Müller (GER), Mario von Bohlen (GER) and Ben Tuck (GBR) finished seventh in the #35 BMW M4 GT3.

The BMW M Motorsport teams also secured several class wins once again. Walkenhorst Motorsport won the SP9-Am class with the #36 BMW M4 GT3 driven by Henry Walkenhorst and Jörg Breuer (both GER). The BMW M240i class was won by Schnitzelalm Racing with the #673 BMW M240i Racing, with Michael Sander, JayMo Härtling and Tim Neuser (all GER) taking it in turns at the wheel. Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive got their next class win in the VT2-R+4WD category, with Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg (both GER) and Sinde Setsaas (NOR) in the cockpit of the #500 BMW 330i. In the V4 class, Juha Miettinen (SUI) and Dan Berghult (SWE) won in the #730 BMW 325i, and victory in the H4 class went to Hofor Racing with Michael Kroll, Chantal Prinz and Alexander Prinz (all SUI) in the #605 BMW M3 E46 GTR.

BMW M Motorsport also used NLS4 for another intensive endurance test under race conditions with the new BMW M4 GT4. The car, that will be available for the BMW M Motorsport teams from the 2023 season on, was driven by the BMW Junior Team. Dan Harper (GBR), Neil Verhagen (USA) and Max Hesse (GER) were impressed by the speed and the handling of the new BMW M4 GT4.

BMW M2 CS Racing Cup NLS: Victory for Vazquez-Garcia.

The next round of the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup NLS was also held as part of NLS4. Tobias Vazquez-Garcia (GER) in the BMW M2 CS Racing with car number 883 got the win. Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive finished in second and third place on the podium. Yannick Fübrich (GER), David Griessner (AUT) and Brett Lidsay (GBR) were second in the number 870 car, their team-mates Stefan Kruse, Guido Wirtz and Andreas Winkler (all GER) crossed the finish line in third place with the #871.

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ADAC GT Masters: Difficult weekend for Schubert Motorsport in Zandvoort.

After the fantastic weekend in May with two wins at the Red Bull Ring (AUT), BMW M Motorsport team Schubert Motorsport experienced a difficult third round of the ADAC GT Masters season in Zandvoort in the Netherlands. The team were unlucky in the rain roulette in the first qualifying session on Saturday, and had to start the first race from the back of the grid with both BMW M4 GT3. Jesse Krohn (FIN) and Nick Catsburg (NED) moved their way up the field well, making it into the top 10 with the #20 car. However, an accident forced them to retire in the final phase of the race. And it wasn’t long before their team-mates Ben Green (GBR) and Niklas Krütten (GER) in the #10 BMW M4 GT3 suffered the same fate. In the second race on Sunday, Green and Krütten finished in eleventh place, while Krohn/Catsburg were forced to retire once again. Green and Krütten still lead the Junior standings of the championship.

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DTM: Bruno Spengler to line up in the BMW 320i STW at the Norisring.

BMW M works driver Bruno Spengler (CAN) returns to one of his favourite tracks this weekend. The 2012 DTM champion will be taking part in the DTM Classic Cup at the Norisring (GER), where he celebrated five of his 16 DTM race wins overall. Spengler will take the wheel of the BMW 320i STW from the 1998 season, which is the car with which Johnny Cecotto (VEN) celebrated his second title in the Super Touring Cars Championship of that time. The car still has the original design. This will be Spengler’s second sporting time travel in the space of a week. The Canadian drove the BMW Z4 GT3 with the Michel Vaillant livery at the Goodwood Festival of Speed last weekend; this was the car in which he contested the 2015 edition of the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps alongside Alex Zanardi (ITA) and Timo Glock (GER).

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British GT Championship: Century Motorsport win with the BMW M4 GT4 at Snetterton.

The BMW M Motorsport team Century Motorsport celebrated their next GT4 win in the British GT Championship at the weekend. Jack Brown and Will Burns (both GBR) won the second of the two races at Snetterton (GBR) with the #90 BMW M4 GT4. The duo finished in ninth place in the first race. Their team-mates in the BMW M4 GT4 with car number 9, Chris Salkeld and Tom Rawlings (both GBR), finished the two races in fifth and ninth place in the GT4 class. In the new #91 BMW M4 GT3 of Century Motorsport, Betty Chen (TPE) shared the cockpit with Joel Eriksson (SWE). The duo crossed the finish line in P14 in the first race, and finished 29th in the second race.

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ESET Cup Series: Two podium finishes for Trevor Racing in Poznan.

The ESET Cup Series was in Poznan, Poland for the third round of the season at the weekend, where the Trevor Racing team secured two further podium finishes with the new BMW M4 GT3. Gregor Zsigo (SVK) and Dennis Waszek (CZE) finished in second place in the endurance race. Zsigo also finished in third place on the GT3 class podium in the second of the two sprint races, having narrowly missed out on the podium in the first sprint race after finishing in fourth place.

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GT4/TC France: L’Espace Bienvenue victorious in Albi.

The L’Espace Bienvenue team looks back on a successful weekend in the GT4 France. At the Grand Prix d’Albi (FRA), Ricardo van der Ende (NED) and Benjamin Lessennes (BEL) added to their trophy collection with the #17 BMW M4 GT4. In the first race on Saturday, the duo finished in second place, trailing by just 0.127 seconds. They built on this in race two on Sunday, and won with a clear lead of almost 14 seconds.

The TC France was also in Albi at the weekend, and the team of VSF Sport – amplitude automobile finished on the podium in all three races. In race one, Jean-Matthieu Leandri (FRA) in the #18 BMW M2 CS Racing finished in second place to celebrate his first podium in the series. In the second race, Leandri crossed the finish line in second place once again. In the third race, his team-mate Benoit Eveillard (FRA) finished in third place in the #41 BMW M2 CS Racing.

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BTCC: Successful weekend for Colin Turkington at Croft.

At the fifth race weekend of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Croft (GBR), Colin Turkington (GBR) showed yet again why one of the names he goes by is “King of Croft”. With a convincing performance, the Team BMW driver secured pole position in qualifying on Saturday. Then in the races on Sunday, Turkington finished on the podium twice with his #50 BMW 330e M Sport. He finished in P2 and P3 in the first two races. In the closing race, Turkington crossed the finish line in sixth place. His results saw BMW retake the lead in the manufacturers’ standings.

Jake Hill (GBR) of ROKiT MB Motorsport was also convincing at Croft with consistently good results. He got one fourth place and two fifth places. Stephen Jelley (GBR), Turkington’s team-mate at Team BMW, finished in eleventh, tenth and fourth place. George Gamble and Adam Morgan (GBR) of Car Gods with Ciceley Motorsport also got top-10 results. Gamble was ninth in the first race, while Morgan finished the third race in tenth place.