BMW Motorsport News – Issue 10/14.

Whether in the DTM, the United SportsCar Championship, or countless other championships: week after week BMW teams and drivers around the world do battle for points, victories and titles. Away from the track too, members of the large BMW Motorsport family around the world are also creating headlines. The “BMW Motorsport News” allows us to regularly summarise all the action for you in a compact and informative manner. This way, you are always up to speed.

DTM: BMW Team Schnitzer honoured as top pit crew of 2013.
Speed and precision – those are the two key elements of every pit stop in the DTM. That makes it all the more important for the crew to work together in perfect harmony during a tyre change. In 2013, BMW Team Schnitzer achieved this more than anybody. Over the course of the year’s ten races, it was able to send its cars back out into action on a new set of tyres faster than any other team. Last week, the team’s achievement was recognised with the “Best Pit Stop Award”, which is presented by tyre manufacturer Hankook. The official presentation took place at BMW Motorsport in Munich (DE) on Wednesday. With BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt watching on, team owner Herbert Schnitzer (DE), team principal Charly Lamm (DE) and BMW driver Bruno Spengler (CA) collected the trophy on behalf of the entire team. “When we realised that we had won the prize, there were big celebrations within the team,” said Lamm. “This award means a lot to us. It is nice that Hankook is able to show its appreciation of the work put in by the mechanics, in the form of the Best Pit Stop Award. Being able to say that we produced the best performance of all the teams over the course of the year is a nice reward for all the hard practice. I would like to say a big thank you to the team, who really put on an impressive display in 2013.” BMW Team Schnitzer completed the fastest tyre change in five of the ten races. At the Nürburgring (DE) and in Moscow (RU), the team from Freilassing (DE) even completed the double: Bruno Spengler and Dirk Werner (DE) were first and second in the competition for the fastest pit stop.

DTM: First on grass, then on water – a special kind of training for Félix da Costa.
BMW Team MTEK driver António Félix da Costa (PT) prepared for his first DTM season with two unusual training sessions this week. The Portuguese first showed the footballers at RB Leipzig that he can use his feet to do more than just brake and accelerate, and that he is also talented with the ball. After a special warm-up programme with former world-class pole vaulter Tim Lobinger (DE), now the physical coach of the third division outfit, he took part in a relaxed practice match with the footballers from Leipzig (DE). “It is incredible how high the standard is in the third division of the German league. They are obviously a few classes above me out on the turf, but I reckon I’d have my nose in front on the racetrack,” said Félix da Costa, who is a big fan of 32-times Portuguese champions Benfica Lisbon. He then headed to Dortmund (DE) on Thursday for an exclusive training session with the German men’s eight, who won the gold medal in the rowing at the 2012 Olympics in London. “It was a great week for me,” said Félix da Costa. “The rowing was great fun. It was interesting to compare my training as a racing driver to that of these guys. They do a lot of strength work, while I put more emphasis on stamina. However, our mentality is the same: we always want to win.”

24-hour race: BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS ready for the endurance season.
BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS officially presented its team for the Nürburgring 24 Hours on Tuesday. Maxime Martin (BE) and Marco Wittmann (DE), two of BMW Motorsport’s current crop of DTM drivers, will support the Belgian team in the “Green Hell”. Martin and Wittmann will alternate at the wheel of the number 25 BMW Z4 GT3 with the experienced pair of Jörg Müller (DE) and Uwe Alzen (DE). The second car, number 26, will be driven by Markus Palttala (FI), Nick Catsburg (NL), Bas Leinders (BE) and Dirk Adorf (DE). The driver line-up for the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (BE) will be announced at a later date. “We’ve learned a lot about the car and as a team in the last couple of years,” said team principal Leinders. “For this reason, we are as well prepared as ever for the challenges ahead. It is fantastic to once again be able to count on BMW Motorsport as a partner.” In preparation for the Nürburgring 24 Hours, which will be held for the 42nd time this year, BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS will contest four rounds of the VLN Endurance Championship and the qualifying race on 5th/6th April.

VLN: Nordschleife season begins with test and set-up sessions.
This week’s two-day VLN test and set-up session on Friday and Saturday marked the official start of the racing season on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife – and fans in the Eifel region were given a fascinating taste of things to come in the VLN Endurance Championship and at the iconic 24-hour race in the “Green Hell”. More than 170 cars took to the 20-kilometre circuit. Among them were BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS and BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert with their BMW Z4 GT3 racing cars, as well as countless privateer BMW teams. The new season of the VLN Endurance Championship begins on 29th March and features a total of ten races in 2014.