BMW Motorsport News – Issue 38/14.

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: Eventful finale to a successful season.
The tenth and final race of the DTM season in Hockenheim (DE) saw three BMW drivers finish in the top ten, in the form of Marco Wittmann (DE) in fifth, Martin Tomczyk (DE) in seventh and António Félix da Costa (PT) in ninth. The destination of the titles in the Drivers’ Championship and Team competition had already been decided before the finale: 2014 DTM champion Wittmann was presented with his trophy after the race, while BMW Team RMG and team principal Stefan Reinhold (DE) were recognised as the season’s number one team. In the evening, the BMW Motorsport Hospitality was the venue for the 2014 DTM end-of-season party.

DTM: Winter sport stars swap ice channel for BMW Race Taxi.
They are used to high speed and fast corners, but a ride in the BMW Race Taxi is always rather special, even for the stars of bob and luge. This weekend, former bobsleigh world champion Manuel Machata (DE) and two-time skeleton world champion Anja Huber (DE) were among those who visited the DTM finale in Hockenheim. They were first involved in the launch of BMW Motorsport premium partner Deutsche Post’s commitment to bob and luge, before taking to the track in the passenger seat of the BMW M3 GT2 Race Taxi on Saturday afternoon. Dirk Adorf (DE) took the pair for a few flying laps of the Hockenheimring. “It was awesome. The sound of the engine, the speed and the racing lines we took – it was great fun,” said Machata. Huber added: “I could get straight back into the car again. It was immensely enjoyable. I would have loved to get behind the wheel and have Dirk explain to me how everything works. However, it was still a great experience.” BMW has been an active supporter of winter sports for many years and is premium and technology partner of the German Bobsleigh, Luge and Skeleton Federation (BSD).

DTM: Golden shoes for the champion.
In keeping with the occasion, the BMW Team RMG driver donned a special pair of shoes for the final race of the DTM season in Hockenheim. Before the grand finale, the 24-year-old was presented with a pair of golden shoes by PUMA, Official Supplier of BMW Motorsport. “It was a nice gesture from PUMA to provide me with these shoes for the season finale. I wore them with pride,” said Wittmann after the last 42 laps of the year. 

ELMS: Triumph for BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS.
Bas Leinders (BE), Markus Palttala (FI) and Henry Hassid (FR) won the GTC class when BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS made a guest appearance at the season finale of the European Le Mans Series (ELMS) in Estoril (PT). The number 87 BMW Z4 GT3 completed 137 laps over the course of the four-hour race. The second BMW Z4 GT3 in the field, run by Team Russia by Barwell, finished sixth in the GTC category.

Blancpain Sprint Series: Six BMW Z4 GT3s in action at Circuit Zolder.
No fewer than six BMW Z4 GT3s competed in the sixth round of the 2014 Blancpain Sprint Series in Zolder (BE) this weekend. ROAL Motorsport and BMW Sport Trophy Team Brazil both fielded two cars. They were joined by a further two BMW Z4 GT3s, fielded by BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert and the Vita4One Racing team. In Saturday’s qualifying race, Caca Bueno and Sergio Jimenez (both BR) of BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil were in contention for a place on the podium right down to the final lap. However, Bueno was hit by a rival shortly before the finish. The best-placed BMW on Saturday was thus the BMW Z4 GT3 of BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert, with Dominik Baumann and Thomas Jäger (both AT) at the wheel, in eighth place. The duo also had their sights set on the podium. However, when they and most of the rest of the field had to come in for their mandatory pit stop during a safety car period, they dropped back down the standings. BMW works driver Alessandro Zanardi (IT) was tenth on Saturday. Victory in the Silver Cup competition went to Stefano Colombo and David Fumanelli (both IT) of ROAL Motorsport.

In Sunday’s main race, the turmoil in turn one led to several collisions. Among those to come off badly were the pairings of Jäger/Baumann and Nelson Piquet Jr and Mattheus Stumpf (both BR / BMW Sports Trophy Team Brazil), for whom the race was over. A puncture caused Zanardi to come in for an unscheduled pit stop. The Italian came home 13th. The BMW Z4 GT3 of Colombo/Fumanelli was also damaged, and the duo ultimately had to settle for 17th place. The best-placed BMW pair was Bueno/Jimenez in eighth. Michael Bartels (DE) and Yelmer Buurman (NL) finished 18th on Saturday and 16th on Sunday in the Vita4One Racing BMW Z4 GT3.