BMW Motorsport News – Issue 26/16.

Whether in the DTM, the IMSA WeatherTech 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: Timo Glock takes the field for “Champions for Charity”.

Basketball star Dirk Nowitzki is inviting a host of stars and celebrities to take part in the “Champions for Charity” benefit football match on 27th July in Mainz (DE), which is being held in honour of seven-time Formula 1 champion Michael Schumacher (DE). Taking part: BMW DTM driver Timo Glock (DE), who will feature alongside Sebastian Vettel (DE) in the “Racing Drivers’ National Team” as they play against Nowitzki’s All Star team. Inspired by the “Game of Hearts” and “Playing for Kids” matches that were arranged by Schumacher, the celebrities will be playing together for a good cause. All profits from the match will be donated to the BasKIDball project from iSo e.V. and the German Association of Patients with Severe Craniocerebral Injuries. The Dirk Nowitzki Foundation and Michael Schumacher’s management team are working together closely to organise the event, and the family of the 91-time Grand Prix winner would like to use the match to thank all the fans for their expressions of condolence and support. Tickets for the match are available online at www.champions-for-charity.de, and can also be purchased at the Fan Shop of Bundesliga team 1. FSV Mainz 05. Kick-off is scheduled for 19:00 on Wednesday 27th July.

IWSC: BMW M6 GTLMs on second and third rows in Canada.
Just one week after round five of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship the teams were back in action. They had crossed the border from the USA to Canada for round six of the series at the Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CA) near Toronto. In qualifying it was the BMW Team RLL BMW M6 GTLM number 100 of Lucas Luhr (DE) and John Edwards (US) that set the fourth quickest time, with the German behind the wheel for the session. The number 25 car of Bill Auberlen (US) and Dirk Werner (DE), still in its 4th July stars and stripes livery, was fifth in the class. The Turner Motorsport team had a strong session with Bret Curtis (US) qualifying the GTD class number 96 BMW M6 GT3 he shares with Jens Klingmann (DE) fourth. Michael Marshal (US) qualified the team's number 97 car he shares with Markus Palttala (FI) in 11th. The race that lasts 2 hours 40 minutes started at 11.05 local time and will not finish until late Sunday evening European time.

ICTSC: BMW teams competing in Canada.

In Saturday’s two-and-one-half-hour Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge race at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park, in Bowmanville (CA) the number 84 BimmerWorld Racing 328i of James Clay (US) and Tyler Cooke (US) was the highest placed BMW in the field with an 11th place finish in the Street Tuner (ST) class. The car started from its third pole class position of the season. A 15th place finish was scored by BimmerWorld racing team-mates Jerry Kaufman (US) and Kyle Tilley (GB) in the number 81 BMW 328i. The class was won by the No. 44 Nissan Altima of Sarah Cattaneo (US) and Owen Trinkler (US).

British GT Championship: Class victory for BMW Z4 GT3 in Spa.

The British GT Championship race took place at Spa-Francorchamps (BE) last weekend. Lee Mowle (GB) and Joe Osborne (GB) finished ninth in the AMDtuning.com team BMW Z4 GT3. Richard Neary (GB) and Martin Short (GB) from Team ABBA with Rollcentre Racing finished 13th overall.