BMW Motorsport News – Issue 32/16.

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: BMW claims top-four lock-out at the “Moscow Raceway”.

The trip to Russia proved to be worth the effort for the BMW DTM teams this weekend. In Sunday’s one-hour race, BMW claimed the sixth top-four lock-out of its DTM history. Marco Wittmann (DE) took the chequered flag, ahead of Tom Blomqvist (GB), Bruno Spengler (CA) and Augusto Farfus (BR), to claim his second win of the season and regain the lead in the Drivers’ Championship. BMW Team RMG also tops the team standings, while BMW is also back in first place in the Manufacturers’ Championship. Races 13 and 14 of the season will take place on 10th and 11th September at the Nürburgring (DE).

BMW Sports Trophy: Christian Büllesbach drives the BMW M6 GT3.

Christian Büllesbach (DE) was at the Nürburgring (DE) to receive a very special reward for winning the 2015 BMW Sports Trophy: he completed 55 laps at the wheel of the BMW M6 GT3 on Friday, ahead of round six of the VLN Endurance Championship. “It was crazy,” said Büllesbach after his first outing in a GT3 car. “It is impossible to describe how it feels to drive such a fantastic racing car. That is a world apart from the cars I normally drive. I was particularly impressed by the braking. Many thanks to BMW Motorsport for this fantastic opportunity.” Büllesbach enjoyed success for Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport in a BMW Z4 in last year’s VLN and also won the title in the Rundstrecken Challenge Nürburgring (RCN) (circuit racing challenge Nürburgring). He emerged victorious against 310 drivers from 29 countries in the BMW Sports Trophy.

VLN: Two BMW M6 GT3s on the podium for Walkenhorst Motorsport .

Round six of the VLN Endurance Championship on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (DE) was a great success for Walkenhorst Motorsport, with an impressive pole position and two podium finishes. BMW works driver Jörg Müller (DE), Victor Bouveng (SE) and Christian Krognes (NO) started the race from pole position in the number 36 BMW M6 GT3. Krognes had clocked a fastest time of 7:56.642 minutes in qualifying to set a new unofficial lap record for the VLN variant of the Nordschleife. The trio finished second in the race, behind the winning Mercedes. Matias Henkola (FI), Michele di Martino (DE) and Jordan Tresson (FR) came home third in the number 35 BMW M6 GT3 to join them on the podium. Meanwhile, Alexander Mies (DE) and Michael Schrey (DE) continued their winning run in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class: the Bonk Motorsport duo won the CUP5 class for the sixth time in the sixth race of the season to extend their lead in both the Cup class and the overall VLN standings. Second and third in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class went to the Scheid-Honert Motorsport and Walkenhorst Motorsport teams. In total, the BMW teams claimed four class victories in Saturday’s four-hour race.

24 Hours of Zolder: Three class wins for BMW.

BMW teams and drivers featured prominently at the 24-hour race in Zolder (BE), an event that is steeped in tradition. No less than 33 of the 54 participating cars were BMWs. Eleven BMW M235i Racings took part in the endurance marathon, which is also part of the BMW M235i Racing Cup Belgium. BMW celebrated a total of three class wins. The best-placed BMW representatives were Patrick Beliën, Dimitri Cuyvers, Guino Kenis and Bas Leinders (all BE) from Team Beliën Motorsport in the number 32 car, who finished in sixth place overall. They were also victorious in the T4 category. The number 240 BMW M235i Racing also made it into the top ten. Guillaume Dumarey (BE), Maxime Dumarey (BE), Max Van Splunteren (NL) and Jean Glorieux (BE) from Team PK Carsport finished in eighth place, securing victory in the T3 category. Tenth place overall went to the number 235 BMW M235i Racing from Team Dejonchkeere by Red Ant Racing. Luigi Donniacuo, Giovanni Donniacuo, Lorenzo Donniacuo and Benoit Philips (all BE) from Team GD Sport also competed successfully for BMW. They won in the T5 class.

ADAC GT Masters: Schubert Motorsport in the Top ten in Zandvoort.

Schubert Motorsport defied some nasty weather conditions in Zandvoort (NL) to score points in both races on the sixth, and penultimate, race weekend in the ADAC GT Masters. The team from Oschersleben (DE) competed in Zandvoort with two BMW M6 GT3s: BMW Motorsport Juniors Jesse Krohn (FI) and Louis Delétraz (CH) competed in the number 20 car, while Claudia Hürtgen (DE) and Jeroen den Boer (NL) shared driving duties in the number 19 BMW M6 GT3. Krohn/Delétraz finished ninth in Saturday's race. Hürtgen/den Boer had to make two extra stops due to tyre problems, ending the race in 21st position. Sunday's race was influenced by unpredictable weather conditions: The sun was shining at the start, but a quarter of an hour into the race heavy rain meant the teams had to abandon its initial tactics. After the storm subsided, both BMW M6 GT3s finished in the points: Krohn/Delétraz crossed the line in eighth place, followed by Hürtgen/den Boer in ninth.

BMW Motorsport Junior Programme: Eriksson wins Formula 3 Masters.

BMW Motorsport Junior Joel Eriksson (SE) also enjoyed a successful weekend in Zandvoort (NL) – but in a Formula 3 vehicle instead of a BMW racing car. The 18-year-old provided impressive confirmation of his talents as he claimed victory in the prestigious “Zandvoort Masters of Formula 3”. Eriksson is competing in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship this season, and joined the BMW Motorsport young talent programme in June. This year he is taking part in various events as a BMW Motorsport Junior, to help him adjust to BMW Motorsport as quickly as possible and gain some valuable insights into the working lives of drivers, teams and engineers.

Blancpain GT Series: Three Spa winners competing for ROWE Racing.

The next round is approaching in the Blancpain GT Series. After the 24 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps (BE), the highlight of the season, the competition now moves on to the fourth race weekend in the Sprint Cup. On 27th and 28th August, the ROWE Racing team will be aiming for the podium at the Hungaroring (HU) with two BMW M6 GT3s. Well-known drivers will be behind the wheel of both cars. Alexander Sims (GB) and Philipp Eng (AT) will share driving duties in the number 99 BMW M6 GT3, having won the legendary 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps three weeks ago, together with Maxime Martin (BE). Nick Catsburg (NL) and Stef Dusseldorp (NL) will be competing in the second car entered by the ROWE Racing team.