BMW Motorsport News – Issue 38/16.

Another podium for BMW Team Teo Martín – season finales in the Blancpain GT Series, BTCC and IWSC .

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.

BMW Motorsport Junior Programme: Menzel celebrates his debut in the BMW M6 GT3.

Next weekend, BMW Motorsport Junior Nico Menzel (DE) will celebrate his race debut in the BMW M6 GT3. At the ninth race of the VLN Endurance Racing Championship at the Nürburgring (DE), he will share the cockpit of the BMW M6 GT3 with BMW works driver Jens Klingmann (DE). Menzel got his first taste of the GT flagship car from BMW last week when he took part in a roll-out for ROWE Racing.

VLN: Another BMW M6 GT3 on the Nordschleife.

The starting line-up for the penultimate race in the VLN Endurance Racing Championship at the Nürburgring (DE) on 8th October will include another BMW M6 GT3. Competing on the legendary Nordschleife with a BMW M6 GT3 is a one-off for FALKEN Motorsport. BMW works driver Philipp Eng (AT) and Alexandre Imperatori (CH) will share driving duties during the 4-hour race in the “Green Hell”.

IWSC: Action-packed finale in Road Atlanta .

Torn-up asphalt, burning cars and numerous safety car phases: the final round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC) in Road Atlanta (US) once again offered American fans a superb display of action-packed GT racing, with a host of incidents. Unfortunately, BMW Team RLL was also caught up in the turmoil at the 11th and final round of the year. John Edwards (US), Lucas Luhr (DE) and Kuno Wittmer (CA) finished sixth at “Petit Le Mans” – despite the trio falling many laps behind the leaders as a result of a crash and a faulty alternator. A problem with the steering meant that the ten-hour race came to a premature end for Dirk Werner (DE), Bill Auberlen (US) and August Farfus (BR). Markus Palttala (FI), Michael Marsal (US) and Cameron Lawrence (US) came home fourth in the GTD class.

International GT Open: Podium for BMW Team Teo Martín .

BMW Team Teo Martín finished on the podium again at the penultimate race weekend of the 2016 International GT Open in Monza (IT). Gustavo Yacaman (CO) and Fernando Monje (ES), in the number 2 BMW M6 GT3, finished second in race two on Sunday. Their team-mates Pieter Schothorst (NL) and Miguel Ramos (PT) retired with a technical issue. Yacaman/Monje finished fifth in Saturday’s opening race, just ahead of Schothorst/Ramos in sixth place. These results mean the team narrowly missed out on wrapping up the title in the Team competition, with races still to come. However, they were able to extend their lead. The title race will now be decided at the season finale in Barcelona (ES) on 5th and 6th November.

BTCC: Tordoff misses out on overall victory by a whisker.

Thrilling finale in the British Touring Car Championship: The title race in the 2016 Drivers’ Championship was only decided in the last of the three races of the season finale at Brands Hatch (GB). Sam Tordoff (GB), who produce consistently good performances throughout the entire season in his BMW 125i M Sport, finished just two points behind Britain’s Gordon Shedden. Tordoff’s JCT600 with GardX team had reason to celebrate anyway as they won the Team competition. West Surrey Racing and BMW also took first place in the Constructors’/Manufacturers’ standings. Tordoff finished seventh, fifth and second in the three races. Team-mate Rob Collard (GB) came home eighth, sixth and fourth to end the season in fifth place overall. Jack Goff (GB), who finished ninth and seventh twice at Brands Hatch, was 11th overall.

Blancpain GT Series: Season finale for ROWE Racing in Barcelona.

The 2016 Blancpain GT Series drew to a close in Barcelona (ES) this weekend with round five of the Sprint Cup. However, the finale at the "Circuit de Catalunya" (ES) near Barcelona (ES) did not go to plan for the ROWE Racing team. After Philipp Eng (AT) and Alexander Sims (GB) had a good grid position with eighth in the qualifying race, a poor pit stop and a drive-through penalty in Sunday’s main race meant the duo in the number 99 BMW M6 GT3 had to settle for 24th. Nick Catsburg (NL) and Stef Dusseldorp (NL) finished 15th in the number 98 car. Catsburg and Dusseldorp had previously fought back well from the back of the field to finish 18th in the qualifying race. They also lost valuable time during the pit stop. However, team principal Hans-Peter Naundorf was positive in his appraisal of the season: “that could have been a good end of the season for us, but unfortunately we made a few mistakes in the race and in the pit lane, which cost us better results. Despite this, the Blancpain GT Series 2016 season, our first with the BMW M6 GT3, has been successful and produced an absolute highlight, in the form of victory at the 24-hour race in Spa.”