BMW Motorsport News – Issue 32/2017.

VLN: Eventful race on the Nordschleife.

After taking a break for a few weeks over the summer, the VLN Endurance Championship kicked off the second half of the season with round five at the Nürburgring. Two BMW M6 GT3s finished in the top eight at the end of an eventful 6 Hour ADAC Ruhr-Pokal-Rennen on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER). Alexandre Imperatori (SUI) and BMW works driver Jörg Müller (GER) came home seventh in the #3 Falken Motorsports car. They were followed over the line in eighth place by Claudia Hürtgen (GER), Felipe Fernández Laser (GER) and Frederik Nymark (DEN) in the #20 Schubert Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. In contrast, the ROWE Racing team was struck by misfortune: the crew of the #99 BMW M6 GT3 was forced to retire from the race following a big crash, through no fault of its own, whilst challenging for the win. BMW works driver Philipp Eng (AUT) led the race when he was forced off the track while lapping a slower car. The BMW M6 GT3 crashed heavily into the barriers, but Eng emerged unhurt. He had been sharing the driving duties with Markus Palttala (FIN) and Nick Catsburg (NED). ROWE Racing also ran the new BMW M4 GT4 in round five of the VLN. BMW Motorsport Junior Ricky Collard (GBR) and the BMW Juniors’ mentor Dirk Adorf (GER) continued the development work on the new BMW customer racing car. They were backed up at the wheel by Thorsten Drewes (GER) and Iain Wright (GER). The BMW M4 GT4 finished second in the SP8T class. Also in action were BMW Motorsport Juniors Mikkel Jensen (DEN), Dennis Marschall (GER) and Beitske Visser (NED), who were accepted on the multi-level programme for talented youngsters this year. They competed in a BMW M235i Racing and used the race to acquire the Nordschleife permit, which is issued by the German Motorsport Association (DMSB).

BMW M235i Racing Cup: Schrey claims third win of the season.

Last year’s BMW Sports Trophy winner, Michael Schrey (GER), claimed his third win of the season in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class at round five of the VLN Endurance Championship at the Nürburgring (GER). Schrey shared the cockpit with Alexander Mies (GER) this weekend. At the end of the six-hour race, the Bonk Motorsport duo finished over a lap ahead of David Griessner (AUT), Daniel Zils (GER) and Yannick Fübrich (GER) from Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport. The third spot on the podium went to Heiko Eichenberg (GER) and Oskar Sandberg (GER) in a BMW M235i Racing run by the Securtal Sorg Rennsport team. In total, 17 cars started in this class.

GT racing: BMW M6 GT3 in action in Australia and Japan.

The BMW M6 GT3 was not only in action on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER) this weekend, but also in Australia and Asia. Round two of this season’s Australian Endurance Championship was held at Sydney Motorsports Park (AUS). Steve Richards (NZL) and James Bergmüller (AUS) finished 13^th in the BMW M6 GT3 run by BMW Team SRM. The Blancpain GT Series Asia was in Fuji, Japan. Among those in action was FIST – Team AAI with two BMW M6 GT3s and the driver pairings of Jun San Chen (TPE) / Shinichi Takagi (JPN) and Jesse Krohn (FIN) / Sean Walkinshaw (GBR). Chen/Takagi came home 13^th and 19^th in the two races. Krohn/Walkinshaw were 14^th in race one, but failed to finish race two.

GT4 Northern Cup: Ekris Motorsport celebrates title win.

The Ekris Motorsport team enjoyed a perfect home outing in the GT4 Northern Cup. The penultimate event of the season, at Zandvoort (NED), saw Max Koebolt (NED) and Ricardo van der Ende (NED) wrap up the title with races to spare. Having finished eighth on Saturday, the duo came home third in the Ekris M4 GT4 to claim a place on the podium on Sunday. The result gave championship leaders Koebolt / van der Ende an unassailable lead going into the final round of the season at the Nürburgring (GER). “It is fantastic to win the title with one race weekend remaining. To have done it in front of our home fans, at our home circuit, makes it really special,” said Koebolt. Van der Ende added: “What an amazing feeling. I am really happy. This is my sixth title with Ekris Motorsport and the 22^nd of my career, but it still feels fantastic.”

BMW customer racing: BMW M6 GT3 at the M Festival in China.

M Festival goes to China: The first M Festival in China was held in Shanghai on Friday and Saturday. BMW Motorsport used the event to present its customer racing programme to the Chinese public. The BMW M6 GT3 thrilled fans and potential motor racing customers. Among those in Shanghai was BMW works driver Jens Klingmann (GER). He attracted plenty of attention, particularly when giving taxi rides, which were followed in live stream by three million viewers. At the closing M Night, Klingmann also told guests at the M Festival of his experiences with the BMW M6 GT3 at racetracks around the world.