BMW Motorsport News - Issue 33/2017.

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.

BTCC: Win and podium for BMW drivers at Rockingham .

The BMW 125i M Sport remains on the road to success in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). In the three races at Rockingham (GBR), the BMW drivers clinched a win and a further podium. Andrew Jordan (GBR) won the third race from pole position for the West Surrey Racing team. In the first two races of the day, he finished in twelfth and seventh place. Colin Turkington (GBR) celebrated third place in the second race. In the battle for the title, he also picked up valuable points for finishing sixth in the first and third races. His team-mate Rob Collard (GBR), in the third BMW 125i M Sport, only managed to score in the second race. After taking 17^th place in race one, he showed strong fighting spirit and finished in eighth. In the third race, he was in fifth place before retiring after an accident.

Japanese Super GT: Augusto Farfus contests 1000km in Suzuka.

Like last year, BMW DTM driver Augusto Farfus (BRA) headed to Suzuka (JPN) for the season highlight of the Japanese Super GT Championship to support BMW Team Studie in the iconic 1000km race. Farfus shared the BMW M6 GT3 cockpit with the two regular drivers, Jörg Müller (GER) and Seiji Ara (JPN). In a difficult qualifying session, the trio could not improve on 25^th on the grid and then had to start the race from the pit lane after problems during warm-up. In the race, the number seven car improved significantly, but just missed out on a top-ten result, finishing in eleventh place after 158 laps. The second BMW M6 GT3 of Autobacs Racing Team Aguri retired from the race in the early stages.

IWSC: BMW teams in with a good chance for the race in Virginia.

After strong performances in qualifying, the BMW teams will take on the Michelin GT Challenge from leading positions on the grid for the third to last race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship (IWSC), at the Virginia International Raceway (USA). BMW Team RLL claimed the second and third start positions in the GTLM class. Bill Auberlen (USA) and Alexander Sims (GBR) will contest the race from the front row of the grid in the number 25 car. Right behind them are John Edwards (USA) and Martin Tomczyk (GER) in the #24 BMW M6 GTLM. In the GTD class, Jesse Krohn (FIN) and Jens Klingmann (GER) secured second place on the grid in the #96 Turner Motorsport BMW M6 GT3. The race will be held on Sunday evening German time.

ICTSC: BimmerWorld Racing on the podium in Virginia.

The IMSA Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (ICTSC) race was held at the Virginia International Raceway (USA) the day before the IWSC race. Three BMW cars delivered strong performances to make it into the top five of the Street Tuner class. James Clay and Tyler Cooke (both USA) enjoyed the greatest success. They started from pole position in the number 84 BMW 328i of BimmerWorld Racing, and battled for the win for much of the race. The duo crossed the finish line in second place and celebrated on the podium. Their team-mates Ari Balogh and Greg Liefooghe (both USA) finished in fifth. Fourth place went to Michael Johnson and Stephen Simpson (both USA) in the BMW 228i of JDC-Miller Motorsports.

Blancpain GT Series: ROWE Racing in action at the Hungaroring.

The ROWE Racing team went from the Nürburgring (GER) to the Hungaroring (HUN) for the penultimate race weekend of the Blancpain GT Series Sprint Cup. The number 99 BMW M6 GT3 was involved in a serious accident at the Nordschleife the previous weekend, and with insufficient time to effect repairs only the number 98 sister car was able to compete in Hungary. Philipp Eng (AUT), who walked away unscathed from the accident in the VLN race, shared the cockpit with Markus Palttala (FIN). In the qualifying race on Saturday, the duo crossed the finish line in twelfth place. Eng and Palttala finished in eleventh place in the main race on Sunday.