BMW Motorsport News – Issue 22/2018.

Whether in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship, 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 .

Blancpain GT Series Asia: First win for BMW M4 GT4.
First victory on home soil: Takayuki Kinoshita and Sunako Jukuchou (JPN) celebrated their first win at the third race weekend in the Blancpain GT Series Asia. At their home race on the Suzuka International Circuit (JPN), the two BMW Team Studie drivers were victorious in Saturday’s race in the #81 BMW M4 GT4. “It is overwhelming for the team to win at Suzuka,” said Kinoshita. “We have come very close but never achieved it and it was a great race today. I enjoyed fighting with Ryuichirou [Ohtsuka], who’s a good driver, and we had so much fun overtaking some GT3s at the start of the race.” Ken Urata (JPN) and Max Chen (TPE) rounded off a great day in the #82 BMW M4 GT4, finishing third to claim another podium finish for BMW Team Studie. In the second race on Sunday, Kinoshita/Jukuchou finished in fourth place while Urata/Chen crossed the line in sixth. Thanks to this successful weekend at Suzuka, BMW Team Studie has taken the lead in the team championship at the season’s halfway point. The team has collected 136 points ahead of the trip to Fuji (JPN), where the fourth race weekend is scheduled to take place on 21st and 22nd July.

CTSCC: Another podium for BMW M4 GT4.
The BMW M4 GT4 carried on its success record in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (CTSCC). Team BimmerWorld Racing’s Tyler Cooke and James Clay (both USA) secured second place in the #82 BMW M4 GT4 after four hours of racing at the Watkins Glen International Circuit (USA). The podium finish was their reward for a superb recovery performance after starting the race from eighth position. The BMW M4 GT4 success on foreign soil continued with the customer race car claiming another podium finish in the fourth race of the CTSCC season. Greg Liefooghe and Ari Balogh (both USA), from Team Stephen Cameron Racing, rounded off the strong performance, crossing the line in sixth place in the #19 BMW M4 GT4. The BimmerWorld Racing team had further reason to celebrate when Nick Galante and Devin Jones (both USA) claimed second place with the #81 BMW 328i in the ST class. The fifth race in the CTSCC takes place next week at the “Canadian Tire Motorsport Park” (CAN).

Japanese Super GT Championship: ARTA out of luck in Buriram.
The Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) suffered from bad luck at the fourth race of the season in the Japanese Super GT Championship. At the Chang International Circuit in Buriram (THA), Shinichi Takagi (JPN) and Sean Walkinshaw (GBR), racing the #55 BMW M6 GT3, had to make do with an eleventh-place finish in the GT300 class. After securing third place in qualifying, it looked very much like the duo would be involved in the battle for victory, as they were at the second race of the season in Fuji (JPN). However, luck was not on ARTA’s side during the race with the BMW M6 GT3 losing a substantial amount of time after unfortunate contact with another car and putting them out of contention for a podium finish. The fifth race weekend in the Japanese Super GT Championship takes place on 4th and 5th August in Fuji (JPN).

BMW Group Classic: Captivating cars at the Legends Parade.
The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (AUT) once again hosted a parade of historic racing cars and well-known drivers on Sunday. Shortly before the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, eleven classic touring cars from the 1970s and 80s transported the crowd back to the golden age of the German Racing Championship (DRM). BMW Group Classic was also involved in this year’s Legends Parade with two extraordinary cars from its collection. The spectators were treated to an appearance from a BMW M1, the mid-engine sports car introduced 40 years ago, and a BMW 3.0 CSL, which, as a successful sports car, was the sporting figurehead of the range of coupes introduced by the brand 50 years ago. In total, the BMW 3.0 CSL won six titles in the European Touring Car Championship, the first of which came in its debut year in 1973. The European champion that year was Dutchman Toine Hezemans, who was back at the wheel of the BMW 3.0 CSL in this year’s Legends Parade. The BMW M1 from the BMW Group Classic collection was driven by former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner (GER). Danner also enjoyed success on the touring car scene and is one of the drivers who had already acquainted himself with the BMW M1 in the Procar Series. The contingent of old DRM racing cars also featured three privately-owned BMWs, including a BMW 3.6 CSL Alpina, with three-time Formula 1 World Champion Niki Lauda (AUT) behind the wheel.

Arlberg Classic Car Rally: Eng competing in the BMW 503 Coupé.
BMW works driver Philipp Eng (AUT) used the break between the DTM races at the Norisring (GER) and Zandvoort (NED) to join co-driver Christian Morawa (AUT) in the 1959 BMW 503 Coupé at the Arlberg Classic Car Rally (AUT). The participants drove the classic cars through a total of 17 special stages in the Vorarlberg Alps. They crossed the 1,894-metre Hantennjoch pass and followed the “Blue Inn” into the Swiss canton of Appenzell. The parish of Lech (AUT) was the start and finish point for each day. After his detour into the world of rallying, Eng returns to the DTM in two weeks. The ninth and tenth races of the DTM season then take place at Zandvoort. The DTM rookie is currently the third-best BMW driver, in seventh place in the overall standings, with 53 points.