BMW Motorsport News – Issue 26/2018.

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. 

VLN: Philipp Eng and Tom Blomqvist back in the “Green Hell”.
On the weekend between the two DTM events at Brands Hatch (GBR) and Misano (ITA), BMW works driver Philipp Eng (AUT) will be returning to the Nürburgring Nordschleife (GER). This coming Sunday (18th August), he will be competing in the VLN Endurance Championship in the ROWE Racing BMW M6 GT3. In the 6-hour event, the fifth race of the 2018 season, he will be sharing the cockpit with his BMW team-mate and fellow works driver Tom Blomqvist (GBR). Both drivers celebrated together just two weeks ago, when they won the 24-hour race at Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) with Walkenhorst Motorsport and Christian Krognes (NOR).

BTCC: Turkington on the podium after strong catch-up performance.
The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) arrived at Rockingham (GBR) this weekend for the seventh event of the season. In three hard-fought races, the West Surrey Racing team was once again going all out to score important championship points and Colin Turkington (GBR) rewarded those efforts with another podium finish. The BMW driver, in the #2 BMW 125i M Sport, endured a difficult start to the weekend but improved from race to race and finished the final race on Sunday in second place after a strong catch-up performance. He had been the best-placed BMW driver in the first two races, finishing seventh and then fifth. Team-mate Andrew Jordan (GBR) crossed the line in 15th, 13th and 28th positions.

Rob Collard (GBR) was unable to participate and was replaced by his son, BMW Motorsport Junior Ricky Collard (GBR). He marked his BTCC debut by claiming 17th, 20th and 30th positions. Stephen Jelley (GBR) ended the first race in 14th and the final race in 16th. The British driver had to retire in the second race after landing in the gravel trap in heavy traffic. Turkington tops the drivers’ standings with 220 points ahead of the eighth race weekend in the BTCC at Knockhill (GBR) on 25th and 26th August.

Pirelli World Challenge: podiums in Utah for BMW customer racing teams.
The entire BMW M Motorsport customer racing fleet was competing at the ninth race weekend in the Pirelli World Challenge. The BMW M6 GT3, BMW M4 GT4 and BMW M235i Racing were on the grid in Utah (USA). Motorsport fans were treated to the sight of 18 BMW race cars. Karl Wittmer (CAN), Matt Travis (USA) and Johan Schwartz (DNK) had every reason to celebrate. In both races in the TC class, Wittmer crossed the line in second place in the Team Classic BMW #91 BMW M235i Racing. Team-mate Travis finished the first race in third position in the #26 car. Rooster Hall Racing’s Schwartz was fourth. They swapped places in the second race in which Schwartz reached the podium after finishing Sunday’s race in third place. Travis crossed the line in fourth position.

Turner Motorsport reached the podium in the GT SprintX category AM class. After 31 laps, Takuya Shirasaka and Naoto Takeda (both JPN) crossed the line in third place in the BMW M6 GT3. Jon Miller and Aurora Strauss (both USA) just missed out on a podium finish. In the GTS SprintX category, the duo finished fourth in the ST Racing BMW M4 GT4. Henry Schmitt and Gregory Liefooghe (both USA) finished fifth in class. The second race in the GT SprintX and the GTS SprintX class had not finished at the time of publication.

24 Hours of Zolder: strong BMW line-up at Belgian endurance classic.
BMW teams and drivers featured prominently at the 24-hour race in Zolder (BEL), an event that is steeped in tradition. No fewer than 20 BMW cars were competing at the endurance classic. In the Belcar3 class, the KDW Racing Team #64 BMW M4 GT4 finished fourth, just missing out on a podium finish. The Baelus Motorsport #238 BMW M235i Racing finished sixth while the Jusi Racing team claimed eighth place in the BMW 135 D. The Hofor Racing team celebrated a double podium finish, having claimed second and third places in the Belcar4 category with two BMW M3s. The VDW Motorsport #300 BMW Z3 M was out in front, and crossed the line first after 707 laps to claim the class win. In the Belcar5 class, the AR Performance team #69 BMW 325i topped the podium. They were followed by JJ Motorsport in second place in the BMW Clubsport Trophy and Convents Racing, finishing third in the #50 BMW 325.