BMW Motorsport News - Issue 28/2018.

VLN: Double podium success for BMW M6 GT3 in the overall standings.

Successful race weekend at the Nordschleife (GER): in the fifth round of the 2018 VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring, Philipp Eng (AUT) and Tom Blomqvist (GBR) finished in second place with ROWE Racing. The two BMW works drivers took turns behind the wheel of the #99 BMW M6 GT3. Behind them, Stef Dusseldorp (NED) and Alexandre Imperatori (SUI) took third place in the Falken Motorsports #3 BMW M6 GT3 to round off a strong overall result for BMW. In seventh place, Peter Posavec, Alex Lambertz and Jörg Müller (all GER) in the Walkenhorst Motorsport #22 BMW Z4 GT3 also made it into the top-ten. There was also reason for BMW M Motorsport to celebrate in the numerous classes at the ROWE 6 Hours ADAC Ruhr Cup race. Overall, BMW cars picked up six class wins. In the fiercely contested SP10 class, Heiko Eichenberg (GER) and Yannick Mettler (SUI) were victorious in the #828 BMW M4 GT4 of Securtal Sorg Rennsport. Uwe Kleen, Horst Baumann and Michael Tischner (all GER) also grabbed a spot on the podium, finishing third in the #178 BMW M4 GT4. In the V4 class, victory went to the Pixum Adrenalin Motorsport team. Christopher Rink, Danny Brink and Phillipp Leisen (all GER) won in the #490 BMW 325i, ahead of Marcel Manheller and Carsten Knechtges (both GER) in the #492 BMW 325i. Kevin and Cedrik Trotz (both GER) and Torsten Kratz (AUT) crossed the finish line in third place in the #479 BMW 325i. In the SP5 class, Michael Hess, Harald Rettich and Klaus-Dieter Frommer (GER) gifted the Leutheuser Racing&Events team the win in the #232 BMW 1 Series M Coupé. Christian Heuchemer and Thomas Heuchemer in the #153 BMW M2 finished at the top of the SP8T class, and Reiner Thomas, Manfred Schmitz and Katja Thomas (all GER) in the #548 BMW 118iS were victorious in the V2 class. A total of more than 60 BMW cars were on the grid at the Nordschleife.

ADAC GT Masters: Top-ten result for Jensen and Scheider at Zandvoort.

BMW Motorsport Junior Mikkel Jensen (DEN) and Timo Scheider (GER) achieved a top-ten result at the fifth race weekend of the ADAC GT Masters at Zandvoort (NED). In the race on Saturday, the driver duo in the BMW Team Schnitzer #42 BMW M6 GT3 finished in seventh place. In the GT series with a top-class field, Jensen started the race from eighth on the grid and handed the BMW M6 GT3 over to Scheider in sixth place half-way through the race. Scheider warded off numerous attacks from his rivals and came home in seventh place. Motorsport Junior Dennis Marschall (GER) and Victor Bouveng (SWE) in the second BMW M6 GT3, number 43, in action for BMW Team Schnitzer, were unlucky. Starting from 28^th on the grid, Bouveng delivered a strong recovery race, which saw him move up into 18^th place by the driver-change. However, tyre damage that wasn’t his fault forced Marschall to make another pit stop just a few laps after the driver change. The duo ultimately had to make do with 27^th place. In the third BMW M6 GT3, car number 14, in action for the MRS GT-Racing team, Jens Klingmann (GER) and Christopher Zöchling (AUT) took it in turns behind the wheel, but were forced to retire early from Saturday’s race. In the race on Sunday, Marschall/Bouveng in 19^th place were the best-placed BMW duo. Jensen/Scheider crossed the finish line in 25th place, Klingmann/Zöchling finished in 29^th place. “Even though the track doesn’t suit our car, we improved compared with the Nürburgring,” said Jensen. “We were involved in a large number of tough duels in the race on Saturday, but I think that we got the maximum out of it. All things considered, it was another difficult weekend for us, but I think we will definitely be in with more of a chance at the Sachsenring.” The race weekend at the Sachsenring (GER) will be held from 7th to 9th September.

BMW M235i Racing Cup: Win for Griessner and Fübrich.

Back to winning ways: David Griessner (AUT) and Yannick Fübrich (GER) clinched the win in the BMW M235i Racing Cup at the fifth race weekend of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring. The Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport driver duo was victorious after 38 laps of the Nordschleife in the #650 BMW M235i Racing. It was the third win in the Cup5 class this season for the two drivers who missed out on the podium twice in a row recently. Tobias Müller, Nico Otto and Lars Peucker (all GER) in the ADAC Nordrhein e. V. #666 BMW M235i Racing crossed the finish line behind them. Defending champion Michael Schrey (GER), along with Marc Ehret (GER), rounded off the podium in third place in the #1 BMW M235i Racing of Hofor Racing powered by Bonk Motorsport. A total of 18 BMW M235i Racing were on the grid at the Nordschleife. There were some famous names among the drivers: Fabian Vettel (GER), brother of four-time Formula 1 world champion Sebastian Vettel (GER), and Georg Bellof (GER), brother of Stefan Bellof (GER), who was killed in an accident in 1985, joined forces with Andre Duve (GER) to race for the Pixum Adrenalin Motorsport team in the #652 BMW M235i Racing, but were forced to retire after 15 laps.

IMSA: BMW Team RLL to start from third and fifth.

BMW Team RLL have a good start position at the ninth race of the season in the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship at the Virginia International Raceway (USA). In qualifying, John Edwards (USA) in the #24 BMW M8 GTE got the third-fastest time in the GTLM class on the wet track. Edwards shared the cockpit with Jesse Krohn (FIN) in the race that lasted two hours and 40 minutes. In the #25 sister car, Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Alexander Sims (GBR) will start the race from fifth on the grid. In the GTD class, Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley (both USA) in the Turner Motorsport #96 BMW M6 GT3 will start the race from third place.

ESET V4 Cup: Podium for the BMW M6 GT3 at the Slovakiaring.

The Slovakiaring near Bratislava (SVK) hosted the penultimate round of the ESET V4 Cup season – and the BMW M6 GT3 finished on the podium. In the endurance race on Saturday, Štefan Rosina and Josef Král (both CZE) finished in second place in the Trevor Racing BMW M6 GT3.

CTSC: BimmerWorld Racing finish on the podium with BMW 238i.

Nick Galante and Devin Jones (both USA) of BimmerWorld Racing clinched another podium in the Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge (CTSC) at the Virginia International Raceway (USA). The driver duo finished in second place in the ST class with the #81 BMW 328i. The best-placed BMW in the overall standings of the two-hour race was the Stephen Cameron Racing #19 BMW M4 GT4. The duo of Greg Liefooghe and Ari Balogh (both USA) finished in seventh place. A total of six BMW cars were on the starting grid in Virginia.

DTM and FIA WEC: BMW M Motorsport in England.

The BMW M Motorsport teams were in action in England twice in the last two weekends. From 10th to 12th August, BMW Team RMG and BMW Team RBM contested the DTM races in Brands Hatch (GBR), and then BMW Team MTEK raced in the FIA World Endurance Championship (FIA WEC) at Silverstone (GBR). The journey to and from Great Britain took everyone across the English Channel – by ferry between Dover and Calais, France. En route they could almost have passed the “baton”. The BMW DTM trucks took the ferry from Dover on Monday and the WEC team arrived from France on Tuesday. Before heading to Silverstone, BMW Team MTEK stopped off at the Brands Hatch paddock to pick up another truck that was used on both race weekends. The BMW racing transporters covered a total distance of almost 3,800 kilometres from Germany to Brands Hatch and Silverstone and back again – including the ferry crossings of 200 kilometres in total across the English Channel. We photo documented the BMW trucks’ journey. The photos are available in the attachment.