BMW Motorsport News - Issue 30/2018.

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. 

GT4 European Series: Two one-two results for the BMW M4 GT4.

BMW Motorsport Juniors Beitske Visser (NED) and Nico Menzel (GER) celebrated their first GT European Series victory of the season in Sunday’s race at the Hungaroring (HUN). When the stewards aborted the turbulent race after 24 laps because of heavy rain, Visser/Menzel, in the #110 RN Vision STS BMW M4 GT4, had a lead of around 30 seconds over their team-mates Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Razvan Umbrarescu (ROM), who also competed in a BMW M4 GT4, thereby gifting the car another one-two result. At the start of the Hungaroring weekend, the BMW M4 GT4 celebrated a one-two result when on Saturday, Simon Knap and Max Koebolt (both NED) in the #1 MDM Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 crossed the finish line in first place. Like Sunday, Piana/Umbrarescu finished second on the podium. In the Pro-Am class, the W&D Racing team celebrated a podium, finishing third place in the final race of the weekend.

Blancpain GT Sports Club: Race win and championship victory for
Karim Ojjeh.

Karim Ojjeh (KSA) is the new Blancpain GT Sports Club champion. The Boutsen Ginion Racing driver clinched the title with his victory in the main race at the Hungaroring (HUN) on Sunday. Going into the final event in Barcelona (ESP) on 29th/30th September, he currently leads the driver’s standings with an unassailable 136 points. This is Ojjeh’s first Blancpain GT Sports Club title. In addition to his sixth class win of the season, he also clinched the trophy for the overall victory in the Titanium Cup.

VLN: Podium success for the BMW M6 GT3 in “Green Hell”.

The Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER) fans experienced another thrilling race in the “Green Hell”. First, the #36 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 secured pole position in the qualifying session for the sixth round of the VLN Endurance Championship. However, David Pittard (GBR), Andreas Ziegler and Rudi Adams (both GER) were forced to retire from the race. BMW fans still had reason to celebrate when after four hours, Stef Dusseldorp (NED) and Alexandre Imperatori (SUI) in the Falken Motorsports #3 BMW M6 GT3 crossed the finish line in second place. The #35 Walkenhorst Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 finished seventh overall. Augusto Farfus (BRA) also took on the “Green Hell”, lining up for BMW Team Schnitzer. Next weekend sees the Brazilian battle for points in the DTM on the 3.629-kilometre version of the Nürburgring. 

In the SP10 class, the BMW M4 GT4 celebrated as sensational one-two-three-four finish. First and second place went to Securtal Sorg Rennsport. Heiko Eichenberg (GER) and Yannick Mettler (SUI) were the first to see the chequered flag. Third and fourth place went to the #178 Ring Racing BMW M4 GT4 and the #191 Walkenhorst Motorsport car. In the BMW M235i Racing Cup, Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport retained the upper hand. David Griessner (AUT) and Yannick Fübrich (GER) secured victory with a lead of more than 21 seconds. The other spots on the podium went to the #694 Securtal Sorg Rennsport BMW M235i Racing in second place, followed by the #666 Scheid – Honert Motorsport car in third place. BMW racing cars celebrated a total of six class wins. The seventh round of the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring will take place in three weeks. Dortmund MC’s 58th ADAC Reinoldus endurance race on 22^ndSeptember will last the standard four hours.

Pirelli World Challenge: BMW victorious in manufacturers and team standings in the TC class.

It was a successful weekend for the BMW M235i Racing in the TC class of the Pirelli World Challenge. At the season finale at Watkins Glen (USA), the car celebrated top-three and top-five lock-outs. On Saturday, Classic BMW’s Karl Wittmer (USA) stood atop the podium as the winner. Johan Schwartz (DEN) of Rooster Hall Racing followed in second place. Matt Travis (USA) crossed the finish line in third. All three drivers were on the podium once again in the final race of the year, in a slightly different order. In the BMW M235i Racing’s top-five lock-out, Schwartz was victorious, ahead of Wittmer. Travis finished third again. Despite his victory and the second place, Wittmer narrowly missed out on winning the driver’s championship. Classic BMW won the team championship and the manufacturers' title went to BMW.

International GT Open: Podium success for Teo Martín Motorsport.

The International GT Open race weekend took BMW Team Teo Martín to Silverstone, the “Home of British Motor Racing”. In the first race of the weekend, Fran Rueda (ESP) and Andrés Saravia (GUA) in the #47 BMW M6 GT3 finished third to celebrate on the podium. Their team-mates Beirão da Veiga (POR) and Juan Cruz Álvarez (ESP) crossed the finish line in tenth place. The second race of the weekend proved to be difficult for the team when an incident forced Beirão da Veiga/Álvarez to retire. The Rueda/Saravia duo crossed the finish line in sixth place, and, with nine points to their name, are currently in second place in the driver’s standings. In the Am classification, Marcio Basso (BRA) and Alexey Chuklin (UKR) finished fourth on Saturday. They rounded off the weekend with second place, which saw them make it onto the podium.