BMW Motorsport News - Issue 05/2019.

Whether in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the ABB FIA Formula E 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.

DTM: BMW drivers in final fitness preparations.
The BMW DTM drivers underwent intensive training this week. From Thursday to Sunday, Philipp Eng (AUT), Joel Eriksson (SWE), Bruno Spengler (CAN), Marco Wittmann (GER) and DTM newbie Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) completed a four-day fitness camp in Viareggio (ITA). Timo Glock (GER) was unable to take part due to illness but will have a personal training session with the Formula Medicine team in the coming weeks. Team doctor Riccardo Ceccarelli (ITA) and his crew prepared an extensive, diverse exercise plan to stand the drivers in good stead for the upcoming DTM season. The focus was split equally between fitness, reaction and mental training, with the programme including workouts using various pieces of equipment as well as diverse outdoor activities. “Doctor Ceccarelli is an absolute legend. Which is why it’s fantastic working with him and his team,” said Eng. “Every trainer here has an incredible amount of experience. The mental training in particular is great fun. The fitness exercises can be as well, but they are usually mainly challenging; that’s good as well because it is the perfect preparation for us for the new DTM season.” The 2019 DTM season gets underway with the first two races at the Hockenheimring (GER) on 4th and 5th May. Before that, the official ITR test drives will be held at the Lausitzring (GER) from 15th to 18th April.

TC America: BimmerWorld Racing to field two BMW M240i Racings.
When the TC America season, formerly the Pirelli World Challenge, gets underway with the first race at the “Circuit of the Americas” near Austin (USA) this weekend, BimmerWorld Racing will return to action. Team principal James Clay’s (USA) crew will field two BMW M240i Racings. The cockpit of car #82 will be manned by Cameron Evans (USA); in the sister #94 car, Chandler Hull (USA) will be at the wheel. The BMW customer racing entry-level model has a new name as of the 2019 season, the BMW M240i Racing, thanks to an extensive Evo package. Among other things, the upgrade includes optimised engine software, while new end plates for the rear wing contribute to the aesthetic improvements to the cars used in race series and cup classes around the world. The TC America season is made up of seven sprint races of 40 minutes each. The races will be held at many well-known racetracks in North America, such as the “Virginia International Raceway” and “Road America” (both USA).

China GT Championship: Nick Yelloly to race for AAI Motorsports.
This week, the AAI Motorsports team announced its official line-up for this year’s China GT Championship season. The Taiwanese team will field a total of three BMW M6 GT3s and one BMW M4 GT4 at the seven race weekends. The first race weekend in Malaysia will see Nick Yelloly (GBR) as part of the action following his first experience of BMW cars in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup and at the DTM Young Driver Tests last year. As a BMW works driver, the 28-year-old will contest other races this season; the full programme will be announced at a later date. In China GT, Yelloly will contest the GT3 class alongside Junsan Chen of Taiwan in a #90 BMW M6 GT3. The #91 and #92 sister cars’ cockpits will be shared by Jody Fanin (GBR) and Betty Chen, and Ivan Lee and Kevin Chen (all TWN). Oscar Lee (USA) and Yuanhow Yao (TWN) will be behind the wheel of the BMW M4 GT4. The first race weekend of the season will be held at the “Sepang International Circuit” (MAS) from 16th to 17th March.