BMW Motorsport News – Issue 32/15.

Whether in the DTM, the United 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.

DTM: BMW Motorsport continues its run of podium finishes in Moscow.

BMW drivers followed in the footsteps of Augusto Farfus (BR) in 2013 and Maxime Martin (BE) last year to finish on the podium at this year’s DTM races in Moscow (RU): Marco Wittmann (DE) finished runner-up on Saturday, followed in third place by Bruno Spengler (CA). Spengler went one better in race two, ending Sunday’s race in second place. In total, the BMW drivers scored 73 points in Russia.

Three questions for... Bruno Spengler.

Bruno, how would you sum up the races in Moscow?

Bruno Spengler: “I leave Russia with a positive feeling. Unfortunately I did not quite manage to get a pole position or race win. However, I can obviously be very happy with third place on Saturday and second in Sunday’s race. I scored a lot of points for BMW Team MTEK. I finished runner-up here last year too. Moscow seems to suit me.”

Both DTM races at the “Moscow Raceway” were quite eventful for you...

Spengler: “Yes, there was quite a lot going on. On Saturday I managed to overtake Jamie Green in the final corner to make it onto the podium. In Sunday’s race, the early stages were very fiercely contested. I had a great battle with Mike Rockenfeller. Everything was fair. That is what motorsport should be all about. Even the pit stops were exciting. My team had a great strategy. Unfortunately I was not quite able to match Mike’s pace and he pulled clear. However, I came home second in the end.”

What are your goals for the rest of the season?

Spengler: “I want to score as many points as possible in the remaining races. We will have to see whether we will always be good enough for a place on the podium. Whatever happens, we will never stop fighting.”

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ADAC GT Masters: One-two for BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert.

BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert claimed its third one-two in the ADAC GT Masters at the Sachsenring (DE). Dominik Baumann (AT) and Jens Klingmann (DE,) in the number 80 BMW Z4 GT3, came home ahead of team-mates Claudia Hürtgen (DE) and Uwe Alzen (DE), in the number 19 car, to claim victory at the sixth of eight race weekends. Hürtgen achieved a first in the ADAC GT Masters in the morning, when she became the first woman in the history of the series to secure pole position. Having climbed temporarily into second place in the overall standings courtesy of victory on Saturday, Baumann/Klingmann had to settle for 13th in qualifying for race two, which was held on the Sunday for the first time. The second Schubert car started one place back in 14th. In the race, Baumann/Klingmann were able to climb into eighth thanks to a good pit strategy, for which they were rewarded with six points.

Japanese Super GT: Podium for the BMW Z4 GT3 in Suzuka.

Second place for the BMW Z4 GT3: round four of the Japanese Super GT Championship in Suzuka (JP) was a successful one for BMW Sports Trophy Team Studie. Having started from third on the grid, BMW works driver Jörg Müller (DE) and Seiji Ara (JP) came home second after 151 laps in their BMW Z4 GT3. The duo narrowly missed out on victory: after just short of six hours of racing, Müller/Ara finished just 1.089 seconds behind the winning Nissan.

24h Zolder: Impressive outing for the BMW M235i Racing.

The iconic 24-hour race in Zolder (BE) featured a strong contingent of BMW teams and drivers: no fewer than 36 of the 61 cars in the starting field were BMWs. Eleven BMW M235i Racings competed at the endurance marathon, which also counted towards the BMW M235i Racing Cup Belgium – and every one of them finished the race. Maciej Dreszer (PL), Stéphane Kox (NL), Peter Kox (NL), Jos Menten (NL) and Dennis Retera (NL) in the number 241 car were the best-placed BMW crew, finishing fifth overall and claiming victory in the T7 category. BMW Motorsport Juniors Victor Bouveng (SE), Trent Hindman (US) and Louis Delétraz (CH) finished ninth in their class alongside head instructor Dirk Adorf (DE).