BMW Motorsport News – Issue 34/16.

Whether in the DTM, 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: BMW M6 GT3 in the Top 3 – Bonk drivers continue to dominate the BMW M235i Racing Cup.
A successful race on Saturday in the “Green Hell” for numerous BMW teams: three BMW M6 GT3s finished in the top ten at the highlight of the VLN Endurance Racing Championship season, the six-hour race on the Nürburgring Nordschleife (DE). BMW works driver Jörg Müller (DE), Felipe Fernández Laser (DE), BMW Motorsport Junior Jesse Krohn (FI) and Victor Bouveng (SE) all made it to the podium. They saw the chequered flag in third place, driving the number 36 car from Walkenhorst Motorsport powered by Dunlop. The quartet also recorded the fastest lap time of 08:04.638 minutes. This was the first appearance in a BMW M6 GT3 for Laser. Müller and Krohn gave themselves a very special birthday present, in the form of the podium finish. BMW works driver Philipp Eng (AT) also delivered a convincing performance in his seventh VLN race of the year. After securing 11th in qualifying, Stef Dusseldorp (NL) and the winner of the 24-hour race in Spa-Francorchamps (BE) put on a faultless display of driving. After 43 laps of the Nordschleife, they crossed the line in fifth in the ROWE Racing team’s BMW M6 GT3. The third car in the top ten was the Frikadelli Racing Team’s BMW M6 GT3 , in seventh place. The Walkenhorst team’s number 50 BMW Z4 GT3 rounded off the good overall result for BMW, with a 12th place finish in the “Green Hell”. Victory in the six-hour race went to Porsche.

Alexander Mies and Michael Schrey (both DE) remain the drivers to beat in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class, as they recorded their seventh win in seven races. The duo from Team Bonk Motorsport extended their lead in the Cup standings and in the overall VLN championship. Second position in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class went to Thomas Jäger (AT) and Rudi Adams (DE) from the Scheid-Honert Motorsport team. The Team Securtal Sorg Rennsport BMW M235i Racing finished in third place with Heiko Eichenberg and Kevin Warum (both DE) at the wheel.

VLN: Double debut on the Nordschleife.
BMW DTM driver António Félix da Costa (PT) and BMW Motorsport Junior Ricky Collard (GB) both started a race in the “Green Hell“ for the first time in their respective careers. They took on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (DE) together at the wheel of a BMW M235i Racing in the seventh round of the VLN Endurance Championship on Saturday. This was the second time this year that Félix da Costa had made a debut, having previously contested a race in the BMW M6 GT3 for the first time in the ADAC GT Masters at the Red Bull Ring (AT) in July. The race in the Eifel Mountains was the perfect end to a great week for the Portuguese, who celebrated his 25th birthday on Wednesday. “The Nordschleife is the toughest circuit in the world. It is every racing driver’s dream to race there at least once,“ said Félix da Costa. “That dream came true for me today. It was unique to experience the myth of the “Green Hell“ in the BMW M235i Racing. I had great fun, and can certainly imagine returning to race here again.“ Félix da Costa will be back in action in the Eifel region in just one week’s time: the BMW Team Schnitzer driver will contest races 13 and 14 of the DTM season on 10th and 11th September, when the BMW M4 DTM will do battle on the Nürburgring’s 3.629-kilometre Grand Prix Circuit.

BMW Motorsport Junior Collard was also making his first appearance in the “Green Hell“. “The race on the Nordschleife was a real highlight. The circuit demands everything of you as a racing driver,“ said Collard. “I came here to learn, and I am grateful that I was able to do that with a great racer like António by my side. This weekend has provided me with a lot of valuable information. This will be very useful for my future career. It was my debut for BMW and I feel very proud to wear the racesuit and represent the brand for the first time.“ Collard had impressed a jury of BMW Motorsport experts at a shoot-out in March, after which he was rewarded with the opportunity to receive comprehensive training on the BMW Motorsport Junior programme. Collard’s family enjoys a close association with BMW. His father Rob Collard (GB) has been driving BMWs in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) since 2008. He is at the wheel of a BMW 125i M Sport in 2016, and has so far won two races this season. Ricky Collard has also been extremely successful this year. He leads the Drivers’ Championship in the British Formula 3 Championship going into the final event at Donington Park (GB). Collard and Félix da Costa came home 61st on the Nordschleife on Saturday.

DTM: Tomczyk and Wittmann go full throttle at the Lausitzring.
Like the DTM, the Red Bull Air Race also represents unbridled power and breath-taking action. For the first time since 2010, the most spectacular air show in the world returned to the Lausitzring (DE) and captivated the visitors. The two BMW DTM drivers Martin Tomczyk (DE) and Marco Wittmann (DE) were part of the spectacle again this year. On Saturday and Sunday, Tomczyk in his BMW M Performance Parts M4 DTM and Wittmann in the Red Bull BMW M4 DTM completed two show runs. For 20 minutes on each run, Tomczyk and Wittmann smoked their tyres and fascinated the spectators with burnouts and doughnuts. Fans had the opportunity to admire the two BMW race cars up close and personal in the paddock before and after their appearances. Both Tomczyk and Wittmann also made time for several autograph sessions in addition to the show runs. The Red Bull Air Race World Championship is a series of airplane races organised by Red Bull – Premium Partner of BMW Motorsport in the DTM. The aim is to fly through a course of air gates in 350 hp propeller planes as quickly as possible while performing the specified manoeuvres correctly. The sixth of the total of eight events in the 2016 season took place at the Lausitzring.

BMW M6 GT3: A fast lap with Jens Klingmann in South Africa.
The BMW M6 GT3 does not just compete around the world in customer sport: it featured at the “South African Festival of Motoring” this week. The event took place from 31st August to 4th September 2016 at the “Kyalami Grand Prix Circuit” in Midrand (ZA), which regularly hosted the Grand Prix of South Africa from 1967 to 1993. BMW South Africa had invited Team Schubert Motorsport to present the BMW M6 GT3 to a wider public with its special design for the 100th birthday of the BMW Group - as seen during the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (DE). The “South African Festival of Motoring” attracts up to 150,000 visitors each year. BMW customers and local media representatives were delighted to have the chance to experience laps in the race taxi with BMW works driver Jens Klingmann (DE).

DTM: Unique fan promotion with Augusto Farfus in the Shell BMW M4 DTM race taxi.
Twenty three years after the last race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (DE), a DTM car will drive through the “Green Hell“ again on Monday 12th September. After the DTM race weekend in the Eifel region, BMW works driver Augusto Farfus (BR) will be driving laps on the longest permanent race track in the world in his Shell BMW M4 DTM. The winner of a fan promotion from Shell – Premium Technology Partner of BMW Motorsport in the DTM – will be in the passenger seat. Matthias Malmedie (DE), best known from “Grip – Das Motormagazin“ on the German TV station RTL II, will be commentating on this unique taxi journey. This driving experience with Farfus is being made possible by special conversion work to the Shell BMW M4 DTM, to adjust it to the specific requirements of the Nordschleife. “The Nordschleife is as familiar to me as my living room, I know every centimetre of asphalt here. I have competed in the 24-hour race countless times, and I won it in 2010,“ said Farfus. “However, I have only experienced the “Green Hell“ from the cockpit of a GT car. Being allowed to drive a few laps here with the Shell BMW M4 DTM race taxi will be a real highlight – especially as I am the first DTM driver to have this honour for 23 years. I am really looking forward to this unique promotion and to my fans, who should really enjoy this.“ Next weekend, the DTM will be taking place at the legendary Nürburgring for the 50th time. There have been 73 races at the historic circuit in the Eifel in this touring car series, a number only bettered by Hockenheim (80) in Germany. The races will take place on the 3.629-kilometre short version of the Grand Prix circuit on 10th and 11th September. The 1993 season was the last occasion on which DTM cars were able to attack the Nordschleife.

24H Barcelona: Two class wins at the “Circuit de Catalunya”.
The 24H series paid a visit to Barcelona (ES) this weekend. The sixth race of the season took place at the “Circuit de Catalunya” (ES), which also hosts the Spanish Grand Prix in Formula 1. A total of nine BMW cars were competing at the “24H Barcelona”. After 601 laps, Daan Meijer, Pieter van Soelen, Mark van der Aa and Koen Bogaerts (all NL) from Team JR Motorsport celebrated the class win in the SP-3 category, securing 17th in the overall standings. Second position in the class went to Patrick van Glabeke (BE), Martin Lanting, Bob Herber and Harry Hilders (NL), who were also competing for JR Motorsport. In the A3 category, Mark Bus, Simon Knap, Rob Severs and Bas van de Ven (all NL) crossed the line in third place after 24 hours in their MDM Motorsport car. Jimmy de Breucker (BE), Mario Timmers (BE), Del Bennett (GB), Fortia Pares (ES) and Alvaro Vela (ES) claimed victory in the BMW M235i Racing Cup class for the DUWO Racing team. Porsche secured the overall victory at the “24H Barcelona”.