BMW Motorsport News – Issue 45/16

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.

Bathurst 12 Hour: Wittmann completes first test.

In preparation for the 12-hour race in Bathurst (AU), which will take place at the legendary “Mount Panorama Circuit” (AU) on 5th February, DTM champion Marco Wittmann (DE) completed his first test kilometres on the track in the state of New South Wales this week. This was a first drive in Australia for Wittmann, who will be competing with Steve Richards (NZ) and Mark Winterbottom (AU) in the BMW Team SRM BMW M6 GT3. “Our main objective is to get to know the car and the circuit better, and to prepare for the race in February. The lap times are of secondary importance right now,” said Wittmann. His Bathurst debut was not the only reason for celebration for the BMW DTM driver: Wittmann celebrated his 27th birthday on Thursday.

VLN: Atmospheric conclusion to the 2016 VLN season.

Last weekend’s championship celebrations marked the official conclusion of the 2016 VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring. The most successful drivers of the season received their accolades in the Bitburger Event Center at the Nürburgring (DE), headed by VLN winners Alexander Mies and Michael Schrey (both DE). The duo competed together in the BMW M235i Racing for all ten races of the VLN season and secured the title in the BMW M235i Racing Cup, as well as claiming overall victory. Twenty four-year-old Mies also won the VLN Junior Trophy, in a repeat of his achievement from 2013.

VLN: Awards for the best in class.

The VLN championship celebrations last weekend also included awards for those BMW drivers who had performed most successfully in their class. The trophy in the SP9 class went to Victor Bouveng (SE). The Swedish driver, who had successfully taken part in the BMW Motorsport Junior programme last year, competed in the Team Walkenhorst Motorsport powered by Dunlop BMW M6 GT3 in 2016 and celebrated five podium finishes during the season. BMW drivers finished on top in a total of five VLN categories: Cup5, SP6, SP9, V4 and V5. Alongside the victorious VLN duo of Alexander Mies and Michael Schrey (both DE), the strongest class in the field was the BMW M235i Racing Cup, which is classified as the Cup5 class in the VLN and contains 19 cars.

VLN: New season starts at the end of March 2017.

The finale of this year’s VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring took place just a few weeks ago, but planning is already well underway for 2017. The new race calendar has been confirmed. Nine events will take place in the “Green Hell” next season. The 2017 VLN season will start on 25th March and the final race will take place on 21st October.