BMW M Motorsport News, 21st September 2021.

DTM: Victory and third place for Marco Wittmann at Assen.

Marco Wittmann (GER) celebrated his second win of the season on the sixth DTM race weekend. The two-time DTM champion delivered a sensational performance in a chaotic Saturday race at Assen, the ‘Cathedral of Speed’. Starting from second on the grid, he secured the win at the wheel of his #11 BMW M6 GT3 from the Walkenhorst Motorsport team, even overcoming a five-second penalty during the closing stage of the race. “My team and I decided to make our mandatory pit stop a little later,” said Wittmann. “That was a key moment, as the fresher tyres meant that we could attack the other cars in front of me. I gave it everything in that manoeuvre against Liam Lawson and risked the lot, a decision for which I was later penalised. It is a great feeling to be able to win despite this, and it is a fantastic team performance.” In the #31 BMW M6 GT3 from ROWE Racing, Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) also scored points in sixth place, while team-mate Timo Glock (GER) was forced to retire in the #16 BMW M6 GT3.

Wittmann gave another impressive performance on Sunday. Having started the race from second on the grid once again, he was able to reach third place and claim his fifth podium of the season despite carrying 25 kilos of additional weight. Glock finished the race in 14th place, while van der Linde had to head for the pits and retire early.

Wittmann has now made up some ground on his rivals in the drivers’ standings, moving up to second place overall after six of eight race weekends, ten points behind the leader. The next DTM race weekend takes place from 1st to 3rd October at Hockenheim (GER).

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DTM Trophy: Podium for Ben Green in Assen.

Ben Green (GBR) celebrated a podium finish on the fifth race weekend of the DTM Trophy as he successfully defended his lead in the drivers’ standings. In the #10 BMW M4 GT4 from the FK Performance Motorsport team, he claimed third place in Saturday's race at the TT Circuit Assen (NED). Right behind him, team-mate Moritz Löhner (GER) finished fourth with the #11 BMW M4 GT4, just missing out on the podium. Joining them in the top ten were Yann Zimmer (SUI / FK Performance Motorsport) in eighth, with Ben Tuck (GBR / Walkenhorst Motorsport) and Theo Oeverhaus (GER / Walkenhorst Motorsport) in ninth and tenth positions. Green also scored some important points for the drivers’ championship by finishing sixth in Sunday’s race. Oeverhaus was the best-placed BMW driver in fourth, while Zimmer crossed the finish line in eighth once again. Ninth and tenth positions went to Michael Schrey (GER / Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport) and Löhner.

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BMW M2 Cup: Caresani and Oeverhaus win in Assen.
Colin Caresani (NED) and Theo Oeverhaus (GER) came out on top in both races on the penultimate weekend of the BMW M2 Cup at Assen (NED). In Saturday’s race, local hero Caresani claimed victory in the #47 BMW M2 CS Racing, just ahead of Michael Schrey (GER) in the #2 BMW M2 CS Racing and Davit Kajaia (GEO) in the #5 BMW M2 CS Racing. This represented a first win in the one-make cup for Caresani, who nearly repeated the feat in Sunday's race. He defended first place until the closing stage of the race, before yielding to race winner Oeverhaus in the #34 BMW M2 CS Racing. “I am over the moon,” said Oeverhaus, who had started the race from eighth on the grid. “At the start, I would never have thought it would go so well today. It is really difficult to overtake on this circuit but then it went better than I had thought. My car really was perfect – thanks to the team for that.” Louis Henkefend (GER) crossed the line in third place to extend his lead in the overall standings. The final race weekend in the BMW M2 Cup takes place from 8th to 10th October at the Norisring (GER).

You can find more information about the BMW M2 Cup on the official website bmwm2cup.com. The “Media” section also contains images and video material that you can download.

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GT World Challenge America: Podium delight for Turner Motorsport at Watkins Glen.

Robby Foley and Michael Dinan (both USA) celebrated on the podium again at the fifth race weekend in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America at Watkins Glen (USA). Driving the #96 BMW M6 GT3 from Turner Motorsport, they claimed second place in Saturday's race. They battled for a top finish on Sunday as well, finishing the second race of the weekend in fourth place, which equated to third position in the Pro category. The next race weekend in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America takes place from 1st to 3rd October at the Sebring International Raceway (USA).

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Italian GT: Spengler, Zug and Comandini just miss out on podium in Vallelunga.

Bruno Spengler (CAN), Marius Zug (GER) and Stefano Comandini (ITA) just missed out on another podium finish at the wheel of their #7 BMW M6 GT3 from BMW Team Italia at the sixth race weekend in the Italian GT Championship at Vallelunga (ITA). Starting from second on the grid, the trio occupied a promising position in the race for some time before struggling with technical issues in the closing stage that saw them drop out of the podium spots. Alongside the BMW M6 GT3, BMW Team Italia was also competing with the #215 BMW M4 GT4, which secured first place in the GT4-AM class. Nicola Neri, Giuseppe Fascicolo (both ITA) and Alfred Nilsson (SWE) shared driving duties in that car. The next race weekend in the Italian GT Championship takes place from 8th to 10th October at Mugello (ITA).

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BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Italy: Sandrucci and Marcucci victorious at Vallelunga.

Gustavo Sandrucci (ITA) and Lorenzo Marcucci (ITA) secured the two race wins on the fifth weekend of the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Italy at Vallelunga (ITA). In Saturday’s race, Sandrucci drove his #16 BMW M2 CS Racing to victory ahead of Alessandro Brigatti and Luigi Ferrara (both ITA). In the second race on Sunday, Marcucci crossed the finish line in front of Brigatti and Jody Vullo (MON).

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GT4/GT/TC America: Successful weekend for BMW teams and drivers at Watkins Glen.

GT America, GT4 America and TC America also paid a visit to Watkins Glen International (USA), which proved to be a happy hunting ground for BMW cars, as the BMW teams and drivers claimed a total of four wins in GT4 America and TC America.

A BMW M4 GT4 topped the podium on Saturday and Sunday in GT4 America. In the first race, an overtaking manoeuvre on the final lap saw Tom Capizzi and John Capestro-Dubets (both USA) take the win at the wheel of the #52 BMW M4 GT4 from Auto Technic Racing. In the second race, Stevan McAleer (GBR) and Toby Grahovec (USA) secured victory in the #11 BMW M4 GT4 from Classic BMW. In the Pro/Am class, the #34 BMW M4 GT4 from BimmerWorld Racing claimed second place with James Walker and Bill Auberlen (both USA) at the wheel.

In TC America, Steve Streimer (USA) emerged victorious from Saturday’s race in the #30 BMW M2 CS Racing from Hard Motorsport. Streimer finished second on Sunday to return to the rostrum. Victory went to Jacob Ruud (USA) in the #81 BMW M2 CS Racing from the Classic BMW team. Lucas Catania (USA) in the #38 BMW M2 CS Racing and Roy Block (ARG) in the #5 BMW M2 CS Racing finished third and fourth to complete a top-four lock-out for BMW.

In GT America, Sean Quinlan (USA) missed out on another podium at Watkins Glen at the wheel of the #119 BMW M4 GT4. He was not classified in Saturday’s race and then finished fifth in the GT4 category one day later.

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BTCC: Win for Colin Turkington at Croft.

Colin Turkington (GBR) won the third race on the seventh weekend of the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) at Croft (GBR), scoring more valuable points in the battle for the drivers’ title. In the first race, the four-time champion displayed some great pace at the wheel of the #2 BMW 330i M Sport, but just missed out on the podium as he finished fourth. Adam Morgan (GBR) also made it into the top ten, finishing eighth in the #33 BMW 330i M Sport. Turkington finished seventh in the second race, while Morgan and Stephen Jelley (GBR) in the #12 BMW 330i M Sport crossed the finish line behind him in ninth and tenth positions. The third race then went Turkington’s way, as he won the race to claim his 13th victory at Croft. Tom Chilton (GBR) crossed the line in third place in the #3 BMW 330i M Sport. With three race weekends remaining, Turkington is in third place in the drivers’ championship. The BTCC will visit Silverstone (GBR) next weekend.

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Super Taikyu: Eighth place for BMW Team Studie at Suzuka.

BMW Team Studie was at Suzuka (JPN) for a five-hour race, the fifth event of the season in the Japanese Super Taikyu race series. Tomohide Yamaguchi, Seiji Ara, Yuya Sakamoto (all JPN) shared driving duties at the wheel of the #20 BMW M4 GT4 and completed the race in eighth place in the ST-Z class, having started from fifth on the grid. The season finale in the Super Taikyu will take place on 13th and 14th November at Okayama (JPN).