BMW Motorsport News – Issue 21/16.

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.

Italian GT Championship: BMW M6 GT3 claims maiden win in Italy.

The third race weekend of the 2016 Italian GT Championship saw BMW Team Italia take its first victory with the BMW M6 GT3. Alberto Cerqui (IT) and Stefano Comandini (IT) first secured pole position with the number 15 BMW M6 GT3 at the “Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli” (IT). They then executed a virtually perfect race. Comandini took the lead with just a few laps remaining when Ferrari driver Mirko Venturi (IT) dropped back due to a puncture – and he never looked back. Comandini and Cerqui crossed the finish line 12th in race two on Sunday. The next round of the Italian GT Championship takes place in Mugello (IT) on 17th July.

British GT Championship: Podium for the BMW Z4 GT3.

There were celebrations and disappointments among the BMW teams at the fifth round of the British GT Championship in Silverstone (GB): Lee Mowle (GB) and Joe Osborne (GB) of the AMDtuning.com team produced an impressive fightback in the number 7 BMW Z4 GT3 and were rewarded with second place and a spot on the podium. In contrast, the ABBA with Rollcentre Racing BMW Z4 GT3, driven by Richard Neary (GB) and Martin Short (GB), was forced to retire 34 laps into the three-hour race.

GT4 European Series: Class victory for Severs and Knapp.

Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport drivers Simon Knapp (NL) and Rob Severs (NL) enjoyed an impressive outing at round three of the GT4 European Series in Silverstone (GB), which shared the bill with the British GT Championship. The duo finished third in the GT4E class in the Ekris M4 GT4. Their team-mates Ricardo van der Ende (NL) and Bernhard van Oranje (NL) came home sixth. The next race of the season takes place at Spa-Francorchamps (BE) at the beginning of July.

DTM: Bruno Spengler filmed in action with MAHLE.

Last week, Bruno Spengler (CA) visited MAHLE, Official Partner of BMW Motorsport. In Stuttgart (DE), Spengler and Marcus Abele (DE), the head of development at MAHLE Motorsport, were making a film about the joy of driving for the MAHLE campaign entitled "a vision for mobility". The two men were in agreement: joy and efficiency are not contradictory terms, in motorsport or in series-production cars. At MAHLE, the variety of challenges and extreme conditions in motorsport are often the driving force behind new developments that can be implemented in mass production. Filming took place in a BMW M5 at the historic “Solitude” circuit near Stuttgart, which hosted Formula 1 races until 1964, and at MAHLE’s company headquarters in the city centre. MAHLE has been an Official Partner of BMW Motorsport since 2014.