BMW Motorsport News - Issue 02/2019.

Whether in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the ABB FIA Formula E 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.

Formula E: Wittmann and Spengler test the BMW iFE.18 in Marrakesh.

One day after the Marrakesh E-Prix, BMW i Andretti Motorsport continued testing of the BMW iFE.18. BMW works drivers Bruno Spengler (CAN) and Marco Wittmann (GER) were in action in Morocco as part of the official rookie tests for the ABB FIA Formula E Championship. This was Wittmann's first appearance at the wheel of the fully-electric BMW iFE.18. He was pleased with his debut, saying: “My first test in the BMW iFE.18 was really interesting. I was surprised at how much the driver has to do in the cockpit. Just getting in and driving – it doesn't work like that. Formula E presents you with completely different challenges to conventional motorsport classes such as the DTM. That’s why you can't, and shouldn't, compare the two platforms to one another. Formula E and the DTM are two different worlds – but both are appealing in their own way.” Spengler, who already has a few appearances for the BMW i Andretti Motorsport team under his belt and is the official replacement and test driver for this season, commented: “After having completed some test drives during development of the BMW iFE.18, it was very nice to drive the car again on a proper Formula E track. I last appeared in the BMW iFE.18 a few months ago, so I had to get used to it again to start with, but I was back in the groove after a few laps and it was great fun.”

Dubai 24 Hour: One-two result for the BMW M4 GT4 in the GT4 class.

The first endurance highlight of the season ended in great success for BMW customer racing teams. The excellent performance of the BMW M4 GT4 in particular stood out at the Dubai 24 Hour (UAE). After 552 laps, the MRS GT Racing team #426 car triumphed in the GT4 class. Franjo Kovac (CRO), Fredrik Lestrup (SWE), Tomas Pekar (CZE) and Thomas Tekaat (GER) had shared driving duties during the 24-hour race. The Sorg Rennsport #451 BMW M4 GT4, driven by Stephan Epp, Fidel Leib, Olaf Meyer, Björn Simon (all GER) and Simon Tibbett (USA), moved up from fourth to second position during a turbulent closing phase to round off the one-two result. Century Motorsport and 3Y Technology were also racing BMW M4 GT4s and secured fourth, fifth and seventh places. A total of seven BMW M4 GT4s were competing. There were also two class wins to celebrate. The fun-M Motorsport team triumphed in the CUP1 category with the BMW M235i Racing. First place in the A3 class went to the G R Motorsport Team and its BMW M3.

BTCC: West Surrey Racing and Colin Turkington defend title.

West Surrey Racing team and Colin Turkington (GBR) are set to continue their extremely successful partnership in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) 2019 season. Turkington will defend his drivers’ title at the wheel of the BMW 125i M Sport and, along with his team-mates, defend last season’s team title. “My third win felt amazing, but I’m hungry for more success,” said Turkington. One of his team-mates will be Andrew Jordan (GBR) again, as was the case in 2018. Jordan will compete in the Pirtek sponsored BMW Pirtek Racing BMW 125i M Sport once again. West Surrey Racing announced the third driver, a new face in the team, as Tom Oliphant (GBR) at the end of last year.