Munich. The participants have been confirmed for the 2017 BMW
Motorsport Junior Programme. Dennis Marschall (GER) and Beitske
Visser (NED) are the newest members of the line-up, completing the
list of talented young drivers that BMW Motorsport will be
supporting in the coming months and years. Visser is the first woman
to make the leap to the BMW Motorsport youth programme since its
restructuring in 2014. Nico Menzel (GER), Ricky Collard (GBR) and
Joel Eriksson (SWE) are already in their second year of training and
were joined by new boy Mikkel Jensen (DEN) before the season
started. BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt welcomed the new
year group in Munich.
“I am delighted to welcome our new Juniors year group Mikkel Jensen,
Beitske Visser and Dennis Marschall to the BMW Motorsport family as we
celebrate the 40th year of BMW Motorsport talent
promotion,” said Marquardt at the reception held at the BMW Motorsport
site. “We have another set of very talented Juniors, who won through
against numerous competitors to join the group. Mikkel joined the
programme some weeks ago. He will be competing in this year’s
Blancpain GT Series Endurance Cup season with Nico Menzel in the BMW
M6 GT3. Beitske, the first woman to be part of our newly restructured
promotion programme, and Dennis also have a promising future. And it
is to the future that we look when selecting new talent; with the
right support, today’s talented young driver can be the champion of
tomorrow. Our two-time DTM champion and former BMW youth driver Marco
Wittmann is the most impressive example of this. I am convinced that
our new BMW Motorsport Juniors will also take the next, important step
in their development as racing drivers. I am looking forward to a
thrilling talent promotion anniversary year.”
Jensen, Marschall and Visser, who made a strong case for inclusion in
the Junior Programme at a shoot-out at Miramas (FRA) in the BMW M4
GT4, used their time in Munich to get to know one another and take a
look at the world of BMW. Accompanied by their mentor Dirk Adorf
(GER), they enjoyed an exclusive tour of the BMW Group Plant Munich.
“I am happy that we have found three promising and talented young
drivers this year. We can train Mikkel Jensen, Dennis Marschall and
Beitske Visser in the coming months,” said Adorf. “I am particularly
pleased that a woman has joined our programme for the first time this
year. I think that the progress made by Jesse Krohn and our other
juniors at BMW Motorsport is a great example and an incentive for the
next generation.”
Jensen has already completed his first races in the BMW M6 GT3. He
started alongside Menzel for Walkenhorst Motorsport in the Blancpain
GT Series Endurance Cup. Marschall celebrated his first major racing
successes in the 2014 ADAC Formel Masters, winning three races and
finishing in sixth place overall. He switched to touring car racing in
2015 to compete in the Audi Sport TT Cup, part of the DTM race
weekends. He came to attention there with third and second places
overall in his two seasons. Marschall is making his ADAC GT Masters
debut in the 2017 season. He is also a sponsored candidate for the
Deutsche Post Speed Academy, whose jury members include BMW Motorsport
Director Jens Marquardt and BMW DTM driver Timo Glock (GER). “I am
really looking forward to this opportunity,” says Marschall. “In this
first year, my primary goal is settle into the BMW Motorsport family.
And of course I cannot wait for my first competitive races in the BMW cars.”
Visser is the first woman to join the BMW Motorsport Junior
Programme. She has been driving in the Formula Renault 3.5 World
Series for the last three years, one of the most competitive junior
series in formula racing. In 2013, she was a member of the Junior Team
at BMW Motorsport Premium Partner Red Bull. She is now making the move
to GT and touring car racing as a BMW Motorsport Junior. “I am proud
to be part of the BMW Motorsport family now,” says Visser. “I hope
that this support programme will help me to become a professional
racing driver.”
The season is already well underway for the Juniors who are in their
second year of training. Collard is competing in all of the ADAC GT
Masters races with Philipp Eng (AUT) in the BMW M6 GT3. He also drove
the BMW M4 GT4 media car in the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring (GER).
Menzel is driving the BMW M6 GT3 in the Blancpain GT Series Endurance
Cup and on the Nürburgring Nordschleife. Collard and Menzel are also
actively involved in the development of the BMW M4 GT4. Eriksson is
battling for victory in the FIA Formula 3 European Championship, and
will also be driving the BMW M4 DTM race taxi in the DTM.
The Juniors will be supervised in competitive action in the BMW M6
GT3 by their mentor, BMW works driver Jörg Müller (GER). He has
already competed with Collard and Menzel on several occasions. “I am
looking forward to working with the BMW Motorsport Juniors and passing
on the experience I have gained during the development of the BMW M6
GT3 and in countless races around the world,” says Müller. “I think I
can give them advice about driving issues and help them to understand
the car technology and communicate with the engineers.”