Munich. BMW Motorsport celebrated its traditional Season
Review at BMW Group Classic in Munich (GER), where the most
successful drivers and teams in the 56th staging of the BMW Sports
Trophy were honoured. Victory in this year’s Drivers’ Competition
went to Ricardo van der Ende and Max Koebolt of the Netherlands. In
the Team Competition, Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport proved
unbeatable for the fourth year in a row. The event also saw BMW
Motorsport recognise the achievements of Bill Auberlen (USA), who
was presented with the Honorary Award after making 400 starts in BMW
race cars.
BMW Group Classic provided the impressive backdrop as more than
200 guests looked back at the highlights of this season’s BMW
Motorsport works programme. These included the first DTM victory at
the Norisring (GER) for 25 years, courtesy of Bruno Spengler (CAN),
the “Pool Fishing” social media hit from BMW Team RMG and Timo Glock
(GER), first place for BMW Team RLL at “Petit Le Mans” at Road Atlanta
(USA), and the appearances of this year’s two BMW Art Cars at Daytona
(USA) and Macau (CHN).
The stage then belonged to the private teams and drivers, whose
commitment once again made them excellent global ambassadors for the
BMW brand in 2017. The best of those in the Drivers’ and Team
Competitions were presented with their trophies. The 25 most
successful drivers and top ten teams shared a total prize purse of
350,000 euros.
“Even in its 56th year, the response to our BMW Sports Trophy is
still impressive,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt. “This
time, more than 700 drivers and almost 150 teams scored points towards
the BMW Sports Trophy classifications. We once again recorded
thousands of individual results. Customer racing is, and will remain,
one of the central pillars of our motorsport programme. It was
fantastic to have the most successful private drivers and teams here
in Munich again, and to be able to recognise their achievements.
Congratulations to Max Koebolt, Ricardo van der Ende and Pixum Team
Adrenalin Motorsport.”
In the Drivers’ Competition, van der Ende and Koebolt of the
Ekris Motorsport team claimed first place. They won the title in the
GT4 European Series and scored 680 points in the BMW Sports Trophy.
The duo each receives a winner’s cheque for 27,500 euros. Third place
was shared by Christopher Rink, Philipp Leisen and Danny Brink (all
GER). They each receive 18,500 euros in prize money.
Koebolt said: “It was an amazing season. I never expected such a
result in the end. Last year I competed with BMW for the first time,
and was quite unlucky. To stand on top of the BMW Sports Trophy
competition now and to have prevailed against all the other strong
drivers is just a great feeling.”
Van der Ende added: “This just feels sweet. We had a magnificent
season. Out of 18 races we were on the podium a total of 15 times. We
are proud to stand in front of this amazing audience as winners now.
Every season has its highs and lows, but this year we managed to claim
two titles in the European GT4 Series. This is just unique.”
In the Team Competition, Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport
continued its impressive run, scoring 819 points to win for the fourth
time in a row. Matthias Unger’s (GER) team has been a regular at the
Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER) for many years, and regularly wins
races there. 30,000 euros in prize money was awarded to the most
successful team. Securtal Sorg Rennsport and BMW Team Teo Martín
followed in second and third. They received 20,000 euros and 15,000
euros respectively.
“It was very tight this year,” said Unger. “Right up until the
end it was far from clear if we could make it again. Our rivals
suffered a dose of bad luck; we were fortunate. We never gave up – and
that paid off.”
Auberlen receives BMW Motorsport Honorary Award.
Future BMW of North America Brand Ambassador, Bill Auberlen,
received a special honour. He has now contested 400 races for BMW –
more than any other active driver. He joined the BMW family in 1996
and is one of the most successful drivers in North America. Auberlen
recently won the classic “Petit Le Mans” with BMW Team RLL.
“It just feels great,” commented Auberlen. “I have experienced
many highlights with BMW and was able to score many wins and
championships. But today I had tears in my eyes for the first time
ever. It was an amazing moment that I will never forget. I’m just so
grateful to have a partner like BMW.”
2017 BMW Sports Trophy: Final Result.
BMW Sports Trophy Drivers’ Competition:
BMW Sports Trophy Team Competition: