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.
BMW M235i Racing Cup: Bonk Motorsport already team champions.
The Bonk Motorsport team has retained the title in the BMW M235i
Racing Cup team championship. At the penultimate race of the season in
the VLN Endurance Championship Nürburgring (GER), Michael Schrey (GER)
celebrated his sixth consecutive class win in the #691 car and
extended his team’s lead to an unassailable 50 points. With the win,
Schrey has a 50-point lead over second-placed Heiko Eichenberg (GER)
in the drivers’ standings, however double points are awarded at the
season finale, meaning that a maximum of 52 points are still
available. On Saturday, victory in the eighth race of the BMW M235i
Racing Cup class initially went to Yannick Fübrich (GER) and David
Griessner (AUT) from the Pixum Team Adrenalin Motorsport. The duo
received a time penalty after the race concluded, however, which
demoted them to third in class. Eichenberg (Team Securtal Sorg
Rennsport) claimed second place behind Schrey. A total of 18 cars
completed in the CUP5 class.
VLN: Another competitive test for the BMW M6 GT3 Evo package.
BMW Motorsport used the penultimate race in the VLN Endurance
Championship Nürburgring (GER) for renewed testing of the Evo package,
which will be available for the BMW M6 GT3 from the 2018 season
onwards. The BMW Team Schnitzer competed in the #53 car with BMW works
driver Philipp Eng (AUT) in the cockpit. The car was not involved in
the battle for the leading positions as the test appearance was not
focused on results. The best-placed BMW car was the #35 BMW M6 GT3
from Team Walkenhorst Motorsport. After four hours of racing, Jordan
Tresson (FRA), Sebastian Morris (GBR) and Alex Lambertz (GER) secured
fourth place in the overall standings. The BMW Motorsport Juniors
Beitske Visser (NED), Mikkel Jensen (DEN) and Dennis Marschall (GER)
gained more experience on the Nordschleife in the BMW M235i Racing and
now meet all the requirements for competing on the “Green Hell” in
faster cars. BMW teams celebrated a total of three class wins at the
49th “ADAC Barbarossapreis” event.
Italian GT Championship: Title win for Comandini/Cerqui.
The Italian GT Championship season drew to a successful close this
weekend with two races at Mugello (ITA). Stefano Comandini and Alberto
Cerqui (both ITA) were competing in the BMW Team Italia #15 BMW M6
GT3, but were unable to finish either race. Despite this, they were
able to defend their lead in the Super GT3 drivers’ championship,
claiming the title in their class by the slenderest of margins – one
point. Team Principal Roberto Ravaglia (ITA), and everyone else
involved with the team, can look back on one win and two podium
finishes achieved in the 2017 season.
ICTSCC: Finale at Road Atlanta.
This weekend saw the last round of the IMSA Continental Tire
SportsCar Challenge 2017. The BMW teams in the Street Tuner class
endured some bad luck in the race at Road Atlanta (USA). James Clay
and Tyler Cooke (both USA) from Team BimmerWorld Racing were the
best-placed BMW representatives, finishing in twelfth place with their
BMW 328i. The duo are also the highest placed BMW drivers in the
championship standings, concluding the season in sixth position with
241 points.
Japanese Super GT Championship: ARTA just misses out on podium.
At the penultimate race of the Japanese Super GT Championship season
at Buriram, Thailand, the Autobacs Racing Team Aguri (ARTA) finished
in fourth place, missing out on the podium by just 0.210 seconds.
Shinichi Takagi (JPN) and Sean Walkinshaw (GBR) shared the cockpit of
the orange #55 BMW M6 GT3. Jörg Müller (GER) and Seiji Ara (JPN) from
the BMW Team Studie finished the race in tenth place, in the #7 BMW M6 GT3.
12 Hours of Spa-Francorchamps: BMW teams celebrate two class wins.
BMW teams celebrated two class wins at the 12 Hours of
Spa-Francorchamps (BEL), which took place as part of the 24H Touring
Car Endurance Series. The BMW M235i Racing Cup class saw the
Belgium-based JJ Motorsport team emerge triumphant from a field of
seven. In the A3 class, first place went to the BMW M3 from the German
Wheels team.