Whether in the DTM, the FIA World Endurance Championship, 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.
BTCC: Jordan wins in Knockhill – two podiums for Turkington.
West Surrey Racing experienced a brilliant BTCC weekend with the BMW
125i M Sport at Knockhill (GBR). While Andrew Jordan (GBR) celebrated
victory in the second race on Sunday and third place in the third
race, Colin Turkington (GBR) recorded two second-place finishes to
reach the rostrum twice and extend his lead in the overall standings.
Jordan and Turkington both gave strong performances and benefited from
the second-race disqualification, due to rule infringements, of both
of their closest rivals, Andrew Sutton and Tom Ingram (both GBR) who
had finished in first and second places. After their exclusion, Jordan
moved up from third to first position. Turkington, second in races one
and three, then scored important points in fourth place in the second
race, enabling him to move further ahead of his direct challengers
Ingram and Sutton in the overall standings. There are two race
weekends remaining in the 2018 BTCC season.
DTM: First night race in the history of the DTM at Misano.
The first night race in the history of the DTM took place at Misano
(ITA) on Saturday. Driving the BMW M4 DTM in the dark was uncharted
territory for all the drivers. Philipp Eng (AUT) put on a spectacular
attacking performance in his SAMSUNG BMW M4 DTM, led the race for a
short time and finished in the points. In the interview, he talks
about his impressions of the night race and the impressive guest
appearance by Alessandro Zanardi (ITA).
3 questions for … Philipp Eng.
Mr. Eng, the first night races in the history of the DTM: what
do you think so far?
Philipp Eng: “All in all, I think this is an excellent weekend. I’d
be happy to have more races like this on the calendar. I was on the
beach every morning, drinking cappuccino and eating piadina – it
hardly gets better than that” he laughed. “No, but seriously, I would
like to see more night races in the DTM. I think it would work well at
the Norisring. That would be a great spectacle. I think that my
experience of endurance racing is very helpful for me this weekend. I
competed in the 24-hour race at Spa just three weeks ago. But of
course your eyes need a lap or two to get used to the light
conditions. After that, it’s pretty normal. It always seems a bit
different at night, compared to daytime driving. It is really cool to
see the sparks flying when you drive over the kerbs. Those are really
spectacular sights, for drivers as well as for spectators.”
Starting from 18th and then spending some time in
the lead: how was that possible?
Eng: “Starting on wet-weather tyres was definitely the right
decision. We got our timing absolutely perfect for the pit stop. I
then had a few good laps. I was just behind Timo and thought that
things were looking pretty good for me. My pace was sensational while
I was in the leading group. My car did get a little bump from Edoardo
Mortara when things got a bit tight. It was normal racing but didn’t
really help us. There was more contact once or twice during the rest
of the race, which didn’t do much for the performance. Nonetheless, it
was cool to lead the race for a while. Luck did come into it a bit,
but we also had the right strategy and great pace. Now I hope that we
don’t have to wait too long for the first win. I would like a better
result in qualifying for the next race. That was just no good
yesterday. Starting so far back just makes everything unnecessarily difficult.”
The field includes a very special guest driver this weekend,
in the shape of Alessandro Zanardi. How do you rate his performance
so far?
Eng: “Alex is doing a very good job. You really have to admire his
level of performance, especially driving in the DTM with carbon brakes
and no ABS in the rain. Controlling the braking with just his right
arm requires the very best coordination. It is difficult enough to do
that with a sound left foot. It is phenomenal that he can manage it. I
have driven the BMW M6 GT3 with the handbrake once, but then I had ABS
and steel brakes so it wasn’t anywhere near as difficult. I paid him a
visit before the start. After my result in qualifying, standing next
to Alex Zanardi was the only bright spot.”
—
Zanardi’s DTM guest drive so far: braking 1,186 times, 58.6
tonnes of brake pressure.
BMW works driver Alessandro Zanardi (ITA) has successfully completed
the first race day of his DTM guest appearance in Misano (ITA). This
is the first time that the Italian double-amputee is behind the wheel
of a race car without his artificial legs, controlling it entirely by
the power of his arms. BMW engineers have developed a special brake
lever in the BMW M4 DTM, which allows him to brake by moving his arm
forwards. A look at the data shows just how impressive Zanardi’s
performance in the cockpit is. Zanardi has now completed four sessions
in the BMW M4 DTM: two free practice sessions, qualifying and then the
race. In total, Zanardi has driven 69 laps, or 302 kilometres, on the
“Misano World Circuit Marco Simoncelli”. He has completed no fewer
than 1,186 brake actions – applying 61.5 kilogrammes of pressure on
the brake lever each time. That represents a total physical strain of
58,598 kilogrammes, or 58.6 tonnes, which Zanardi has applied for
braking. “When my engineer showed me the figures, I could hardly
believe it,” said Zanardi. He emphasises that driving with the new
handbrake system is much less physically demanding than the previous
system, which he controlled using his artificial legs and the brake
pedal: “It wasn’t too strenuous for me. From a physical point of view,
this was one of the easiest races I have had in my career.” Zanardi
finished his DTM debut race in 13th place – despite adverse conditions
on a wet and slippery racetrack, he confidently drove his BMW M4 DTM
around the circuit using just his arms.