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
.
Blancpain GT Series Asia:
First win for BMW M4 GT4.
First victory on home
soil: Takayuki Kinoshita and Sunako Jukuchou (JPN) celebrated their
first win at the third race weekend in the Blancpain GT Series Asia.
At their home race on the Suzuka International Circuit (JPN), the two
BMW Team Studie drivers were victorious in Saturday’s race in the #81
BMW M4 GT4. “It is overwhelming for the team to win at Suzuka,” said
Kinoshita. “We have come very close but never achieved it and it was a
great race today. I enjoyed fighting with Ryuichirou [Ohtsuka], who’s
a good driver, and we had so much fun overtaking some GT3s at the
start of the race.” Ken Urata (JPN) and Max Chen (TPE) rounded off a
great day in the #82 BMW M4 GT4, finishing third to claim another
podium finish for BMW Team Studie. In the second race on Sunday,
Kinoshita/Jukuchou finished in fourth place while Urata/Chen crossed
the line in sixth. Thanks to this successful weekend at Suzuka, BMW
Team Studie has taken the lead in the team championship at the
season’s halfway point. The team has collected 136 points ahead of the
trip to Fuji (JPN), where the fourth race weekend is scheduled to take
place on 21st and 22nd July.
CTSCC: Another podium for BMW M4 GT4.
The BMW M4
GT4 carried on its success record in the IMSA Continental Tire
SportsCar Challenge (CTSCC). Team BimmerWorld Racing’s Tyler Cooke and
James Clay (both USA) secured second place in the #82 BMW M4 GT4 after
four hours of racing at the Watkins Glen International Circuit (USA).
The podium finish was their reward for a superb recovery performance
after starting the race from eighth position. The BMW M4 GT4 success
on foreign soil continued with the customer race car claiming another
podium finish in the fourth race of the CTSCC season. Greg Liefooghe
and Ari Balogh (both USA), from Team Stephen Cameron Racing, rounded
off the strong performance, crossing the line in sixth place in the
#19 BMW M4 GT4. The BimmerWorld Racing team had further reason to
celebrate when Nick Galante and Devin Jones (both USA) claimed second
place with the #81 BMW 328i in the ST class. The fifth race in the
CTSCC takes place next week at the “Canadian Tire Motorsport Park” (CAN).
Japanese Super GT Championship:
ARTA out of luck in Buriram.
The Autobacs Racing
Team Aguri (ARTA) suffered from bad luck at the fourth race of the
season in the Japanese Super GT Championship. At the Chang
International Circuit in Buriram (THA), Shinichi Takagi (JPN) and Sean
Walkinshaw (GBR), racing the #55 BMW M6 GT3, had to make do with an
eleventh-place finish in the GT300 class. After securing third place
in qualifying, it looked very much like the duo would be involved in
the battle for victory, as they were at the second race of the season
in Fuji (JPN). However, luck was not on ARTA’s side during the race
with the BMW M6 GT3 losing a substantial amount of time after
unfortunate contact with another car and putting them out of
contention for a podium finish. The fifth race weekend in the Japanese
Super GT Championship takes place on 4th and 5th August in Fuji (JPN).
BMW Group Classic: Captivating cars at the Legends
Parade.
The Red Bull Ring in Spielberg (AUT) once again
hosted a parade of historic racing cars and well-known drivers on
Sunday. Shortly before the start of the Austrian Grand Prix, eleven
classic touring cars from the 1970s and 80s transported the crowd back
to the golden age of the German Racing Championship (DRM). BMW Group
Classic was also involved in this year’s Legends Parade with two
extraordinary cars from its collection. The spectators were treated to
an appearance from a BMW M1, the mid-engine sports car introduced 40
years ago, and a BMW 3.0 CSL, which, as a successful sports car, was
the sporting figurehead of the range of coupes introduced by the brand
50 years ago. In total, the BMW 3.0 CSL won six titles in the European
Touring Car Championship, the first of which came in its debut year in
1973. The European champion that year was Dutchman Toine Hezemans, who
was back at the wheel of the BMW 3.0 CSL in this year’s Legends
Parade. The BMW M1 from the BMW Group Classic collection was driven by
former Formula 1 driver Christian Danner (GER). Danner also enjoyed
success on the touring car scene and is one of the drivers who had
already acquainted himself with the BMW M1 in the Procar Series. The
contingent of old DRM racing cars also featured three privately-owned
BMWs, including a BMW 3.6 CSL Alpina, with three-time Formula 1 World
Champion Niki Lauda (AUT) behind the wheel.
Arlberg Classic Car Rally: Eng competing in the BMW 503
Coupé.
BMW works driver Philipp Eng (AUT) used the break
between the DTM races at the Norisring (GER) and Zandvoort (NED) to
join co-driver Christian Morawa (AUT) in the 1959 BMW 503 Coupé at the
Arlberg Classic Car Rally (AUT). The participants drove the classic
cars through a total of 17 special stages in the Vorarlberg Alps. They
crossed the 1,894-metre Hantennjoch pass and followed the “Blue Inn”
into the Swiss canton of Appenzell. The parish of Lech (AUT) was the
start and finish point for each day. After his detour into the world
of rallying, Eng returns to the DTM in two weeks. The ninth and tenth
races of the DTM season then take place at Zandvoort. The DTM rookie
is currently the third-best BMW driver, in seventh place in the
overall standings, with 53 points.