BMW Motorsport News – Issue 37/16.

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.

DTM: Wittmann on course for title.*
During the
eighth DTM weekend of the season, 39,500 spectators saw varying
degrees of success for the BMW teams in the two races that took place
in Budapest (HU). On Saturday, only championship leader Marco Wittmann
(DE, 188 points) scored any points, finishing in seventh place. His
closest challenger, Edoardo Mortara (IT, Audi) won the race, a result
that makes the exciting battle between these two drivers even more
thrilling. Wittmann was the best-placed BMW driver on Sunday, in
fourth place – however, this time four of his brand team-mates also
made it into the top ten. The BMW Team RMG driver now takes a 26-point
lead to the grand season finale at the Hockenheimring (DE) in
mid-October. In the manufacturers’ championship, BMW is in second
place with 565 points.  

*Update: After Sunday’s DTM race at the Hungaroring, following a
report from the technical delegate, the stewards of the meeting
concluded that the underfloor of Marco Wittmann’s car did not comply
with the technical regulations.

Wittmann was excluded, BMW Team RMG announced an appeal. In the
provisional race results, António Félix da Costa (PT) is now the
best-placed BMW driver in third.

DTM: Farfus and Blomqvist thrill fans in the heart of
Budapest.
Augusto Farfus (BR) and Tom Blomqvist (GB) let
the engines roar in Budapest city centre ahead of the DTM weekend at
the Hungaroring (HU). In front of the impressive backdrop of Heroes’
Square and the famous Chain Bridge in the heart of the Hungarian
capital, they put on a thrilling show for fans on Thursday in the
Shell BMW M4 DTM Race Taxi and BMW M4 GTS DTM Safety Car. After an
autograph session and press conference, they cruised through the
streets of Budapest as part of a powerful convoy. Farfus and Blomqvist
were joined by Jamie Green (GB, Audi), Nico Müller (CH, Audi),
Maximilian Götz (DE, Mercedes) and Paul Di Resta (GB, Mercedes) in
their cars, as the convoy travelled through the city. In late summer
weather, their action-packed appearance was the highlight of a
festival of motorsport. “What a show that was,” said Farfus. “It was
great to drive in front of so many fans here in the city centre. We
put on a really good show and demonstrated how powerful the Shell BMW
M4 DTM Race Taxi and the BMW M4 GTS DTM Safety Car are.” Blomqvist was
also visibly impressed by the publicity stunt. “That was a real
highlight,” said the BMW Team RBM driver. “I really enjoyed the day.
You could hardly wish for a better advertisement for the DTM.”

DTM: First BMW for the next generation.
Nice
surprise for Timo Glock (DE) and Maxime Martin (BE): before the 15th
and 16th races of the DTM season in Budapest (HU), two BMW drivers,
who had both become fathers in the previous week, were presented with
a BMW Baby Racer III by their six team-mates. Of course, no-one can
yet tell if Glock’s daughter Leni Malou and Martin’s son Félix will
follow in the footsteps of their racing driver fathers. In any case,
they can practice at home for that eventuality on their BMW Baby Racer
IIIs – but only when they are 18 months old, of course.

VLN: Mies and Schrey reach their target – record lap for the
BMW M6 GT3.
The destination of the drivers’ title in
the BMW M235i Racing Cup was decided with two races of the season
still to go. Alexander Mies (DE) and Michael Schrey (DE) from Team
Bonk Motorsport hold an unassailable lead. Although points count
double at the season finale, the duo lead by 72 points and cannot be
caught even if results removed from the standings are taken into
account at the end of the season. Third place in the class for the duo
at the eighth race of the VLN Endurance Championship at the
Nürburgring (DE) was sufficient for them to claim the overall VLN
title in, in theory at least. In purely arithmetical terms, their
competitors could still have a chance of the title; however, the
average scores for the classes in question mean that this is a
theoretical chance and Bonk Motorsport will claim a fourth VLN title
at the end of the season. Mies and Schrey had won the first seven VLN
races and the 24-hour race in their class. They lost their perfect
record but were delighted with their title nonetheless. Victory in the
BMW M235i Racing Cup class went to Heiko Eichenberg (DE) from the
Securtal Sorg Rennsport team. He won ahead of his team-mates Max
Kottmayr (DE), Kevin Warum (DE) and Erik Johannson (SE). Walkenhorst
Motorsport also had reason to celebrate early on. Christian Krognes
(NO) drove the number 36 BMW M6 GT3 to pole position with a time of
7:53.375 minutes, setting a new lap record for the VLN variant of the
Nordschleife. However, both BMW M6 GT3s from this team retired early
from the race.

Italian GT Championship: Podium for the BMW M6
GT3.
At the penultimate race weekend in the Italian GT
Championship 2016 at Imola (IT), BMW Team Italia celebrated another
top three placing. In the second race on Sunday, Stefano Comandini and
Alberto Cerqui (both IT) finished in third place in the BMW M6 GT3
after 29 laps. They had claimed fifth place in the first race. The
final two races in the Italian GT Championship 2016 will take place
concurrently with the DTM finale in Hockenheim (DE) in mid-October.
The number 15 BMW M6 GT3 will be competing in Mugello (IT).