Munich. BMW Motorsport is changing the way its teams are set
up for the 2017 season, to match both the strategic reorganisation
of its involvement and the individual requirements of each race
series.
The four BMW teams, RMG, RBM, MTEK and Schnitzer will continue to
compete, but with some new areas of operation. The BMW customer racing
programme will continue as in 2016, working closely together with the
Schubert Motorsport and ROWE Racing teams.
BMW Team RMG and BMW Team RBM will continue to battle for points and
wins in the DTM. Both teams have been competing in this series since
the brand’s comeback in 2012 – with great success. The RMG team,
headed by team principal Stefan Reinhold (DE), claimed the team
championship in 2014 and has celebrated two drivers’ titles with Marco
Wittmann (DE) – in 2014 and 2016.
BMW Team RBM was the second-best BMW team in the past DTM season,
finishing just behind RMG in third place overall. In 2013, Bart
Mampaey (BE) and his crew were challenging for the title and claimed
second place in the team championship. RMG and RBM will be competing
with the BMW M4 DTMs in the 2017 DTM season. The drivers will be
announced on 9th December at the BMW Motorsport Season
Review event in Munich (DE).
New areas of operation for Schnitzer and MTEK are planned.
BMW Team Schnitzer will return to GT racing in 2017. Charly Lamm (DE)
and his crew competed in 66 DTM races from 2012 to 2016, and
celebrated the greatest success of their second appearance in this
series in the very first year. Bruno Spengler (CA) won the drivers’
title in the BMW Bank M3 DTM and the crew from Freilassing in Upper
Bavaria (DE) also claimed the team championship. BMW Team Schnitzer
wants to continue this long-running success story with BMW in GT
racing. The team has already recorded five wins at the 24-hour race at
the Nürburgring (DE). Lamm and his team last triumphed there in 2010,
with the BMW M3 GT.
In 2017, BMW Team MTEK is supposed to start intensive preparations
for BMW’s entry into the FIA World Endurance Championship (WEC) in the
following year. Ernest Knoors (NL) and his team provided plenty of
highlights when they competed in the DTM between 2013 and 2016,
including the first DTM win for Timo Glock (DE) in the last race of
the 2013 season. Last season, the crew from Garching (DE) won the
“Best Pit Stop Award” for the fastest pit stops of any team. Plans for
next year foresee that BMW Team MTEK will complete a comprehensive
test and development programme in preparation for the WEC entry of BMW.
Marquardt: “Perfectly tailored structure”.
“I am convinced that this is the best team structure to help us
prepare for our new tasks,” said BMW Motorsport Director Jens
Marquardt when asked about the new developments. “We have always been
sure that we wanted to continue the successful cooperation with all
our teams. We had to adjust our structures due to the changes in the
DTM, and new possibilities and areas of operation opened up for us in
our newly-reorganised motorsport programme. The new structure is
tailored perfectly to this. BMW Team Schnitzer made history in the
DTM, winning the title at the first attempt after a 20-year break.
Nobody had expected that. The team has always enjoyed close links to
GT racing throughout its history, and has had some great results
there. The GT fans can look forward to some excitement when we inject
new life into this combination at the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring
in 2017. BMW Team MTEK proved to be an excellent BMW representative in
the DTM in recent years. It’s planned that it will now devote itself
completely to preparations for our entry into the FIA WEC. I would
like to thank Charly Lamm, Ernest Knoors and their crews for their
dedication throughout the past DTM seasons – and we can now look
forward to competing together in many more races in the future.”
“Everyone knows that BMW Team Schnitzer has a very close association
with GT racing – and a great passion for endurance races,” said Team
Principal Charly Lamm. “At the same time, there is obviously a degree
of melancholy at having to bid farewell to the DTM. We have had a very
intense time in this fiercely-competitive series, with numerous
challenges and just as many nice moments. The highlight was
undoubtedly winning the title in 2012, in our first year after
returning to the series. However, we now embark on a new chapter in
our long history with BMW. Accordingly, we will go about our work for
the coming year in determined mood. We are very much looking forward
to the races with the BMW M6 GT3.”
Knoors added: “We competed in the DTM for the first time in 2013 with
our new BMW Team MTEK – and we have learned a lot since then. This
series has taught us a lot about professionalism and quality in all
areas. Of course we are really looking forward to the new challenge
that awaits us in the FIA WEC. The standard is extremely high there as
well. 2017 will be a year of intensive preparation and then we will be
able to compete with the other teams in the following year.”