BMW Motorsport News – Issue 16/2020.

Whether in the DTM, the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship, the ABB FIA Formula E 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.

Nürburgring 24 Hours: More BMW winners on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife.
BMW not only took a highly-acclaimed 20^th overall victory in the 24-hour race on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER), but many BMW customer teams also enjoyed success in their individual classes. The highest-placed non-GT3 car in the overall classification was the #73 BMW M4 GT4 driven by the BMW Junior Team. Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER) and Neil Verhagen (USA) finished 19^th overall and won the SP8T class. The BMW M4 GT4 was run by Walkenhorst Motorsport. A BMW M4 GT4 was also victorious in the SP10 class which was won by Michael Schrey, Claudia Hürtgen, Sebastian von Gartzen (all GER) and Michael Fischer (AUT) in the #70 Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport car.

Pixum CFN Team Adrenalin Motorsport took not one, but two class victories, with the #240 BMW M240i Racing, driven by Oskar Sandberg (GER), David Griessner (AUT), Francesco Merlini (ITA) and Roland Froese (GER), in the CUP5 class, and with the #330 BMW 330 in the V2T class. Philipp Stahlschmidt, Christopher Rink, Danny Brink and Philipp Leisen (all GER) alternated at the wheel of the #330 car. In addition, Jürgen Huber, Simon Sagmeister, Florian Quante and Oliver Frisse (all GER) won the V4 class in the #149 BMW 325i. Klaus Faßbender, Kevin Wolters and Guido Wirtz (all GER) came home first for MSC Wahlscheid e.V./Keeevin Sports & Racing in the BMW M2 CS class. The quartet of Sebastian Schemmann, Hans Joachim Legermann, Marc Riebel and Philip Ade (all GER) triumphed in the SP4 class in the Scuderia Solagon team’s BMW 325i. 

IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship: Podium for Spengler and De Phillippi in Mid-Ohio.
BMW Team RLL continued its run of podium finishes in the GTLM class of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. In Mid-Ohio (USA), Connor De Phillippi (USA) and Bruno Spengler (CAN) finished third on Sunday in the #25 BMW M8 GTE. Their team-mates John Edwards (USA) and Jesse Krohn (FIN) followed them home in fourth place in the #24 car. The result saw BMW Team RLL on the podium at its home race in Mid-Ohio for the sixth time.

The GTD class race proved to be a disappointing one for Turner Motorsport and its drivers Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley (both USA). With Foley at the wheel for the opening stages, the #96 BMW M6 GT3 was hit by a prototype and had to return to the garage for lengthy repairs. Auberlen returned to the track, but was unable to make up any ground. The next round of the IMSA series takes place on 10^th October at ‘Charlotte Motor Speedway’, where only the GT cars in the championship will race on the so-called ‘Roval'.

IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge: Top-ten finishes for Turner Motorsport.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge was also in Mid-Ohio at the weekend, where it hosted two races at the ‘Mid-Ohio Sports Car Course’. In both races, the #95 Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 was the best-placed BMW in the field. Bill Auberlen and Robby Foley finished sixth in the opening race, and followed that with eighth place in race two. In total, five BMW M4 GT4s were in action in Mid-Ohio.

GT4 European Series: Success for Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport at Zandvoort.
Zandvoort, in the Netherlands, hosted round four of the GT4 European Series at the weekend. Drivers from the Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport team claimed multiple podiums. Cem Bölükbasi and Yagiz Gedik (both TUR), at the wheel of the #12 BMW M4 GT4, came home third in the Pro-Am class in race two. The duo had previously finished fourth in the opening race. Their team-mate Ibrahim Okyay (TUR) was third in the Amateur class in both races. Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Bas Schouten (NED) from the RN Vision STS Racing Team twice finished fifth in the Silver class.

BTCC: Turkington wins in Silverstone, Oliphant on the podium.
Successful weekend for BMW in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC): Victory in race two at the iconic ‘Silverstone Circuit’ saw Colin Turkington (GBR) close the gap on leader Ash Sutton (GBR) in the Drivers’ Championship. The reigning champion finished fourth in race one and came home tenth in the third and final race of the weekend. Turkington’s victory saw him become only the third driver ever to achieve 150 podium finishes in BTCC. The second driver in Team BMW, Tom Oliphant (GBR), finished second in the BMW 330i M Sport in race three. While Turkington now has 233 points and trails Sutton by just four points in the Drivers’ Championship, Team BMW (408 points) and BMW (540 points) lead both the team and manufacturer competitions.