BMW M Motorsport News, 13th September 2022.

NLS: Seven class wins at first 12h Nürburgring.

A first for the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) was, as part of the NLS, a 12-hour race, held at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER) for the first time at the weekend. The race was split into two parts, with six hours on Saturday and six hours on Sunday. The BMW M Motorsport teams picked up seven class wins at the event.

Victory in the SP9 AM class went to Walkenhorst Motorsport with the #36 BMW M4 GT3. Henry Walkenhorst, Friedrich von Bohlen, Jörn Schmidt-Staade (all GER) and Anders Buchardt (NOR) took turns at the wheel. They finished in 18th place overall. The Pro car of Walkenhorst Motorsport, the #34 BMW M4 GT3 driven by Christian Krognes (NOR), Ben Tuck (GBR) and Sami-Matti Trogen (FIN), retired.

The BMW M2 CS class was won by Tobias Vazquez-Garcia and Michele di Martino (both GER) in the #883 BMW M2 CS Racing. Second place went to the #871 of Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive with Stefan Kruse, Guido Wirtz (both GER), David Griessner (AUT), and Brett Lidsay (GBR) at the wheel. Peter Larse, Johan Rosèn (both SWE) and Christian Albinger (GER) rounded off the podium in the #890 car.

Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive won the BMW M240i class with the #640 BMW M240i Racing. At the wheel was Sven Markert, Robin Reimer and Nick Deißler (all GER). The Adrenalin team were also victorious in the VT2-R+4WD class with Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg (both GER) and Sindre Setsaas (NOR) taking it in turns in the #500 BMW 330i. The winners of the V4 class were Kevin Wambach, Dominic Kulpowicz, Benno Zerlin and Robin Falkenbach (all GER) in the #701 BMW 325i. In SP4, MSG Bayerischer Wald Hutthurm (#250 BMW 325i) were triumphant with Jörg Schönfelder, Serge van Vooren and Christian Schotte (all GER). The H4 class was won by ‘Moritz’, David Ackermann, Jörg Wiskirchen and Dirk Vleugels (all GER) in the #600 BMW M3 E 92 GTR.

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British GT Championship: Century Motorsport and Alexander Sims on the podium at Brands Hatch.

BMW M works driver Alexander Sims (GBR) enjoyed a successful return to the British GT Championship. The Brit is contesting the final two race events of the season for Century Motorsport in the #91 BMW M4 GT3. He shares the cockpit with Henry Dawes (GBR), who is racing in a GT3 car for the first time. The penultimate race of the season was held at Brands Hatch (GBR) at the weekend – and Sims and Dawes secured Century Motorsport’s first ever spot on the overall podium in the British GT Championship. The duo crossed the finish line in third place after a turbulent race. Sims also recorded the fastest lap of the race. In the GT4 class, Will Burns and Jack Brown (both GBR) finished ninth in the #90 BMW M4 GT4.

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24H Barcelona: Pro-Am podium for Poulsen Motorsport.

The Poulsen Motorsport team made their debut in the BMW M4 GT3 in the 24-hour race of the 24H Series at Barcelona (ESP) – and finished on the GT3 Pro-Am class podium at the first time of asking. Roland Poulsen, Kristian Poulsen, Christoffer Nygaard (all DEN) and Alfred Nilsson (SWE) finished second in their class with the #14 car – and ended the 24-hour race in a superb fourth place overall.

ST Racing’s strong performance went unrewarded, however. The team consisting of Samantha Tan, Nick Wittmer (both CAN), Bryson Morris and Steven Aghakhani (both USA) led the field in the #1 BMW M4 GT3 for much of the race, before a mechanical failure forced them to retire.

Class victory in the TC touring car category went to Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport. The #332 BMW M2 CS Racing was shared by Michael Mayer, Michael Bonk, Max Partl (all GER) and Martin Kroll (SUI). The Šenkýř Motorsport team contested the GT4 class with the #444 BMW M4 GT4, but retired from the race.

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DTM Trophy: Three podium spots for the BMW M4 GT4 at Spa.

The DTM Trophy headed to the iconic Spa-Francorchamps racetrack in Belgium at the weekend and the BMW M4 GT4 secured three spots on the podium. Theo Oeverhaus (GER / #34) of Walkenhorst Motorsport fared the best in the changeable weather covering all conditions. He finished in second place in both the race on Saturday and the race on Sunday. In race two, Moritz Löhner (GER / #11) of FK Performance Motorsport also finished on the podium, in third place.

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BMW M2 Cup: Maxime Oosten and Fabian Kreim victorious at Spa.

The first round of the BMW M2 Cup at Spa-Francorchamps in Belgium offered plenty of thrilling racing action in changeable conditions and featured Maxime Oosten (NED / #54) and Fabian Kreim (GER / #43), who are embroiled in an exciting battle for the top spot in the table and the title.

In the first race on Saturday, Oosten claimed his fourth win of the season in difficult conditions with rain setting in. That saw him reclaim P1 in the table. Second place went to rookie Lorenz Stegmann (GER / #99). Kreim rounded off the podium in third place.

In race two on Sunday, it was all change again at the top of the championship. This race was characterised by close duels, collisions and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres. Kreim managed to avoid all the drama to clinch his third win of the season. Oosten had to make do with eighth place after being involved in a collision – and was forced to surrender the top spot in the table to Kreim once again. Second place in Sunday’s race went to Robert Hefler (GER / #53), with Michal Makeš (CZE / #47) finishing third. The penultimate race weekend of the season will be held at the Red Bull Ring (AUT), from 23rd to 25th September. 

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GT4 France / TC France: BMW M4 GT4 and BMW M2 CS Racing on the podium.

The L’Espace Bienvenue team secured another spot on the podium with the #17 BMW M4 GT4 at the penultimate race weekend of GT4 France 2022 at Lédenon (FRA). Ricardo van der Ende (NED) and Benjamin Lessennes (BEL) finished third in the Silver class (fourth place overall) in the first of the two races. They only just missed out on the podium in the second race, finishing fourth in their class (ninth place overall).

TC France also held its penultimate event of the season at Lédenon. In this championship, the team VSF Sports – Amplitude automobile secured two podiums. In the first of the three races in total, Jean-Matthieu Leandri (FRA) in the #18 BMW M2 CS Racing finished in second place. His team-mates Benoit Eveillard and Guillaume Giorza (both FRA) finished right behind him in third, in the #41 car.

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ESET Cup Series: Trevor Racing celebrates endurance title.

The 2022 season of the ESET Cup Series ended with a title win for Trevor Racing. The final was held at Brno, Czechia last weekend, where Gregor Zsigo (SVK) and Dennis Waszek (CZE) were crowned champions of the GT3 Endurance classification. The duo finished second in the #16 BMW M4 GT3 in the final endurance race of the season, which saw them clinch the title. Zsigo contested the same race in a BMW M6 GT3 as well, which he shared with Štefan Rosina (SVK). That saw Zsigo bag two spots on the podium, as he finished in third place alongside Rosina.

Zsigo ended the season in second place overall in the championship standings of the GT3 class. In the final sprint races of the year, he secured another third place on the podium of the D4 GT3 category in the BMW M4 GT3.