Cookie Consent by Free Privacy Policy website BMW Motorsport News - Issue 10/2020
august 11, 2020 - BMW Motorsport

BMW Motorsport News - Issue 10/2020

BMW Junior Team receives new BMW M cars – BMW M customer racing teams celebrate successes in Europe and the USA.

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.

BMW Junior Team: New M cars, M track day and social media coaching.

The BMW Junior Team has an eventful week behind them, even without any racing. It started with Markus Flasch, Chairman of the Board of Management of BMW M GmbH, presenting them with three new BMW M cars. Dan Harper (GBR), Max Hesse (GER) and Neil Verhagen (USA) now have the keys to a BMW M2 Competition (combined fuel consumption: 10.0 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 227 g/km), a BMW M3 Limousine and a BMW M4 Coupé (combined fuel consumption: 10.0 – 9.3 l/100 km; combined CO2 emissions: 227 – 213 g/km). “We’re delighted that the three lads are representing BMW M so well with their speed and their positive attitude as the BMW Junior Team,” said Flasch during the handover at BMW M GmbH in Garching. “Now it’s not only on the racetrack that they will be driving the most powerful letter in the world, they’ll be driving it on the road as well.” Harper said: “I was really keen to be able to drive an M car from day one. It’s fantastic that the time has now come.” Hesse added: “What’s really good is that we can practice on the Nordschleife with the M cars as well. We’re still new to the track, so every lap that we can do there outside race weekends is really valuable.”

The week continued with social media coaching from TikTok and Instagram stars Sky&Tami. The two of them have 14 million fans on TikTok and one million fans on Instagram, and are already working on the digital launch of the current Formula E car BMW iFE.20 alongside BMW Motorsport. Sky&Tami gave the BMW Junior Team valuable tips on how to present themselves even better on social networks. In return, the influencers were given a taxi ride on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (GER).

At the end of the week, the BMW Junior Team continued with the BMW M Track Day at the Hockenheimring (GER). Selected guests were given the opportunity to take test drives and taxi rides in the BMW M4 GT4 and BMW M2 CS Racing BMW M customer racing cars. Alongside the BMW Junior Team, they also received support from BMW DTM driver Sheldon van der Linde (RSA) and the BMW M Motorsport dealers Walkenhorst, Schubert and Cuntz. “I spent a lot of time in the passenger seat for driver training. It was really cool,” said Verhagen. “I was also able to do a few laps in the BMW M2 CS Racing myself. I had a lot of fun overall and would love to take part in track days like this again in the future.”

GT4 European Series: Podiums for the BMW M4 GT4 at Misano.

The BMW M customer racing teams brought home numerous podiums with the BMW M4 GT4 at the GT4 European Series race weekend at Misano (ITA). RN Vision STS Racing’s Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Bas Schouten (NED) finished second in the first race and third in the second race in the #111 BMW M4 GT4. The duo won both races at the opening weekend at Imola (ITA). In the Pro-Am category, Cem Bolukbasi and Yagiz Gedik (both TUR) of Borusan Otomotiv finished in second place in both races. Paolo Meloni and Stefano Valli (both SMR) in the BMW M4 GT4 of W&D Racing finished in third place in the AM class in the second race.

GT4/TC America: Wins for BMW M4 GT4 and BMW M240i Racing.

The GT4 and the TC America were at Sonoma (USA) this weekend, where the BMW M customer racing teams celebrated numerous successes. In the TC America the BMW M240i Racing was the measure of all things in both races and claimed every single spot on the podium. In the first race, it was James Clay (USA) of BimmerWorld Racing who got the win ahead of Johan Schwartz (DEN) of Hard Motorsport and Bryson Lew (USA) of Classic BMW. Schwartz won the second race, followed by Clay and Lew. In the GT4 America SprintX, the BMW M4 GT4 brought home a win and numerous podiums in different classes. In the third race, Tim Barber and Cole Ciraulo (both USA) of CCR Team TFB got the win in the Silver class. In both the first and second races, Sean Quinlan and Greg Liefooghe (both USA) of Stephen Cameron Racing finished third in the Pro-Am category. Third place in the Silver class went to Harry Gottsacker (USA) and Nick Wittmer (CAN) of ST Racing in the first and third race, and to their team-mates Jon Miller (USA) and Samantha Tan (CAN) in the second race.

BTCC: Team BMW triumphant at Brands Hatch.

Team BMW celebrated two wins and a second place at the second race weekend in the British Touring Car Championship (BTCC). Reigning champion Colin Turkington (GBR) finished second in his BMW 330i M Sport in the first of three races on the Brands Hatch (GBR) GP track. He won the second race. In the final race with reverse start order, despite the success ballast, he worked his way up from twelfth on the grid into fifth place. Turkington leads the overall standings. The third race was all about his team-mate. Tom Oliphant (GBR) celebrated his first win in his BTCC career in his BMW 330i M Sport. In the two earlier races he finished in seventh and eighth place. Stephen Jelley (GBR) in the BMW 125i M Sport also celebrated great success when in the third race, he finished in third on the podium in the predecessor, the BMW 330i M Sport.