BMW M Motorsport News, 24th October 2022

ADAC GT Masters: Ben Green wins Junior classification
Ben Green (GBR) of BMW M Motorsport Team Schubert Motorsport is the winner of the Junior classification in the 2022 ADAC GT Masters. The final round was held at Hockenheim (GER) at the weekend. In Saturday’s race, Green and his team-mate Niklas Krütten (GER) in the #10 BMW M4 GT3 finished seventh. This result was enough for Green to lay early claim to the Junior classification with one race left to go. In the race on Sunday, the Green/Krütten duo finished in ninth place. In the Junior classification, Green came out on top with 253.0 points, Krütten is second with 231.0 points.

“I’m really pleased to have achieved this in my first year in GT3 racing in Europe,” said Green. “It was a tough year and I’m very happy that we managed it. I say ‘we’ because it wouldn’t have been possible without my team-mate Niklas Krütten. He should have won this title with me, but he missed a race weekend. I’d like to thank the Schubert Motorsport team as well, for all their efforts this year.”

The two BMW M works drivers Jesse Krohn (FIN) and Nick Catsburg (NED) competed in the #20 BMW M4 GT3 of Schubert Motorsport once again at Hockenheim. After a difficult first qualifying session, strong manoeuvering saw the duo make their way into the top ten in Saturday’s race, before tyre damage forced them to retire. Krohn and Catsburg finished in sixth place in the race on Sunday.

British GT Championship: Century Motorsport win at finale
Furious season finale in the British GT Championship: At Donington Park (GBR), BMW M works driver Alexander Sims and his team partner Darren Leung (both GBR) brought home the first win for the BMW M4 GT3 in the series. Sims represented Century Motorsport for the final two events of the season. At Brands Hatch (GBR), he and GT3-rookie Henry Dawes (GBR) cliched the first overall podium for Century Motorsport in the British GT Championship, making it onto the top step of the podium at Donington Park. In a turbulent race, Sims and Leung, who was racing in the GT3 car for the first time after having had experience in the GT4 class, gave a flawless performance with the pit crew also doing a perfect job.

In the GT4 class, Tom Rawlings and Chris Salkeld (both GBR) finished in fifth place in the #9 BMW M4 GT4 of Century Motorsport. Their team-mates Will Burns and Jack Brown (both GBR) finished eighth in the #90 BMW M4 GT4.

NLS: Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive wins championship title once again
Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive won the overall standings of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) again this year. In the penultimate race of the season at the Nürburgring-Nordschleife, Daniel Zils, Oskar Sandberg (both GER) and Sinde Setsaas (NOR) got their seventh successive class win in the #500 BMW 330i, in the VT2-2+4WD class. This puts the trio out of reach at the top of the driver standings, meaning they will be crowned the new NLS champions at the final in early November. This is the fifth title win in a row for Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive and team principal Matthias Unger.

The 4-hour race for the DMV Münsterlandpokal was held in glorious autumnal weather last Saturday. In the SP9 Pro class, BMW M works driver Jake Dennis (GBR) took to the Nordschleife for the first time in the BMW M4 GT3. He shared the cockpit of car #34 of Walkenhorst Motorsport with Christian Krognes (NOR). After four hours of racing, the duo crossed the finish line in sixth place in the overall classification.

Victory in the SP9 Pro-Am class went to the crew of the #36 BMW M4 GT3 of Walkenhorst Motorsport: Jörg Müller (GER), Anders Buchardt (NOR) and Dennis Fetzer (GER). As well as winning the VT2-2+4WD, Adrenalin Motorsport Team Alzner Automotive was victorious in two further classes. In the V4, Philipp Leisen, Oliver Frisse (both GER) and Jacob Erlbacher (AUT) triumphed in the #1 BMW 325i. In the BMW M240i category, the team won with the #650 BMW M240i Racing with Sven Markert, Robin Reimer and Nick Deissler (all GER) at the wheel. Once again, victory in the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup NLS went to Tobias Vazquez-Garcia (GER) in the #883 BMW M2 CS Racing of TKS Motorsport. Hofor Racing celebrated another win in the H4 class with the #602 BMW M3 E46 CSL.

ADAC GT4 Germany: Podium for Hofor Racing at Hockenheim
The Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport team ended the 2022 season of the ADAC GT4 Germany with another podium. At the Hockenheim (GER) finale, Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Michael Schrey (GER) in the #1 BMW M4 GT4 secured second place in a thrilling race on Saturday. The duo crossed the finish line in eighth place in the second race on Sunday.

There were also top-ten positions for Michael von Zabiensky and Patrick Steinmetz (both GER) in the #10 BMW M4 GT4 of Schubert Motorsport, and for Max Rosam and Tim Reiter (both GER) in car Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport’s car #2. In the second race, von Zabiensky/Steinmetz finished in ninth place, with Rosam/Reiter right behind them in tenth.

GT4 / TC France: L’Espace Bienvenue finishes season with a double win
The L’Espace Bienvenue team was unbeatable at the season finale of GT4 France, held at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet (FRA) in mid-October. Two races, two overall wins, and with that, two first places in the Silver class was the haul for Ricardo van der Ende (NED) and Benjamin Lessennes (BEL) in the #17 BMW M4 GT4. The duo had a lead of more than five seconds both times. In the Silver driver standings of the GT4 France, van der Ende and Lessennes ended the season in second place. In the Silver team standings, L’Espace Bienvenue finished third.

L’Espace Bienvenue finished on the podium in the TC France as well, which also held its season finale at Le Castellet. In the final of three races, Adrien Paviot (FRA) finished third in the TC standings in the #17 BMW M2 CS Racing. In the second race, third place in the TC class went to the #41 BMW M2 CS Racing of Team VSF Sports – Amplitude automobile, with Florian Teillais (FRA) at the wheel.

BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Italy: Luigi Ferrara is the 2022 champion
The final races of the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Italy have been held, and the 2022 champion is Luigi Ferrara (ITA). At the Mugello (ITA) final, the Italian in the #3 BMW M2 CS Racing sewed everything up in the race on Saturday as third place was enough for him to clinch the title before the final race on Sunday.

Victory in the race on Saturday went to Marco Zanasi (ITA / #69), with Jody Vullo (ITA / #62) finishing second. In the turbulent race on Sunday, in which many of the top drivers were awarded 25-second penalties, Marco Pellegrini (ITA / #67) won ahead of Manuel Lasagni (ITA / #7) and Vullo. In the championship standings, Zanasi finished in second place behind champion Ferrara; Gustavo Sandrucci (ITA / #1) was third overall.

BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Benelux: Maxime Oosten is early champion
After winning the title in the BMW M2 Cup, held as part of the DTM supporting programme, Maxime Oosten (NED) has now also been crowned champion in the BMW M2 CS Racing Cup Benelux – and before the end of the season. At the penultimate round of the season at Spa-Francorchamps (BEL), the 18-year-old was unphased by the sometimes difficult weather conditions. He won both races with his #54 BMW M2 CS Racing. This puts him so far ahead of his rivals in the championship that he cannot be caught at the finale at Assen (NED) at the end of October.

In the first race, second place behind winner Oosten went to Willem Meijer and Lorenzo van Riet (both NED). Fred Caprasse (BEL) finished third. In race two, Sam Dejonghe (BEL) crossed the finish line in second place behind Oosten. Meijer and van Riet finished in third place this time.