BMW Motorsport News – Issue 15/13.
Whether in the DTM, the American Le Mans Series, 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.
FIA WTCC: Coronel drives to victory with the BMW 320 TC.
Perfect weekend for Tom Coronel (NL) and ROAL Motorsport in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC): Equipped with new, considerably lighter carbon-fibre doors, the BMW 320 TC allowed the Dutchman to work his way up the field from tenth on the grid to fifth in the first race of the day. If any more proof was needed that Coronel would be a forced to be reckoned with at the “Slovakiaring” near the Slovakian capital of Bratislava, “Major Tom” delivered it in race two. Starting from pole position he defended the lead right to when the chequered flag came out, crossing the line after ten laps with a lead of 2.990 seconds over three-time world champion, Yvan Muller (FR, Chevrolet). The other BMW drivers were also able to take a lot of positives from the third WTCC weekend of the year. Like Coronel, Mehdi Bennani (MA) made it into the top-ten in race one by finishing tenth. In the second race, Bennani finished ninth, while Darryl O’Young (HK) came tenth.
VLN: Successful “dress rehearsal” for the 24-hour race.
A total of seven BMW Z4 GT3s started the second round of the VLN Endurance Championship on Saturday and made full use of the final test prior to the Nürburgring 24 Hours (DE), scheduled for 19th/20th May. Three of them managed to score top-ten results in the “Green Hell”. The Frozen Black BMW Z4 GT3 of BMW Team Schubert, driven by DTM ace Martin Tomczyk (DE), Dirk Adorf (DE) and Jens Klingmann (DE) finished second. It was the trio’s second VLN podium this season. Outside the SP9 class, which is the domain of the BMW Z4 GT3 at the Nürburgring, privateer BMW drivers and teams were successful. After four hours of racing, they scored victories in the H2, SP3, SP4, SP5, SP6, V2, V5, V6 and VD1T classes.
ADAC GT Masters: DB Motorsport kicks off season with a podium.
The ADAC GT Masters season started with two rounds at the “Motorsport Arena Oschersleben” (DE) this weekend. Jeroen den Boer (NL) and Simon Knap (NL) were the best-placed BMW drivers in the second round on Sunday, finishing second with their BMW Z4 GT3 after 40 laps. The two cars entered by Schubert Motorsport, with Claudia Hürtgen (DE)/Dominik Baumann (AT) and Jörg Müller (DE)/Max Sandritter (DE) at the wheels, also made it into the top-ten and came seventh and tenth respectively. On Saturday Hürtgen/Baumann had come home eighth, being the strongest BMW representatives in the overall classification.
French GT Tour: Promising start for TDS Racing.
The red lights went out for the BMW Z4 GT3s in the 2013 “Championnat de France des Circuits” – the GT Tour in short – for the first time this weekend at Le Mans’ (FR) “Circuit Bugatti”. In Saturday’s season opener, TDS Racing’s Pierre Thiriet (FR) and Jonathan Hirschi (CH) finished eighth, driving the no. 48 BMW Z4 GT3. In the second race on Sunday, their team-mates, Henry Hassid (FR) and Ludovic Badey (FR), backed this up with another strong finish, taking the chequered flag in fourth. The third BMW Z4 GT3, fielded by Justracing China and driven by XUE FENG Li (CN) and ZHU Dawei (CN), finished 17th in both races.
FIA European Touring Car Cup: Fulin and Homola claim victories.
It was not only in the FIA WTCC that the BMW drivers had every reason to be satisfied with the outcome of this weekend’s racing in Bratislava. The same can be said for their fellow BMW drivers in the FIA European Touring Car Cup (ETCC), which also held two rounds at the “Slovakiaring”. In rounds three and four of the season, the BMW 320si cars claimed a pair of one-two finishes. Petr Fulin (CZ) crossed the line as winner in the first round of the weekend, followed by local hero Mat’O Homola (SK) in second. In the second race, the two BMW drivers swapped positions, with Homola celebrating his first win of the season and Fulin finishing second.