BMW Motorsport News – Issue 18/14.

Whether in the DTM, the United SportsCar 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 USCC driver John Edwards visits the DTM.
From the USA to the Magdeburger Börde: John Edwards (US), who lines up in a BMW Z4 GTLM for BMW Team RLL in this season’s UNITED SportsCar Championship (USCC), had a taste of the DTM when he visited his fellow BMW drivers at the race weekend in Oschersleben. Early in his racing career, Edwards spent two years living near the “Motorsport Arena Oschersleben”, during which time he followed the DTM races there closely. The 23-year-old has now experienced the series at close hand for the first time. Edwards’ next race in the USCC is at Watkins Glen (US) on 29th June.

Three questions for … John Edwards.

John, how did you enjoy your trip to the DTM?
John Edwards: “It was great fun, and very impressive – even just the paddock and the BMW Hospitality. It was also very interesting to follow the action from the garage, to see the work put in by the team, and to observe just how quick the pit stops are. And it was obviously also great to be in the garage when the team was celebrating a good result – as was the case with Marco Wittmann’s qualifying on Saturday.

You drive the BMW Z4 GTLM in the USCC. How do you like the BMW M4 DTM?
Edwards: “I saw the production version of the new BMW M4 Coupé for the first time at an exhibition in Long Beach a couple of weeks ago, and that is a great car in itself. It looks really cool, and I like the car’s extraordinary profile. The car looks aggressive and quick. So, I really like the BMW M4 Coupé – and BMW has taken a cool car and made it even cooler for the DTM. Therefore, the BMW M4 DTM just looks awesome and very impressive.”

The USCC season has not gone entirely to plan so far for you and your team-mate Dirk Müller. What are your expectations going into the next race?
Edwards: “Things have not gone well for Dirk and me in two of the races so far. We were very unlucky in Sebring, and we picked up a penalty in Laguna Seca, which cost us a good result. That was frustrating, as we had good pace. We are now looking to convert that speed into good results at the coming races. We want to make up ground in the championship. We may have been unfortunate in the opening races, but it is still a long season and we have our sights set on at least winning a few races this year.”

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CTSCC: Edwards/Hindman fall just short of podium.
John Edwards (US) was in action this weekend in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) at Lime Rock Park (US), where he had his sights set on defending his lead in the Drivers’ Championship. Driving a BMW M3 run by the Fall-Line Motorsport team, Edwards and his team-mate Trent Hindman (US) came home fourth to once again narrowly miss out on a podium finish. The team dominated the first phase of the race, but fell back through the field as a result of a pit stop after a safety car period. Terry Borcheller (US) and Mike LaMarra (US) were eighth in their BMW M3.

Blancpain Endurance Series: ROAL Motorsport on the podium in the Pro-Am class.
The second round of the Blancpain Endurance Series in Silverstone (GB) ended with some good results in the Pro-Am class for the BMW Sports Trophy teams. The four BMW Z4 GT3s in the field may have missed out on the top ten in the overall classification, but ROAL Motorsport’s number 43 car did claim a fine third place in its class, making it the best-placed BMW Z4 GT3. The number 10 TDS Racing car came home fourth in the class, while Ecurie Ecosse crossed the finish line 18th in the overall rankings.

ADAC GT Masters: Schubert claims first win of the season at the Lausitzring.
The spell has been broken: Team Schubert claimed its first victory of the season on the third weekend of the ADAC GT Masters at the Lausitzring (DE). Dominik Baumann (AT) and Claudia Hürtgen (DE) dominated Sunday’s second race from pole position to come home first in the number 19 BMW Z4 GT3, 2.694 seconds ahead of René Rast (DE) and Kelvin van der Linde (ZA) in their Audi. Having previously finished fourth to narrowly miss out on the podium in Saturday’s opening race, the duo is now third in the overall standings with 82 points. Jens Klingmann (DE) and Max Sandritter (DE) endured a less successful weekend in the number 20 BMW Z4 GT3. A technical problem caused them to retire on Saturday. However, they did produce a strong performance to climb from eighth on the grid to finish sixth in race two, their reward for which was eight points towards the Drivers’ Championship.

FIA WTCC: Engstler bags brace of wins in the TC2 class at the Salzburgring.
Franz Engstler (DE) extended his lead in the Drivers’ Trophy of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) with two class wins in the BMW 320 TC at the Salzburgring (AT). Engstler came home ahead of the SEAT of John Filippi (FR) in both races. Third place went to Pasquale di Sabatino (IT) in the second BMW 320 TC.

12h Zandvoort: BMW M235i Racings compete in their own class.
Good news for all BMW Sports Trophy teams in possession of a BMW M235i Racing: thanks to an agreement between BMW Motorsport and Creventic, the organiser of the 24h Series, they will be able to compete in their own cup class at the 12 Hours of Zandvoort (NL) on 30th/31st May 2014. A perfect opportunity to give the new car an outing on a track other than the Nürburgring-Nordschleife (DE) and, looking ahead to the Nürburgring 24 Hours on 21st/22nd June, to put the reliability of the BMW M235i Racing to the test.