BMW Motorsport News – Issue 23/13.
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.
Blancpain Endurance Series: Victory for Marc VDS Racing, condolences after Mamé’s fatal accident.
The third race weekend of the Blancpain Endurance Series at the “Circuit Paul Ricard” near Le Castellet (FR) saw Bas Leinders (BE), Yelmer Buurman (NL) and Maxime Martin (BE) claiming their maiden victory of the season. Martin put the no. 3 BMW Z4 GT3 on pole position for Marc VDS Racing on Saturday and secured victory in an exciting race on Sunday. Eleven minutes before the end of the three-hour race, the BMW works driver managed to pass the leading McLaren – building up a gap of 7.420 seconds by the time the chequered flag came out. This win was overshadowed by the fatal accident of Andrea Mamé (IT) in the Lamborghini Super Trofeo. BMW Motorsport’s thoughts are with the family and relatives of the Italian driver.
Marc VDS Racing: Redding experiences four wheels.
Marc VDS motorbike rider Scott Redding (GB) went into unknown territory: The current leader in the Moto2 Championship proved he is also fast on four wheels, driving a BMW M3 GT4 at Spa-Francorchamps (BE). After some laps during which Redding became acquainted to the car, he went on to put in some quick lap times, giving journalists a unique taxi ride experience in the 420bhp car. “To be honest, in the beginning I was a bit nervous about the power of the BMW M3 GT4,” said Redding. “After a short while though I really enjoyed it.” However, making a change to touring car racing isn’t an option for the Brit. “This drive was a great experience, but I’m through and through a motorbike racer.”
FIA WTCC: Action-packed races in Porto.
To conclude the European part of the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) season, the series visited Porto (PT) this weekend. In the 13th race of the year at the “Circuito da Boavista”, Tom Coronel (NL) and Stefano D’Aste (IT) managed to score points in their BMW 320 TCs, finishing seventh and eighth respectively. Franz Engstler (DE) was involved in a spectacular accident, being pushed into a Recovery Vehicle which was out in the track. In the second round of the day, Coronel was the best-placed BMW driver in eighth. Mehdi Bennani (MA) finished tenth.
Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge: Triumph at Watkins Glen.
A perfect weekend for Fall-Line Motorsports: Mark Boden (US) and Bryan Sellers (US) secured their maiden victory in the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge at Watkins Glen (US). On the final lap of the race, Sellers got past the leading Porsche, defending the lead in the BMW M3 right to the finish. All three Fall-Line Motorsports BMW M3s secured top-4 finishes. Apart from the winning pairing of Boden/Sellers, Al Carter (US) and Hugh Plumb (US) also made it onto the podium by coming third. Charles Espenlaub (US) and Charles Putman (US) rounded off the sensational team result by finishing fourth. Turner Motorsport’s Bill Auberlen (US) and Paul Dalla Lana (CA), however, were unlucky and had to make do with 13th.