BMW Motorsport News – Issue 26/14.

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.

24h Spa-Francorchamps: Dramatic finish in the Ardennes.
Six safety car periods, a 60-minute interruption and a thrilling finish: The BMW drivers and teams have experienced a turbulent race, which was nerve-wracking at the end, at the 66th staging of the 24-hour classic at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (BE). After 527 laps, Dirk Werner (DE), Lucas Luhr (DE) and Markus Palttala (FI) in the number 77 BMW Z4 GT3 finished in second place. Victory at the 24 Hours of Spa went to the Audi drivers Laurens Vanthoor (BE), René Rast (DE) and Markus Winkelhock (DE), who only caught the BMW Z4 GT3 15 minutes before the end of the race and won by just 7.077 seconds in one of the closest finishes at Spa ever. As the second best BMW team, Ecurie Ecosse made it into the top ten. Alexander Sims, Oliver Bryant, Andrew Smith and Alasdair McCaig (all GB) were rewarded for their strong driving performance with an excellent seventh place overall, which saw them finish second in the Pro-Am Cup in which they were competing.

Three questions for… Dirk Werner.

A dramatic 24-hour classic with six safety car periods and a race interruption has come to an end. How did you, as a driver, experience this nerve-wracking marathon in the Ardennes?

Dirk Werner: “What's special about the 24 Hours of Spa is that there are an incredible number of cars on the track. It's extremely difficult to get through the traffic and finish the race without suffering any damage. The risk of getting involved in a crash is particularly high at night. But we kept out of all of the smaller and bigger skirmishes. There's no doubt that this is one of the reasons we were able to celebrate a podium place at the end. The team had prepared perfectly for this weekend. We didn't make any mistakes. Marc VDS and BMW more than deserve this second place, but a victory would also have been well earned.”

You drove the final stint and had to employ some tactics to be in with a chance of the overall victory. What went through your mind as you realised that your rivals were constantly closing in?

Werner: "Driving the final stint is a lot of fun. You can win it all and lose it all. I tried everything to get the best out of the car and not to make any mistakes. On the other hand I was aware of the fact that my opponent was closing the gap very quickly. With that in mind you think about how and where he will try to pass you, and how to defend your position as well as possible. Of course, that’s difficult with cars that are as fast as ours. You also have to concentrate on the track and traffic in front of you. In the end I tried everything to avoid being overtaken by the Audi and he tried everything to pass me. This time, the better outcome wasn’t on my side. For sure I was disappointed during the final five laps. But you still have to give your best, because even in the final ten minutes of such a race everything can happen. All in all I am happy with P2.”

You brought your wife and children to Spa. How will you celebrate this success tonight?

Werner: “It’s only so soon after the race that I have no idea to be honest. But I’m sure we’ll find a way. I don’t even know if any kind of celebration is planned. Of course, it is something special for the Marc VDS team to be on the podium here in Spa. It’s their home race and they have never done better than second so far. So I’m sure that Bas Leinders and his team will find a way to celebrate in style. For me it was my third race in Spa, once I was third, twice I was second. Now only victory is missing.”

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DTM: Return to the North Sea - Zandvoort replaces the race in China.
The ninth DTM race of the season will be held in Zandvoort (NL) from 27th – 28th September. The race in Guangzhou (CN), originally planned for that weekend, had to be cancelled. The Circuit Park Zandvoort, with its challenging undulating and bumpy surface, proved to be a good hunting ground for BMW Motorsport last year. Firstly, Marco Wittmann (DE) in the Ice-Watch BMW M3 DTM celebrated the first pole position of his DTM career on the 4307-kilometre track. In the following race, Augusto Farfus (BR) secured the 50th victory for a BMW M3 in the history of the DTM. The track on the North Sea coast has been on the DTM calendar since 2001. This year will be the first time that BMW Motorsport will compete in the new BMW M4 DTM at the Circuit Park Zandvoort.

USCC: BMW Team RLL finished sixth and seventh at the Brickyard Grand Prix.
Despite both BMW Z4 GTLMs of BMW Team RLL showing speed, round seven of the der United SportsCar Championship (USCC) ended with neither car reaching the podium. At the end of 105 laps at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (US), Andy Priaulx (GB) and Bill Auberlen (US) came sixth and John Edwards (US) and Dirk Müller (DE) finished seventh in the GTLM class. In the GTD class, the Turner Motorsport BMW Z4 GTD, driven by Dane Cameron (US) and Paul Dalla Lana (CA), experienced bad luck and finished 15th.

CTSCC: BMW Drivers Back on the Podium at Indy.
In the Continental Tire Sports Car Challenge (CTSCC) race at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway (US) BMW cars were on the podium in both classes for the third consecutive year. Trent Hindman (US) consolidated his lead in the Grand Sport class driver championship with second in the No. 46 Fall-Line Motorsport BMW M3 he shares with John Edwards (US), who qualified on the  outside of the front row. They completed 86 laps and finished 3.494 seconds behind the winning Camaro of Robin Liddell (GB) and Andrew Davis (US). Their team-mates Shelby Blackstock (US) and Joey Atterbury (US) finished third in the No. 48 BMW M3. Turner Motorsport drivers Tom Kimber-Smith (US) and Michael Marsal (US) finished seventh in the No. 97 BMW M3. In the Street Tuner class, Jeff Mosing (US) and Eric Foss (US) finished third in the No. 56 Murillo Racing BMW 328i. They were the top-finishers of the nine BMW machines in the ST class and the result keeps Foss at the top of the ST driver points standings.

GT4 European Series: Third victory of the season for Racing Team Holland.
The third race weekend of the GT4 European Series at the Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps saw Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport celebrate its third victory of the season. In the first race, Ricardo van der Ende (NL) and Bernhard van Oranje (NL) were the first to cross the finish line after 19 laps in their BMW M3 GT4. Their team-mates Pieter van Oranje (NL) and Simon Knap (NL) finished in fourth. However, in the second race, Racing Team Holland by Ekris Motorsport had to make do with ninth and 14th. André Grammatico (FR), on the other hand, celebrated a perfect weekend. The driver from the BMW Espace Bienvenue team celebrated his second and third victories of the season in the Pro-Am class. Rob Severs (NL) and Liesette Braams (NL), who started in the same class, finished fifth in the first race and third in the second race.