BMW Motorsport News - Issue 36/2018.

Whether in the DTM, the IMSA WeatherTech 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.

Blancpain GT Series Asia: BMW Team Studie wins the GT4 Team title.
Celebrations at BMW Team Studie: the team took victory at the final round of this season’s Blancpain GT Series Asia at the “Ningbo International Speedpark” (CHN) to win the Team title in the GT4 class. Takayuki Kinoshita and Sunako Jukuchou (both JPN), at the wheel of the #81 BMW M4 GT4, finished first in the GT4 class on Sunday. The #82 car, driven by Max Chen and Ken Urata (both JPN), came home fourth. Chen and Urata had previously finished fifth in Saturday’s race, ahead of their team-mates in seventh. Kinoshita and Jukuchou narrowly missed out on the title in the GT4 Drivers’ Championship, finishing second with 196 points.

CTSC: Victory and the title for BimmerWorld Racing.
BimmerWorld Racing enjoyed a perfect end to the season in the IMSA Continental Tire SportsCar Challenge at Road Atlanta (USA). James Clay and Tyler Cooke (both USA), driving the #82 BMW M4 GT4, took overall victory in the 120-minute race at the iconic circuit in Georgia. This was Clay’s maiden race win in the series and Cooke’s first victory since 2013. There was also a victory celebration in the ST class where third place in the final race was enough for Nick Galante and Devin Jones (both USA) to win the Drivers’ title in their BMW 328i. “What a fantastic day,” said driver and team owner Clay. “Winning the title is a big thing for us. It is fantastic to head into the winter break this way. Tyler drove an incredible race and the ST guys have had a fantastic season. To win this title in the ST class is very special.”

GT4 Sprint Cup Europe: BMW M4 GT4 wins at Hockenheim.
The GT4 Sprint Cup Europe was held for the first time as part of the final DTM race weekend of the season at Hockenheim (GER). Four BMW M4 GT4s competed in the inaugural event with great success. Race one on Saturday saw Max Koebolt (NED) of the MDM team take victory. He was joined on the podium by Gabriele Piana (ITA / RN Vision), who finished third. BMW Motorsport Junior Nico Menzel (GER / RN Vision) was runner-up in race two on Sunday. Piana came home fourth.

GT4 France: BMW Team France wins at Le Castellet.
BMW Team France can look back on a successful race weekend. The final round of the GT4 France series saw Laurent Hurgon and Julien Piquet (both FRA), at the wheel of a BMW M4 GT4, take victory in Saturday’s race at Paul Ricard (FRA). The L’ESPACE Bienvenue team also achieved a top result with Eric Debard (FRA) and Ricardo van der Ende (NED) finishing fifth. They then went one better in race two on Sunday, finishing as the best-placed BMW duo in fourth. Eighth place went to Romain Brandela and Romain Monti (both FRA) in the #100 BMW M4 GT4 run by the 3Y Technology team.

Australian GT Championship: BMW Team SRM in action at the Hampton Downs grand finale.
The 2008 Australian GT Championship and the Australian Endurance Championship drew to a close with the Hamptons Down 500 in New Zealand. For the third time this year, team principal Steve Richards (NZL) shared driving duties with Michael Almond (AUS) in the #100 BMW M6 GT3 run by BMW Team SRM. The duo was sixth in the qualifying race, before finishing seventh in the 500-kilometre main race.

12h Spa: Podiums for BMW teams.
The Circuit de Spa-Francorchamps (BEL) also hosted an endurance race this weekend with eleven BMW cars taking part in the 24H Series. In the GT4 class, the MARC Cars Australia team finished second with the #250 BMW M4 GT4 driven by Daren Jorgensen, Brett Strom and Jon Miller (all USA). They were followed over the finish line by Hakan Sari and Recep Sari (both BEL) in the #256 car in third place. BMW teams also claimed two top-three results in the SP3 class. Ward Sluys (BEL), Michael Verhagen and Ruud Olij (both NED) of the JR Motorsport team were second in a BMW E46 Coupé, followed by the ABBA Racing team’s #234 BMW M3 V8 GTR driven by Richard Neary, Ian Stinton and Sam Neary (all GBR) in third place. In the Cup1 class, the Hofor Racing powered by Bonk Motorsport team came out on top. Martin Kroll (SUI), Michael Schrey (GER), Michael Fischer (AUT), Bernd Küpper (GER) and Gustav Engljähriger (AUT) claimed class victory in the #131 BMW M235i Racing, ahead of Dan Rogers, Chris Wadle and Seth Thomas (all USA) in the #151 Securtal Sorg Rennsport car. Third place went to John Landrum, Paul Dubinsky, Rob Gill (all USA) and Alastair McEwan (GBR) in the #156 BMW M235i Racing run by JJ Motorsport.

International GT Open: Jensen set for start at Barcelona season finale.
When the “Circuit de Catalunya” near Barcelona (ESP) hosts the grand finale of this season’s International GT Open next weekend, BMW Motorsport Junior Mikkel Jensen (DEN) will be in the thick of the action. He will contest both races in the Senkyr Motorsport BMW M6 GT3 alongside regular driver Richard Gonda (SVK).