BMW Motorsport News – Issue 42/14.
Macau GT Cup: Augusto Farfus and Marco Wittmann in the top ten.
BMW DTM drivers Augusto Farfus (BR) and Marco Wittmann (DE) swapped the cockpit of the BMW M4 DTM for that of the BMW Z4 GT3 for the weekend. They raced together with the AAI Rstrada team in the Macau GT Cup, which took place on the legendary “Guia Circuit” – the extremely demanding street circuit in the former Portuguese colony of Macau (CN). The outing formed part of the BMW Sports Trophy Customer Racing programme. Farfus and this year’s DTM champion Wittmann were already familiar with the track, but both were making their debut there with the BMW Z4 GT3. The Macau GT Cup is held as part of the Macau Grand Prix and boasts an extremely strong field, featuring some of the world’s top GT3 cars. Farfus ended the race in fifth place, with Wittmann seventh.
Three questions for … Augusto Farfus.
Augusto, how happy are you with your weekend in Macau?
Augusto Farfus: “It was a good weekend for us. Overall it was very positive. We were able to collect useful data to build up our experience of Macau. If we look at where we started the weekend from to how competitive I was in the race itself, I think we must be proud. My race pace was very close to the leaders and we made big steps with the car. P5 was the maximum we could get, but I am convinced that if we come back next year we can start on a much higher level and aim for big results.”
You know Macau very well from your time in the FIA World Touring Car Championship when you won there with the BMW 320si. How different was it to race a BMW Z4 GT3 there?
Farfus: “Well the difference wasn’t that much, but the last time I was in Macau was 2010. So after four years you need a little bit of track time to get used to the circuit again. In addition, it is almost impossible to get a free lap here in Macau as you have more than 30 cars running on the circuit. We just had one 30-minute free practice session with a lot of cars on the track, and in Saturday’s qualifying I just did one flying lap due to the traffic. That was also a challenge for us, as you can’t drive as much as you want to in order to gather information. So this P5 feels like a podium for me and I go home in a very positive mood.”
Why is the Macau “Guia Circuit” so popular and special?
Farfus: “It is by far the best street circuit in the world. It is extremely fast, quite long and offers a unique combination of corners. You have the ‘Melco’ hairpin, which is an extremely slow first-gear-corner, and then you have the superfast ‘Mandarin’ corner – both of them on the same circuit! I would compare Macau with the Nürburgring-Nordschleife – everybody who goes there immediately falls in love with the circuit.”
--
Japanese Super GT: Taniguchi and Kataoka win the title in the
GT300 class with the BMW Z4 GT3.
Nobuteru Taniguchi (JP) and Tatsuya Kataoka (JP)
clinched the Drivers’ title in the GT300 class in a thrilling finale
to the Japanese Super GT Championship. The duo from the Goodsmile
Racing & Team Ukyo team finished third in their BMW Z4 GT3 in
the final race in Motegi (JP). This podium was sufficient to
secure the title. Their rivals Katsuyuki Hiranaka (JP) and Björn
Wirdheim (SE) managed to draw level on points with victory in the
final race. However, the BMW duo were crowned champions on account
of the fact that they had won more races over the course of the
season. BMW works driver Jörg Müller (DE) and Seiji Ara (JP) of BMW
Sports Trophy Team Studie finished seventh in Motegi in their BMW Z4
GT3. Hiroki Yoshimoto (JP) and Shinya Sato (JP) came home 15th at the
wheel of the TWS LM corsa BMW Z4 GT3.
FIA WTCC: Franz Engstler calls time on his WTCC career with
another two class wins.
Franz Engstler’s (DE) long and illustrious career in the FIA
World Touring Car Championship (FIA WTCC) came to an end at the “Guia
Circuit” in Macau (CN) this weekend: He contested his final two races
in the WTCC at the last round of the season on the famous street
circuit. And he enjoyed a perfect send-off. Engstler claimed another
two victories in the TC2 class at the wheel of his BMW 320 TC. The
53-year-old has dominated his class this season, and was already
confirmed as champion with races to spare. Local favourite Filipe de
Souza (MO), at the wheel of Liqui Moly Team Engstler’s second BMW 320
TC, finished third in this class in both races in Macau. Mak Ka Lok
(MO) claimed two fourth places in the TC2 class in a BMW 320 TC run by
the RPM Racing team. Engstler competed in his first WTCC race in Macau
back in 2007. He and his team have been regulars in the World Touring
Car Championship since 2008, and have always used BMW racing cars.
Liqui Moly Team Engstler has now ended its involvement in the WTCC, in
order to move on to new sporting challenges in 2015. Engstler made 164
starts in the series and scored 179 points. The highlight of his world
championship career was overall victory in front of his home fans in
Oschersleben (DE) in 2011.