BMW Motorsport Party 2007 - Grand finale in Munich.
Munich, 1st December 2007. Around 600 international guests were joined by the
BMW drivers and BMW Motorsport management to see out the 2007 season in style
with a party and presentation of trophies at BMW's home base on Saturday.
"This event is primarily our way of saying thank you to the drivers, teams,
sponsors and journalists who have been with us at the race tracks throughout
the year," explains BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. "This time we have
gathered outside our own front door to make use of BMW Welt, our new car
delivery centre."
That is where the assembled crowd, which included the 2007 BMW Sauber F1 Team
drivers Nick Heidfeld and Robert Kubica, World Touring Car Champion Andy
Priaulx and his WTCC colleagues Jörg Müller, Alessandro Zanardi, Félix Porteiro
and Fredrik Ekblom, moved to late in the evening.
Prior to that, the traditional Sports Trophy presentation for BMW privateer
drivers from around the world took place at the Dinner held in the Olympic Ice
Sport Centre. During the presentation ceremony, Theissen also expressed his
thanks to Hans-Joachim Stuck, who has for many years been a successful BMW
driver and brand ambassador and is now taking up a new challenge.
Christmas magic and ice carving.
In the afternoon, the drivers and motorsport management manned the stalls of a
specially built Christmas market at BMW Welt. Even Mario Theissen and Willy
Rampf, Technical Director of the BMW Sauber F1 Team, could be seen diligently
serving up grilled sausages and mulled wine.
The squad members had to demonstrate their skills not only as hosts at the
Christmas market, but as wielders of the hacksaw as well during a stint of ice
carving. Divided into three teams, their challenge was to transform three
blocks of ice into a helmet, a car wheel and the BMW "propeller" logo. A rather
less than brilliant result was ultimately honed into the desired sculptures by
the professionals. The audience had a fun time and a chance to pick up some
autographs.
Press contact: Jörg Kottmeier, tel. +49 (0) 89 - 382 23401,
joerg.kottmeier@bmw.de.
Picture material of the afternoon event is available for downloading at
https://newsroom.bmwgroup.com/global/en Click on Motorsport english, Photo, 2007, Miscellaneous
(pop-ups should be allowed).
BMW Sports Trophy 2007.
Almost double the participants - BTCC driver takes first place.
Munich, 1st December 2007. Interest has swelled yet again: in 2007 a total of
98 privateer drivers - almost twice as many as in the previous year - signed up
for the traditional BMW Sports Trophy. Simultaneously, the field competing for
the pot of prize money worth a quarter of a million euros took on a more
international flavour: the first 25 drivers to be honoured, and who received
prize money, hail from 11 different countries. In 2007, most of the points in
the intricate rating system of the Sports Trophy were claimed by British driver
Colin Turkington.
BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen welcomes the contest's rising
popularity: "It reflects the competitiveness of the extended BMW product range
for private touring car involvement. I have tremendous respect for the teams
and drivers who make their mark worldwide in the most diverse categories
without any works support. With their BMW 320is, 320i, 120d and Z4 M Coupé
models they are important ambassadors of our brand."
25-year-old Turkington from Northern Ireland drove his BMW 320si for Team RAC
and took the Independents' Trophy in the British Touring Car Championship
(BTCC). He also competed successfully in the World Touring Car Championship
(FIA WTCC) races at Brands Hatch and in the final in Macau. During the BMW
Motorsport Party, Turkington was delighted to receive a cheque to the value of
30,000 euros.
Second place (25,000 euros) went to an old familiar face: Swedish driver
Fredrik Ekblom won the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) for the third
time in 2007 after his triumphs in 1998 and 2003. The 37-year-old was also
driving a BMW 320si and contested six WTCC races for BMW Team UK - RBM in
Anderstorp, Monza and Macau alongside team-mate and three-times World Champion
Andy Priaulx. The factory-backed WTCC races, however, do not count towards the
Sports Trophy.
Third place went to another Swede, 29-year-old Richard Göransson. He won the
Sports Trophy in 2004, and this time round took home 21,000 euros for finishing
in third slot. Göransson concluded the 2007 Swedish Touring Car Championship
(STCC) in third place, having already clinched the championship in his home
country in 2004 and 2005. The season just past also saw him contesting races in
the BMW Z4 M Coupé next to Claudia Hürtgen and Johannes Stuck in the
Long-Distance Championship on the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. With reinforcement
from Hans-Joachim Stuck, the crew also managed to secure a class win in the
24-hour race.
Special trophies were presented in Munich to national touring car champion
Fariq Bin Hairuman, winner of the Asian Championship (ATCC) in a BMW 320i, and
the duo Patrick Belien/Dimitri Cayvers, who jointly won the Belgian
Championship in a BMW 120d.
Press contact: Jörg Kottmeier, tel. +49 (0) 89 - 382 23401,
joerg.kottmeier@bmw.de.
For the BMW Sports Trophy 2007 placings please see the attached document.