Formula BMW Germany - Races 7 + 8 - Nürburgring - Preview
Formula BMW - Destination Formula One.
Munich (17th July 2007). They're young, they're ambitious and they're aiming
for Formula One. The Formula BMW Germany drivers will have their sights firmly
fixed on following the career path of so many of their predecessors when they
line up on the grid for the F1 supporting race at the Nürburgring (20th-22nd
July). Nico Rosberg was a Formula BMW driver in 2002, and four years later had
secured himself a race seat in the premier category of motor racing. Sebastian
Vettel made a name for himself by winning the Formula BMW title in 2004 with a
record 18 victories in 20 races. Vettel has since become the youngest driver in
Formula One history to win a World Championship point by finishing eighth in
this year's US Grand Prix.
Ralf Schumacher, Adrian Sutil, Timo Glock and Christian Klien similarly started
out in Formula BMW or its predecessor series. "These guys have had great
careers, of course, and you dream about following in their footsteps," says
Jens Klingmann, who leads the standings in this year's Formula BMW Germany. The
17-year-old Team Eifelland Racing driver from the German town of Leimen has won
five of the six races so far.
With such an influential audience in attendance, the young Formula BMW drivers
will be pulling out all the stops at the Nürburgring. Spaniard Daniel
Campos-Hull - currently lying second in the standings - is ready to take the
bull by the horns. "I'm looking to finally celebrate my first victory at the
Nürburgring," says the Barcelona youngster, who has no inhibitions about mixing
it with the leading lights of grand prix racing. "I train at a gym where
several former Formula One drivers go. For example, I often meet Pedro de la
Rosa there." Colombian Team GU-Racing driver Carlos Gaitan is another to have
discovered how small the world of motor sport can be: "My first karting
instructor was Juan Pablo Montoya," he recalls.
A rather older generation of Formula One drivers can testify to the success of
Formula BMW in turning out new talent. This year Adrien Tambay, son of former
Ferrari grand prix driver Patrick, is competing in Formula BMW Germany. 1964 F1
world champion John Surtees, meanwhile, is supporting his son Henry in the
Formula BMW UK Championship and will be sending him to the Nürburgring as a
guest driver. Rosberg, Bruno Senna, Johnny Cecotto jnr, Graham Rahal, Federico
Montoya, and Greg and Leo Mansell are among the other family members of famous
racing drivers to have competed in one of the four international Formula BMW
series in Germany, Great Britain, Asia and North America in recent years.
Points standings after 6 of 18 races: 1. Jens Klingmann (Leimen/Eifelland
Racing, 251 points), 2. Daniel Campos-Hull (ESP/Eifelland Racing, 224), 3.
Marco Wittmann (Markt Erlbach/Josef Kaufmann Racing, 218), 4. Philipp Eng
(AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 206 Punkte), 5. Niall Quinn (IRL/AM-Holzer
Rennsport, 197), 6. Mathijs Harkema (NED/Josef Kaufmann Racing, 152), 7. Adrien
Tambay (FRA/ Josef Kaufmann Racing, 149), 8. Kevin Mirocha (Hamm, ADAC
Berlin-Brandenburg, 125), 9. Maximilian Wissel (Hörstein/GU-Racing Team
International, 104), 10. Tiago Geronimi (BRA, Eifelland Racing, 104), 11.
Markus Pommer (Erlenbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 94), 12. Johannes Seidlitz
(Wassertrüdingen/ G&J Motorsport, 88), 13. Jens Höing (Berlin/GU-Racing Team
International, 84), 14. Maxim Wagner (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 76), 15.
Samuel Curridor (LUX/Team Zinner, 76), 16. Marlene Dietrich (Mannheim/Team
Zinner, 66), 17. Carlos Gaitan (COL/GU-Racing Team International, 64), 18.
Nikolay Varbitcaliev (BUL/GU-Racing Team International, 64), 19. Timo Walter
(Limbach/IBEX Motorsport, 54), 20. Luuk Glansdorp (NED/ Luuk Glansdorp, 52),
21. Michael Zettl (Wenig/Michael Zettl, 46), 22. Thomas Hylkema (NED/Eifelland
Racing, 36), 23. Pedro Bianchini (BRA/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 14).
Press contact:
Anne Schildmacher, tel. +49 (0)170-3436286, as@9pm-media.com
Ingo Lehbrink, tel. +49 (0)176-20340224, ingo.lehbrink@bmw.de
Press photos are available free of charge at: www.formulabmw-images.com
More information on Formula BMW Germany can be found at
www.press.bmw.com, www.adac.de/motorsport