Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport:
“Last weekend, BMW M Motorsport teams were in action in Europe, Asia and North America. The biggest success was the win for BMW M Team Studie with the BMW M4 GT3 in the GT300 class of the Japanese Super GT Championship. I would like to congratulate everyone involved and am also glad that Nissan driver Tsugio Matsuda did not suffer any serious injuries in his crash, which looked a bad one. The same obviously goes for Robert Megennis after his spectacular crash in the Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT4 in Detroit. Even with all the sporting ambition, health is always the most important thing, and it is good to see how safe GT cars are nowadays. I was also very pleased with the other successes and podiums in real racing, but also virtual racing. Congratulations to all the teams and drivers!”
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Japanese Super GT Championship: Victory for BMW M Team Studie.
BMW M Team Studie claimed its first win of the season with the BMW M4 GT3 in the GT300 class of the Japanese Super GT Championship. Seiji Ara and Masataka Yanagida (both JPN) were deemed the winners of the 450km race at Suzuka (JPN) after the race was suspended following a big crash on lap 59 of 77 in which the Nissan of Tsugio Matsuda (JPN) took off in the fast 130R corner and smashed into the safety fences. The driver was taken to hospital, but survived the crash without any major injuries. BMW M Team Studie opted for an early pit stop in the race, which meant they were leading when the race was stopped prematurely.
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GT4 European Series: BMW M4 GT4 on the podium.
The GT4 European Series held two races at Circuit Paul Ricard in Le Castellet (FRA) last weekend. On Sunday, the Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport started from pole position with the BMW M4 GT4. Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Michael Schrey (GER) then held their ground well in the chaotic closing stages, as heavy rain started to fall. They finished runner-up to earn a spot on the podium. Berkay Besler (TUR) and Tom Edgar (GBR) launched a spectacular comeback on wet tyres in the final few laps, battling their way back to fourth place. However, the Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport duo was subsequently handed a 43-second penalty and relegated to 15th place. On Saturday, Besler and Edgar were the best-placed BMW pairing in seventh. Piana and Schrey came home twelfth in race one.
GT4 Scandinavia racers also formed part of the race, which featured a field of over 50 starters. They included Victor Bouveng and Joakim Walde (both SWE) from the M-Bilar Racing team, who took victory in the Pro-Am class on Saturday in the #298 BMW M4 GT4. They finished third in their class on Sunday.
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Detroit hosts the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge.
The IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge was at the street circuit in Detroit (USA) on Saturday for a 100-minute race, which ended with a top-ten result and a scary moment for Turner Motorsport. Cameron Lawrence and Robert Megennis (both USA) had secured pole position in qualifying with the #95 BMW M4 GT4, but crashed out of the race spectacularly. Megennis ploughed into the back of a rival under braking, took off and skidded over the roof of the other car and into the safety fence. Fortunately, neither driver was hurt. The second Turner duo of Robby Foley and Vincent Barletta (both USA) came home ninth in the #96 car. The #43 BMW M4 GT4 of Stephen Cameron Racing, with Sean Quinlan and Greg Liefooghe (both USA) at the wheel, finished 17th.
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Sim racing: Busy weekend on different platforms.
There was plenty going on last weekend – not only on the real racetrack, but also in the world of virtual racing. As part of the race weekend in the Fanatec GT World Challenge Europe Powered by AWS (GTWC) at Le Castellet (FRA), SRO staged two big live events – with cause for celebration in both for BMW drivers and teams. On Friday, the professional racing drivers in the Fanatec Esports GT Pro Series battled it out for points towards the real team standings in the GTWC. BMW M works drivers Neil Verhagen (USA) and Dries Vanthoor (BEL) achieved precisely that superbly. In front of a big crowd in the Fanatec Arena in the paddock, Verhagen took victory for the ROWE Racing team in a virtual BMW M4 GT3. Vanthoor, representing BMW M Team WRT, finished third. Calan Williams (AUS), at the wheel of the Gold Cup car for the WRT team, won the sim race in his class. The BMW drivers were coached by professional sim racers Arthur Kammerer and Gregor Schill (both GER), who then got down to business themselves in the SRO Esports Sim Pro Series on Saturday. Representing BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION, they also performed strongly in the virtual BMW M4 GT3 on the Assetto Corsa Competizione simulation platform. Kammerer was particularly impressive, finishing runner-up to secure a place on the podium. Schill also showed good pace, but was unable to take full advantage of that speed in the race. He came home eighth.
On Sunday, the BMW M SIM Cup held its fifth round at the Watkins Glen circuit on the iRacing platform. Some of the best sim racers in the world went head-to-head in two classes in the virtual BMW M Hybrid V8 and BMW M4 GT3. Victory in the GTP class went to the Team Apex Racing Academy, which benefitted from the retirement of other leading teams. They included the URANO eSports crew, which has dominated the season so far. In the GT3 class, favourites Team Redline performed flawlessly on their way to another win.
The third sim racing highlight of the weekend was the live event for the major of the ESL R1 Spring Season on the Rennsport platform, which took place in Munich (GER). It represented the highlight of the inaugural season in the lucrative new racing series, in which the BMW M4 GT3 was one of four virtual cars available to the best teams in the world. At the end of the two-day event, BMW SIM Team Redline celebrated overall victory in the Team competition. Nils Naujoks (GER) was at the wheel for BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION in Munich, but was unable to challenge for the overall win. He was supported by BMW M works driver and BS+COMPETITION team captain Bruno Spengler (CAN).
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GT Cup Championship: Jesse Krohn makes a guest appearance.
BMW M works driver Jesse Krohn (FIN) was in action last weekend as a guest starter for the Century Motorsport team in the GT Cup Championship at Snetterton (GBR). Krohn was supporting British GT driver Darren Leung (GBR) – not only in the four races, but also by using his wealth of experience to help his fellow driver and the team to better understand the BMW M4 GT3. At the end of the weekend, the duo of Krohn and Leung had two third-places and two fifth-places to their names.
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BTCC: Podium for Adam Morgan at Thruxton.
The BMW drivers may only have claimed one podium in the three races at the fourth race weekend of this season’s British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), but they recorded many other strong results. Adam Morgan (GBR) celebrated on the rostrum after finishing runner-up in race three for Team BMW, having previously had to settle for 13th and 12th in the opening two races. His team-mate Colin Turkington (GBR) had two sixth-places and one fourth in his BMW 330e M Sport. The third driver in the team, Stephen Jelley (GBR), could do no better than 16th, 17th and 19th. Jake Hill (GBR) from the Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport enjoyed a much better weekend, finishing fourth in two races and tenth in the other.