Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport:
“In recent weeks, one season highlight followed another. Between the three major 24-hour races and numerous other motorsport classics around the world, there was hardly time to catch our breath. We had many reasons to celebrate and to share great successes with our customer teams. My congratulations to everyone involved! Most recently, BMW Italia Ceccato Racing had plenty of reasons to celebrate with a double podium at Mugello. There were also successes in North America and Asia. Once again, it’s impressive to see how well our cars are performing globally. We aim to continue this trend in the second half of the year.”
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Italian GT Championship (11th to 13th July): BMW Italia Ceccato Racing wins at Mugello.BMW Italia Ceccato Racing triumphed again during the second sprint weekend of the Italian GT Championship. At Mugello (ITA), BMW M works drivers Jens Klingmann (GER) and Jesse Krohn (FIN) claimed victory on Saturday in the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. Behind them, teammates William Alatalo (FIN) and Leonardo Caglioni (ITA) completed the 1-2 finish for the team led by Roberto Ravaglia (ITA) in the #2 BMW M4 GT3 EVO. For Alatalo and Caglioni, second place overall also meant victory in the Pro-Am category. After their second win of the season, Klingmann and Krohn had to serve a pit-stop penalty in Sunday’s race as per regulations. Despite the 15-second handicap, they secured another podium by finishing third. Alatalo and Caglioni once again reached the class podium as second in Pro-Am. In the sprint standings, Klingmann and Krohn are within striking distance of the leaders, trailing by just two points after two of four race weekends. “We can be very proud of the first half of the season,” Klingmann said after the Mugello weekend. “With the win on Saturday and third place on Sunday, we came close to a maximum points haul and are very optimistic. Our mission to defend the title is clearly defined, so we need to maintain this level of performance, as the field is extremely competitive this year. But so far, we’re proud and satisfied, having made no mistakes. We’re looking forward to the second half of the season with great anticipation.” The next sprint races of the Italian GT Championship will take place at the end of September at Imola (ITA).
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IMSA CTMP (11th to 13th July): Pole debut for Verhagen.BMW M works driver Neil Verhagen (USA) celebrated the first pole position of his IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship career at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park (CAN).“It’s phenomenal. I gave it everything I had, and it just all came together. It was one of those laps where everything felt perfect. I can’t thank Paul Miller Racing and BMW M Motorsport enough for giving me a car that made this possible. I’m overjoyed with my first pole,” said the 24-year-old after Saturday’s qualifying. In the GTD-PRO category race, Verhagen and his compatriot Madison Snow finished sixth in the #1 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Paul Miller Racing. Their teammates, BMW M works drivers Dan Harper (GBR) and Max Hesse (GER), brought the #48 BMW M4 GT3 EVO home in ninth place. In the GTD class, Turner Motorsport finished eighth.
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IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (11th to 13th July): BMW M Motorsport shines at Mosport.BMW M Motorsport dominated the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Jeff Westphal and Sean McAlister (both USA) won the race for CarBahn with Peregrine Racing in the #39 BMW M4 GT4 EVO. They were followed by fellow BMW drivers Austin Krainz (USA) and Steven McAleer (GBR) in the #27 BMW M4 GT4 EVO from Auto Technic Racing, who took second place. Turner Motorsport and BMW M works driver Robby Foley (USA) narrowly missed out on the podium, finishing fourth – just half a second behind third place – in the two-hour race.
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IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (11th to 13th July): Victory for Jake Walker.The IMSA VP Racing SportsCar Challenge also took place at Canadian Tire Motorsport Park. Jake Walker (USA) won the GTDX class in the #6 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of Turner Motorsport. Samantha Tan (CAN) finished fourth in the #38 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of ST Racing, which also secured her victory in the Bronze category.
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ADAC GT Masters (11th to 13th July): FK Performance Motorsport narrowly misses podium.At the ADAC GT Masters race weekend at the Nürburgring (GER), BMW M Motorsport teams just missed out on the podium. In the second race, Leyton Fourie (RSA) and Tim Zimmermann (GER) finished fourth in the #11 BMW M4 GT3 EVO of FK Performance Motorsport. Their teammates Eduardo Coseteng (PHI) and Julian Hanses (GER) took sixth place. In the first race, the FK Performance Motorsport crews finished in seventh and twelfth positions. The Schubert Motorsport duo Sandro and Juliano Holzem (both GER) finished sixth and eleventh.
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British GT (11th to 13th July): Century Motorsport celebrates double podium in Snetterton.BMW M Motorsport also had reason to celebrate at the British GT Championship in Snetterton (GBR). On Sunday, Century Motorsport was unbeatable in the GT4 category: Ravi Ramyead and Charlie Robertson (both GBR) won in the #71 BMW M4 GT4 EVO, while teammates Branden Templeton and Chris Salkeld (both GBR) secured third place in the #14 car, completing the double podium for Century Motorsport.
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GT World Challenge Asia (11th to 13th July): BMW M Motorsport duo defends championship lead.At the GT World Challenge Asia powered by AWS race weekend in Fuji (JPN), Maxime Oosten (NED) and Ruan Cun Fan (CHN) finished third and seventh in the Sil-Am class in the #89 BMW M4 GT3 EVO from Team KRC, thereby maintaining their lead in the driver standings for their class. The PLUS with BMW M Team Studie finished ninth and twelfth in the Pro-Am category with their #5 BMW M4 GT3 EVO.
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NLS (5th July): Six class wins for BMW M Motorsport teams.At the first four-hour race of the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) on the Nordschleife (GER) following the season highlight 24h Nürburgring, it was the turn of the smaller classes to shine. In the absence of GT3 vehicles, BMW M Motorsport customer teams secured six class victories. Plusline Motorsport triumphed in the SP8T category with the BMW M4 GT4 EVO. Additional victories came in the BMW 325i, BMW M2 CS, BMW M240i, SP4, and VT3 classes.