Motorsport News

motorsportnews Roving reporters Jeff Heywood & Neil McDonald

BMW wins the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race!

The mighty M6 GT3 shines at the infamous Nordschleife to give BMW Motorsport a 1-3-4 finish!

After an exciting race, the ROWE Racing team won the 2020 Nürburgring 24 Hour, giving BMW Motorsport its 20th overall victory at the endurance classic. The #99 BMW M6 GT3, piloted by Dutch driver Nick Catsburg and the British pairing of Alexander Sims and Nick Yelloly, crossed the finish line in first place after 85 laps of racing in an eventful and rather wet race.

Over the 24 hour stint, the race was interrupted for roughly nine hours in the night due to persistent torrential rain. Catsburg crossed the finish line 15.452 seconds ahead of the secondplaced Audi R8 V10. BMW Team Schnitzer completed the podium in third place in their #42 M6 GT3, driven by Augusto Farfus, Jens Klingmann, Martin Tomczyk and Sheldon van der Linde. The BMW Team Schnitzer #42 M6 GT3 was followed over the finish line in fourth place by the #98 ROWE Racing M6 GT3, with Lucas Auer, Tom Blomqvist, Philipp Eng and Marco Wittmann at the wheel to give BMW a 1-3-4 finish!

Left-Right: Alexander Sims, Nick Catsburg and Nick Yelloly celebrate their win in a car many thought had seen better days, thankfully the M6 GT3 was good enough to secure 1-3-4 places

The ROWE Racing M6 GT3 crosses the line to win the ADAC 2020 Nurburgring 24 Hour Race

M8 GTE’s finish 3rd & 4th at Mid-Ohio

BMW approached the eighth race of the IMSA Weathertech Sportscar Championship at the Mid-Ohio circuit after a recent upturn in their results. The race was held over 2 hours and 40 minutes and the circuit is 2.258 miles long.

Qualifying – Was relatively uneventful, with only the Corvettes to compete with because Porsche pulled out of the race after three members of their team contracted Covid-19 a few weeks earlier during the 24 Hours of Le Mans. In the end, the two Corvette C8.Rs were split by the Edwards/Krohn #24 M8 GTE, when Krohn put the M8 GTE on the outside of the front row, followed by the second Corvette which qualified 3rd. The De Phillippi/Spengler #25 M8 GTE would start the race from 4th place on the grid.

Race – Unfortunately the race was as uneventful as qualifying. Although the two M8 GTEs were pushed to their limits, they simply didn’t have enough pace to challenge the Corvettes, and with the 911 RSRs missing from the mix it provided for a slightly pedestrian race in the GTLM Class, with the two Corvette C8.Rs finishing first and second, while the De

The Motul sponsored De Phillippi/Spengler #25 M8 GTE secured a podium place for BMW Team RLL in a relatively lacklustre race at Mid-Ohio

Phillippi/Spengler #25 M8 GTE edged out the Edwards/Krohn #24 M8 GTE to take third spot in class.

The series now moves onto the Charlotte Motor Speedway circuit at Concord, North Carolina, for Round 9.