Thoughts from the Boardroom

thoughts from the

boardroom

As you’ll know from my previous missives I’m a huge motorsport fan and while there’s no racing to be seen on track at the moment, BMW Motorsport has been doing its best to keep race fans entertained during lockdown. Our works drivers have been taking part in many sim racing series with the M8 GTE currently leading the IMSA sim series while Formula E driver Maximilian Günther remains undefeated after two virtual Formula E events.

Of course, it’s not as thrilling as the real thing, but if you’re pining for some on circuit action it could provide a welcome diversion. There was sad news for the motorsport community in April with the passing of Sir Stirling Moss. He was a wonderful racer whose career was sadly cut short by his accident at Goodwood all those years ago, but despite this he was always a wonderful ambassador for motorsport.

The reception he received at classic motoring events such as the Goodwood Festival of Speed and Revival meetings demonstrated the affection felt for him thanks to his effervescent personality and his open demeanour. He was always happy to talk to fans and the media and was a fabulous raconteur with a slightly risqué story up his sleeve. He was one of motoring’s true gentlemen and his presence in the paddock will be sorely missed.

While he will always be remembered for his stunning 1955 Mille Miglia win with ‘Jenks’ as his navigator it’s perhaps a lesser known fact that Moss actually started his racing career in a BMW. Moss’s father was a part time racer and Graeme Grieve, CEO BMW (UK) Ltd.

owned a BMW 328 and it was in this car that Stirling first tasted the thrill of motorsport, driving the car at several events in 1947. With his talent you can really imagine the 328 dancing along underneath him and it’s quite a feat that the 328 was still proving a success in competition 11 years after its 1936 launch. It was revealed to the public at the Nürburgring International Eifel Race and driven by BMW motorcycle legend Ernst Jakob Henne where it won the unsupercharged up to 2.0-litre category at a canter and set the fastest lap time of all the sports cars taking part.

The 328 really was a groundbreaking machine and set BMW’s stall out as a manufacturer of superb sporting machinery. It went on to be a cracking road car and saw success in many races, perhaps most famously in the 1940 Mille Miglia but it also won its class at Le Mans and carried on winning races into the 1950s. Just 464 examples were made and it’s quite incredible to think it will be celebrating its 85th birthday next year.

Car launches are very different today and no doubt they will be rather different in the post-Coronavirus world, too.

I don’t think any of us can predict quite how things will look in a few months’ time but I can predict that it won’t be too long before you’ll be able to see the new 4 Series in all its glory. Not only will the 4 Series set the dynamic benchmark for the class, but some models – such as the M440i xDrive – will feature innovative 48V mild-hybrid technology for the ultimate in performance. It’ll be 57 millimetres lower than the 3 Series with which it shares some mechanical components and will have a lower centre of gravity. In combination with revised suspension settings the 4 Series will be both incredibly agile yet offer excellent comfort, too.

I don’t want to give too much away before the 4 Series is revealed but some lucky motoring journalists have already been behind the wheel of prototype 4 Series models and have reported very positively on the way it drives. The launch of a new model is always an exciting time and I can’t wait to get behind the wheel, let’s just hope lockdown is over and I don’t have to take a leaf out of our BMW Motorsport driver’s book and sample it in a virtual environment!