Motorsport News

motorsportnews Roving reporters Jeff Heywood & Neil McDonald

Double BTCC title success for Team BMW at Brands Hatch

Team BMW and West Surrey Racing had cause to celebrate at the end of a wet race day at Brands Hatch by claiming the British Touring Car Championship’s Manufacturers’ and Teams’ titles. To cap off a sensational season of racing, Colin Turkington finished a fine second in the Drivers’ rankings with team-mate Tom Oliphant a career-best sixth. Colin went into the day leading the standings by just nine points, but with torrential rain overnight, and continuing to fall during the morning’s first race, the cards were stacked against the Northern Irishman, with the conditions not favouring the WSR-run BMW 330i M Sport. Colin would finish Race One in ninth, with Tom climbing to 10th, but it was Race Two where the two drivers would show their best as the rain relented and the sun broke through at the Kent circuit. The circuit was damp to start with, but the right call was made to run on slick tyres, and both Colin and Tom launched up the order in a dramatic race. The two drivers ran into trouble on lap 12, with Josh Cook first hitting Colin’s car at Druids, and then knocking Tom out wide at Graham Hill Bend. Tom fell down the order while Colin was able to continue on, despite bodywork rubbing on his right-front tyre causing concern. Colin then avoided a spinning car on the penultimate lap at Paddock Hill Bend, finishing an impressive fourth amid the drama, while Tom recovered to 15th. Unfortunately, the rain returned with a vengeance for the final race, with Colin and Tom battling through the tough conditions to finish ninth and 13th.

The results still meant that two of the BTCC’s three main titles were won, with BMW equalling the all-time record of five consecutive Manufacturers’ crowns and WSR claiming a 14th championship title. Colin Turkington said: “It’s been a positive weekend. We’ve raced well, and fought hard, but we just didn’t have the speed in the wet conditions. We had a quick car in the dry, but I really needed Race Three to be dry to have a proper shot at it. I’m still proud of what we’ve achieved. We’re Teams’ and Manufacturers’ champions, and second in the Drivers’. Of course it would have been nice to have won, but it wasn’t to be this year.” Tom Oliphant said: “The weather just wasn’t in our favour this weekend. In Race One we did a good job, but we just didn’t have the luck when the safety car came out and it got really, really wet. In Race Two, I was driving really well and had a great car, but just got taken out, and in Race Three I couldn’t’ see a thing from where we started. I think if I’d started nearer the front, I’d have had the pace to race up there. I’m really

Credit: Jakob Ebrey/BMW

pleased to have finished sixth in the championship. We’ve definitely achieved a lot this year, and now we can move on to next year in a positive way.”

Dick Bennetts, Team Principal,

said: “Our Manufacturers’ and Teams’ titles today are all down to the hard work of the team at WSR. It’s a proud moment to equal a record like this, and we couldn’t have done it without BMW. We’ve got a fantastic car; we’ve just got to work a bit harder on our wet set-up. In the dry, we’ve no issues, but in the wet - on occasions - we can’t quite get the balance right. Reliability has also been fantastic; we’ve only had one hiccup with Colin’s car, and one with Tom’s all year.”

motorsportnews

Inconsistency haunts the M8 GTE yet again at Laguna Seca…

The penultimate round of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season took place Laguna Seca in early November, with the race held over 2hrs and 40mins.

Qualifying – After some promising performances recently in both qualifying and races, the inconsistencies that have plagued the BMW Team RLL M8 GTEs all season struck again in qualifying, with both cars lacking pace and ultimately qualifying behind the Corvettes and Porsches in the final two places in class.

Race – It was obvious that the lack of pace displayed in qualifying had carried over into the race, with both cars lacking the speed to challenge the frontrunning Porsche 911 RSRs and the pair of Chevrolet Corvette C8.Rs. Both cars struggled all afternoon, whatever strategies the team tried. At the chequered flag, the #24 M8 GTE piloted by Krohn/Edwards finished 5th in class while the #26 De Phillippi/Spengler M8 GTE came home 6th and final place. The squabble at the front of the GTLM

The #25 M8 GTE driven by De Phillippi/Herta/Spengler showed great form and pace all weekend at Sebring, and with just minutes to go was leading and looking odds on to secure the win until it was rear-ended by a Ferrari 488 racing in the GTD Class, forcing it to pit for repairs.

The pace that was so obviously lacking at Laguna Seca a fortnight earlier magically returned at Sebring for the final race of the IMSA WeatherTech SportsCar Championship season, as both M8 GTEs put on a fine show in the 12H of Sebring.

Qualifying – Both cars had been quick in practise and as the qualifying session finished the #25 M8 GTE of De Phillippi/

Herta/Spengler was just pipped for pole position by the

Corvette C8.R. The #24 car of Krohn/Edwards/Farfus qualified just behind their teammates, securing 3rd spot on the grid. The much fancied Porsches were nowhere to be seen in qualifying.

Race – Both BMWs started quickly, and within a few laps the #25 M8 GTE managed to pass the Corvette C8.R and take the lead. The #24 car was also running well in 3rd place, before passing the Corvette and running 1-2 for a good few hours. The

Corvette then ran into reliability issues as the Porsches began to make their move, but they couldn’t match the pace of the #25

M8 GTE as the hours passed by.

Disaster then struck. With just 10 minutes of the race remaining the #25 M8 GTE had built up an 18 second lead and was looking odds on for a famous victory; then a skirmish

A lack of consistency yet again haunted the M8 GTE at Laguna Seca, with both cars totally off the pace both in qualifying and the race itself.

Class between the 911 RSR and the Corvette C8.R finally ended up with the Bamber/Vanthoor 911 RSR crossing the line first to

BMW so unlucky at Sebring...

secure the win for Porsche.

#24 M8 GTE drivers Jesse Krohn, Augusto Farfus and John Edwards celebrate their 3rd place finish in the 12H of Sebring.

between two cars in the GTD Class resulted in an off, with bits of carbon bodywork scattered over the track. This called for a safety car period while the marshals cleared the track. As the safety car peeled off into the pits the race resumed with 6 minutes remaining on the clock. As the #25 BMW M8 GTE braked to enter a bend, it was rear-ended by a Ferrari 488 GT3 running in the GTD Class. This resulted in an unscheduled pit stop for repairs which ruined their chances of taking the GTLM Class victory.

This let the pair of Porsche 911RSRs into the lead, which they held to the chequered flag, but the winning drivers admitted it was a fortuitous victory. The #24 M8 GTE followed home in 3rd place with the hastily patched up #25 M8 GTE managing to hold off the Corvette to finish 4th.

There was some cheer at race end, as BMW picked up the 2020 GTLM Driver’s title in the IMSA Michelin Endurance Cup - the four-race Michelin Endurance Cup represents the car’s standing during four endurance races covering 52 hours of competition. Edwards and Krohn also finished the season second overall in the GTLM Class driver’s championship.

Andy Priaulx at the helm of the RBM prepared E46 320i closely followed by the Schnitzer prepared car for Jörg Müller in the 2005 WTCC.

M4 GT4 scores double title

After winning the final round of the Italian GT Sprint Championship in Vallelunga, the Italian pairing of Francesco Guerra and Simone Riccitelli were crowned champions in the GT4 Pro-Am Class, driving an M4 GT4. Starting the race second in the overall standings, the duo did what they had to and were able to turn the tables in the final race and celebrate the title win.

After an exciting season in the ADAC GT4 Germany

Championship, the pairing of Gabriele Piana (ITA) and

Michael Schrey (GER) secured the title in the Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport M4 GT4 after winning the final round at Oschersleben. BMW’s M4 GT4 played a leading role in the technology transfer between real-world motorsport and sim racing in the 2020 season. The introduction of the car on the simulation platforms iRacing and Assetto Corsa Competizione created synergies between real-world and virtual racing as a livery contest and virtual track day with BMW M customer racing. BMW Motorsport SIM Racing followed all these projects with intense media coverage.

The digital version of the M4 GT4 made its debut on the simulation platform iRacing at the start of June. Over the course of the year, the platform Assetto Corsa Competizione also introduced the car. Building bridges between real-world and digital racing makes a great deal of sense in the case of a BMW M Customer Racing car such as the M4 GT4. To give potential customers the opportunity to experience the M4 GT4 in the race simulator, the first BMW Motorsport SIM Racing Track Day was held at the end of June 2020. A selection of BMW M Customer Racing drivers took to the track at the virtual Nürburgring and received tuition from well-known instructors

BMW splits from Schnitzer and RBM

BMW Motorsport shocked the motor racing world by announcing in December that it was parting ways with the Schnitzer and Racing Bart Mampaey teams. The rapid demise of the current DTM series has caused some serious ripples in the racing world, and it has been replaced by a series for GT3 cars but still racing under the DTM banner.

This news will be particularly disturbing to longtime BMW Motorsport fans who remember the exploits of the Schnitzer family and team fondly, winning many important races and championships for BMW over the past 50 years, including the first Touring Car World Championship in 1987, countless ETC and DTM titles, the 24 Hours of Le Mans in 1999 with the V12 LMR, the ALMS GT title with the M3 GTR and countless 24 hour victories at both Spa and the Nurburgring. The RBM Team brought BMW an ETC title in 2004 and followed that feat by winning three Touring Car World titles in ’05, ’06 and ’07 with Guernsey’s Andy Priaulx behind the wheel of the RBM

The BMW Team Italia M4 GT4 driven by Guerra and Riccitelli on its way to victory at Vallelunga, securing the GT4 Pro-Am category in the Italian GT Sprint Championship.

BMW’s synergy with sim racing

prepared E46 320i.

Virtual BMW M4 GT4s proved popular in the digital world as sim racing has become big business, partly fuelled by the global pandemic.

including BMW works driver Philipp Eng. The track day resulted in a number of real world M4 GT4 packages agreed for 2021, proving the worth of sim racing to BMW.