Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport:
“The BMW M4 GT3 sparkled in the hands of our customer teams this past
weekend. With victory in the British GT Championship and the double
win in the NLS, our teams Century Motorsport and Walkenhorst
Motorsport have positioned themselves well for the end-of-season race.
The BMW M4 GT4 also brought home more successes in the NLS, ADAC GT4
Germany, and the GT4 European Series. Not forgetting the many other
entrants in the NLS, who brought home an incredible 15 class wins
overall. Congratulations to all the teams and drivers, I look forward
to the many thrilling battles for titles in the coming weeks.”
—
Top topics in this newsletter:
- NLS: Perfect weekend for Walkenhorst Motorsport.
-
British GT Championship: Dan Harper and Darren Leung triumph
at Brands Hatch. - ADAC GT4 Germany: BMW M Motorsport teams with trio of podiums.
-
BMW M2 Cup: Leyton Fourie takes an important step in the
battle for the title.
—
NLS: Perfect weekend for Walkenhorst Motorsport.
There were two six-hour races on two days at the highlight of the
Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) season last weekend. The big winner
of the “12h Nürburgring” (GER) was the Walkenhorst Motorsport team.
Christian Krognes (NOR) and Jakub Giermaziak (POL) in the #34 BMW M4
GT3 won both races in impressive style. In the first race on Saturday,
the duo fought their way up the field from the final starting position
in their group to P1. Krognes and Giermaziak started Sunday’s race
from sixth on the grid, but it wasn’t long before they took the lead
and enjoyed a commanding win, finishing almost three minutes ahead of
their team-mates Niklas Krütten (GER) and Dylan Pereira (LUX) in the
#35 BMW M4 GT3. The crew of car number 34 are at the top of the team
standings in both the highest class, SP9 Pro, and in the NLS Speed
Trophy, with two races to go before the end of the season. In
Walkenhorst Motorsport’s Pro-Am car, BMW M works driver Charles Weerts
(BEL) made his GT3 debut at the Nordschleife. However, the #36 BMW M4
GT3 retired from both races.
The BMW M Motorsport teams celebrated a total of 15 class wins in the
two races with separate classifications at the weekend. In addition to
Walkenhorst Motorsport’s successes in the SP9 Pro category, it was the
two SP10 successes for the #187 BMW M4 GT4 of FK Performance
Motorsport that stood out in particular. With their two wins in the
VT2-R+4WD class, Philipp Leisen, Oskar Sandberg, and Daniel Zils (all
GER) of Adrenalin Motorsport Team Motec in the #1 BMW 330i defended
their lead in the NLS overall standings. The BMW M Motorsport teams
and drivers claimed further wins in the classes BMW M240i, BMW M2 CS,
V4, SP4, SP6 and H4. Samantha Tan (CAN) was one of the drivers at the
wheel of Schnitzelalm Racing’s BMW M240i Racing, to get her permit.
She and her crew won the race on Saturday and finished third on Sunday.
—
British GT Championship: Dan Harper and Darren Leung triumph
at Brands Hatch.
BMW M works driver Dan Harper and Darren Leung (both GBR) celebrated
their second win of the British GT Championship season in the race at
Brands Hatch (GBR) this past weekend. In the #91 BMW M4 GT3 of Century
Motorsport, the duo won with a lead of one second after a thrilling
finale. Harper pulled off the decisive overtaking manoeuvre on the
Aston Martin that ended the race in second place. Their second victory
of the season keeps Harper and Leung in the race for the title. With
149 points each, they are in second place in the overall standings, 13
points off the championship leader.
Century Motorsport also enjoyed success with the BMW M4 GT4 at Brands
Hatch. Michael Johnston and Chris Salkeld (both GBR) finished in third
place in the GT4 category, which also got them victory in the Pro-Am
classification. Their team-mates Carl Cavers and Lewis Plato (both
GBR) finished second in the Pro-Am class to clinch the double win.
Johnston and Salkeld have a clear lead over Cavers and Plato in the
Pro-Am overall standings, and in second place in the GT4 overall
standings, they are within reach of winning that title as well. The
season finale will be held at Donington Park (GBR) on
21st/22nd October.
—
ADAC GT4 Germany: BMW M Motorsport teams with trio of podiums.
The BMW M Motorsport teams brought home a total of three podium
positions in the two ADAC GT4 Germany races at the Sachsenring (GER).
Tim Reiter and Leon Wassertheurer (both GER) in the #5 BMW M4 GT4 of
Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport finished third on Saturday – with
their team-mates Gabriele Piana (ITA) and Marat Khayrov (KGZ) right
behind them. In the race on Sunday, Nico Hantke (GER) and Mex Jansen
(NED) in the #34 BMW M4 GT4 of Walkenhorst Motorsport finished in
second place. Mohan Ritson and Tom Wood (both GBR) of FK Performance
Motorsport finished third. A total of four BMW M4 GT4 made it into the
top 10 on Sunday, on Saturday there were three in the top 10.
—
BMW M2 Cup: Leyton Fourie takes an important step in the
battle for the title.
With two further wins at the penultimate race weekend of the BMW M2
Cup season at the Sachsenring (GER), Leyton Fourie (RSA) is a big step
closer to winning the title. In the BMW M2 CS Racing with car number
46, Fourie prevailed with a 1.3-second lead over Max Rosam (GER) and
Bart Horsten (AUS) on Saturday. And Fourie enjoyed an even more
commanding win on Sunday, finishing more than five seconds ahead of
his rivals. This time Horsten finished second and Rosam was third. In
the overall standings, Fourie has 167 points to his name ahead of the
season finale at the Red Bull Ring (AUT) in two weeks, giving him a
lead of 17 points over Horsten.
—
ADAC GT Masters: Podium for Schubert Motorsport.
The ADAC GT Masters also held two races at the race weekend at the
Sachsenring (GER), and Ben Green (GBR) and Eduardo Coseteng (PHI) in
the #20 BMW M4 GT3 of Schubert Motorsport celebrated a podium position
with second place on Saturday. The duo finished fourth on Sunday.
—
GT4 European Series: W&D Racing Team celebrates two podium positions.
The GT4 European Series was at the Hockenheimring (GER) on the first
weekend of September. Where W&D Racing Team with the two drivers
Paolo and Davide Meloni (both SMR) had double reason to celebrate.
Father and son finished second in the Am class with the #53 BMW M4 GT4
on Saturday and followed this up with another podium position for
third place on Sunday. The BMW M Motorsport teams didn’t quite make it
onto the podium in the overall classification this time. The best
positions went to Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport in ninth place on
Saturday and Borusan Otomotiv Motorsport in eighth place on Sunday.
