BMW M Motorsport News, 22nd May 2024.

Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport:

“The success stories of our BMW M Motorsport teams thankfully continue around the world. The BMW M4 GT3 had an impressive weekend in the GT World Challenge Europe at Misano and was also at the top of the podium in the USA. The same goes for the BMW M4 GT4. It was unbeatable at both Misano and in Austin. Additionally, it’s enjoyable to see the BMW M2 CS Racing continue to set the standard in TC America. It’s something quite special to see how high-class BMW M Motorsport is represented in Automotive Gaming as well. BMW M Team Redline celebrated two extremely prestigious victories in one weekend. The fact that the reigning Formula 1 World Champion was behind the wheel of the virtual BMW M4 GT3 for one of those wins is, of course, a great thing. Congratulations to all the winners of the past weeks!”

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GTWC America (17^th-19^th May): ST Racing with two class victories in Austin.

The impressive success streak of ST Racing in the Fanatec GT World Challenge America powered by AWS continues. In the two races at the Circuit of the Americas in Austin (USA), BMW M works driver Neil Verhagen (USA) and Samantha Tan (CAN) celebrated the Pro-Am class victory in both races with the #38 BMW M4 GT3. Finishing second and third, they also made it onto the overall podium both times. Verhagen, as at Sebring (USA), had once again secured pole position in his qualifying session. BMW M works driver Robby Foley and Justin Rothberg (both USA) finished second in the Pro-Am category in their Turner Motorsport BMW M4 GT3 in the second race. Third place in the Pro class went to the ST Racing duo Bill Auberlen and Varun Choksey (both USA) in both runs.

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GT/GT4/TC America (17^th-19^th May): Victories for the BMW M4 GT4 and the BMW M2 CS Racing.

In GT4 America, the victory in the Endurance race at the Circuit of the Americas went to the #97 BMW M4 GT4 from Random Vandals Racing. Kevin Boehm and Kenton Koch (both USA) had more than a half-minute lead over their competitors after 74 laps. In the Pro-Am and Am classes, victory also went to a BMW M4 GT4. James Walker Jr. and Tyler McQuarrie (both USA) triumphed for the BimmerWorld team in the Pro-Am category. In the Am class, Paul Sparta and Kris Wilson (both USA) from Random Vandals Racing and Nicholas Shanny and Chris Walsh (both USA) from Carrus Callas Raceteam even secured a one-two result for the BMW M4 GT4.

In TC America, Chris Walsh once again set the standard. He won both races in Austin in the Carrus Callas Raceteam BMW M2 CS Racing car. Second place in both runs went to Lucas Catania (USA) from Team Rigid Speed. In the first race, Aaron Kaplan (USA) from Kaplan Racing Systems completed the 1-2-3 for the BMW M2 CS Racing.

In GT America, Justin Rothberg competed for Turner Motorsport in the BMW M4 GT3. He finished in fifth and fourth place, narrowly missing the podium each time.

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GT4 European Series (17^th-19^th May): Lessennes and van der Ende win at Misano.

Benjamin Lessennes (BEL) and Ricardo van der Ende (NED) celebrated their first season victory in the GT4 European Series at Misano (ITA). In the second race, the Belgian-Dutch duo from Team L’Espace Bienvenue triumphed in the #17 BMW M4 GT4 after a real thriller in the Silver Class. Third place went to Yağiz Gedik (TUR) and Pedro Ebrahim Carvalho (BRA) in the #11 BMW M4 GT4, completing the double podium for BMW M Motorsport on Sunday. The day before, there was reason to celebrate in the Pro-Am category when Gregory Guilvert and Antoni de Barn (both FRA) finished third in the #317 BMW M4 GT4, thus celebrating the class podium for Team Chazel Technologie Course in Emilia-Romagna on Saturday.

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ESL R1 (17^th-19^th May): BMW M Team Redline and Bennett win the opener.

The 2024 season is also picking up speed on the virtual racetrack for BMW M Motorsport. On Friday, the second edition of the ESL R1 Championship started with its first event at the Daytona International Speedway. The three BMW M Teams BS+COMPETITION, MOUZ, and Redline are competing in a total of six events on the “Rennsport” simulation platform for prize money totaling 500,000 US dollars. The grand finale will take place at the Esports World Cup in Riyadh (KSA) at the end of August. At the start of the season, two drivers at the wheel of virtual BMW M4 GT3s made it to the final of the last twelve. The victory went to Luke Bennett (GBR) while his Team Redline team-mate and last year’s champion Sebastian Job (GBR) reached fifth place. The second round of the Team Championship will take place next Friday.

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iRacing 24h Nürburgring (17^th-19^th May): Triumph for BMW M Team Redline with F1 champion in a double role.

For the fourth time in the last five races, victory at the iRacing 24h Nürburgring event went to an official BMW M Team. After 24 hours, this time BMW M Team Redline with drivers Chris Lulham (GBR), Diogo Pinto (POR), Max Verstappen (NED), and Florian Lebigre (FRA) triumphed at the virtual “Green Hell.” The quartet drove a flawless race and controlled the action from the lead early on. It looked like BMW M Team BS+COMPETITION could secure a 1-2 for BMW M Teams, but an accident for the “Zebras” early on Sunday morning dashed all podium chances. Curiously, Verstappen was competing simultaneously at the Emilia-Romagna Grand Prix at Imola (ITA), where he secured pole position and the race win. For him and BMW M Team Redline, it was the second overall victory at this event after 2021.

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ESET Cup Series (17^th-19^th May): Victories and podium finishes at the Red Bull Ring.

The second race weekend of the ESET Cup Series at the Red Bull Ring (AUT) ended with a GT3 class victory for Antal Zsigo (SVK) in the Trevor Racing #500 BMW M4 GT3 and additional podium finishes. Zsigo finished third overall in the second sprint race, which meant first place in his class. In the first sprint race, Zsigo finished second in the GT3 category. For Gregor Zsigo (SVK), who competed in the BMW M6 GT3, second place in the Endurance and third in the second sprint race were recorded. In the GT4 class, Rudolf Beňo (SVK) finished second in both sprint races with his Aries Racing BMW M4 GT4. He achieved the same result alongside team-mate Richard Gonda (SVK) in the Endurance race.

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GT4 France (10^th-12^th May): Second season event at Lédenon.

At the second race weekend of GT4 France at Lédenon (FRA), BMW M Motorsport teams narrowly missed the overall podium. In the first race, Carla Debard and Simon Gachet (both FRA) in the BMW M4 GT4 from Debard Automobiles By Racetivity finished fourth. The same position was achieved in the second race by Natan Bihel and Paul Lanchere (both FRA) from VSF Sports – Amplitude automobiles. Two podium finishes were celebrated for the team in the Am class. Gregory Curson Faessel and Florian Teillais (both FRA) finished second and third in their BMW M4 GT4s.

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BTCC (10^th-12^th May): Dominant double victory for Colin Turkington.

Colin Turkington (GBR) and Team BMW experienced an almost perfect weekend at the second round of the British Touring Car Championship 2024 (BTCC) on the short Indy Circuit at Brands Hatch (GBR). First, Turkington secured pole position in the #20 BMW 330e M Sport, then followed up with dominant victories in the first two races. In the first run, he finished almost seven seconds ahead of the rest of the field, and in the second race, his lead was over three seconds despite a safety car period. Turkington had to start the third race from eleventh due to the partially reversed starting order and finished eighth. As the driver who collected the most points over the weekend, he moved up to second place in the championship standings.

Turkington’s Team BMW team-mate, Adam Morgan (GBR), finished fourth in the second race, and outside the top-10 in the other two. Jake Hill (GBR) from Team Laser Tools Racing with MB Motorsport managed a comeback from twelfth to fourth place in the first race. In the second race, he retired with damaged steering after several ramming incidents by competitors. He thus had to start from the back in the third race but still managed to finish twelfth. In the drivers’ standings, Turkington is second after two of ten race events of the season, Hill is fourth with Morgan tenth. In the manufacturers’ standings, BMW continues to lead.