BMW Motorsport News – Issue 32/13.

Whether in the DTM, the American Le Mans Series, or countless other championships: week after week BMW teams and drivers around the world do battle for points, victories and titles. Away from the track too, members of the large BMW Motorsport family around the world are also creating headlines. The “BMW Motorsport News” allows us to regularly summarise all the action for you in a compact and informative manner. This way, you are always up to speed.

Japanese Super GT: BMW Z4 GT3 victorious in Fuji.

Nobuteru Taniguchi (JP) and Tatsuya Kataoka (JP), at the wheel of a BMW Z4 GT3, won the GT300 class at the race in Fuji (JP). In doing so, they claimed the first win of the season in the Japanese Super GT Championship for the GSR Hatsunemiku team. At the end of 62 laps, the duo crossed the finish line a comfortable 47 seconds ahead of their closest rivals. After six of the season’s eight races, Taniguchi and Kataoka are now fifth in the Drivers’ Championship on 42 points.

British GT Championship: Ecurie Ecosse maintains title hopes.

The British GT Championship will go down to the very last race. After the two races in Zandvoort (NL), Marco Attard (GB) and Oliver Bryant (GB) from the Ecurie Ecosse team remain in second place overall, still just half a point behind the leader Andrew Howard (GB). Attard and Bryant finished fifth at the wheel of their BMW Z4 GT3 in race one in Zandvoort. In the second race, they came home sixth. Steve Tandy (GB) and Dan Brown (GB) of the 888 Optimum Racing team finished runners-up in the opening race to claim their place on the podium. The title showdown will take place on 6th October in Donington (GB). The Dutch GT Championship and British GT Championship lined up together for one race weekend in Zandvoort. Ricardo van der Ende (NL) and Pieter-Christiaan van Oranje (NL), driving a BMW M3 GT4, were second in the GT4 class in race one.

24h Barcelona: sensational podium for MDM Motorsport.

The last major 24-hour race of the season in Barcelona ended with a sensational third place overall for the BMW 320d belonging to Dutch team MDM Motorsport. Rob de Laat (NL), Theo de Prenter (NL), Tristan Boorsma (NL) and Mark Bus (NL) produced a magnificent race and dominated the D2 diesel class. They also benefitted from problems with cars in the higher classes, which allowed them to surprise everyone by claiming a spot on the podium after 580 laps. Although they were lining up in one of the least-powerful classes, they ultimately finished ahead of many GT Cars in the overall standings. Victory went to the Mercedes SLS AMG GT3 run by the Hofor-Racing team.

French GT Tour: podium for TDS Racing in Magny-Cours.

Henry Hassid (FR) and Ludovic Badey (FR) finished runners-up in race one of the French GT Tour in Magny-Cours (FR) to claim their second podium of the season. The TDS Racing duo came home just four seconds behind the winners in their BMW Z4 GT3.

Andy Priaulx makes guest appearance in Australia.

BMW DTM driver Andy Priaulx (GB) will travel to Bathurst (AU) to drive in the “Supercheap Auto Bathurst 1000” for the fourth time in his career from 10th to 13th October. Priaulx will share the cockpit with fellow DTM driver Mattias Ekström (SE). “I just love the race, and am really looking forward to competing in it again,” said Priaulx. “It will be a lot of fun going from being rivals to team-mates.”

STCC: one-two for Göransson and Larsson.

Richard Göransson (SE) won the seventh round of the Swedish Touring Car Championship (STCC) in the Tierp Arena. He finished ahead of team-mate Fredrik Larsson (SE), who came home second to complete a one-two for the BMW Dealer Team. Göransson is second in the overall standings with 159 points.