BMW M Motorsport News, 12th September 2023

Our BMW M Motorsport News allows us to give you a regular overview of the race action in various championships around the world and any success enjoyed by the BMW M Motorsport teams.

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 21^st/22^nd 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.