Official Release: BMW can look back at a race weekend with plenty of victories and podiums: At the Lausitzring (DE) Bruno Spengler (CA) celebrated the first BMW victory in the DTM for 20 years in only the second race of BMW’s comeback season. It was not only the BMW DTM teams, however, that experienced a successful race this weekend. The same goes for many BMW customer teams that were on duty in various categories using a variety of models.
All of us racing fans can thank Martin Birkmann, former head of BMW Product Planning and Strategy as well as BMWNA Motorsport, for giving us the E92 M3 GT(2) and subsequently all of its success. Martin’s a special guy and has great ambitions for racing, he believed in the M3 GT(2) project and fought tooth an nail for it. He never was able to really enjoy the success the cars have had as his title changed and he was back in Germany when the team began to truly ring in the wins. Getting the money to re-establish BMWNA racing after the years of layoff from the E46 M3 GTR era was not easy. Martin was persistent- establish a fund and the project was green-lighted.
With BMW readying both its new 3 Series (F30) and the M3 DTM car, folks at BMW PR have decided it’s a good time to take a look back at the racing history of the model.
Official Release: Over the 5 generations since its launch, the BMW 3 Series has enjoyed a most impressive career. This applies to its market success, but also especially to its career in motorsports. During the past 35 years, the 3 Series models with their characteristic compact dimensions, dynamic engines and sporty suspension have contributed considerably towards dynamic performance and the brand’s excellent reputation on the racetrack. With such attributes, BMW’s midrange model is ideally suited for successful use in motorsports in particular. With its return in 2012 to the DTM, a top motorsport category, BMW intends to replicate its earlier successes with the BMW M3 DTM now currently under development.
The 2011 Le Mans was a tough for BMW but in the end, the team didn’t come away empty handed. While clearly BMW Motorsports wanted (and had expected) more than a 3rd place finish in the GTE class, it’s still something to be proud of. So with that said we at BF would like to send out a congrats to the entire team and everyone at BMW who was a part of the best BMW finished at Le Mans in a dozen years.
Official Release: Twelve years after the BMW V12 LMR achieved its triumphant overall victory, BMW Motorsport is back on the podium at the Le Mans (FR) 24 Hours: In the hard-fought LM GTE class, Andy Priaulx (GB), Dirk Müller (DE) and Joey Hand (US) finished third in the no. 56 BMW M3 GT. Final-stint driver Hand crossed the finish line at the “Circuit de la Sarthe” after 313 thrilling laps and having covered a distance of over 4,200 kilometres.
Official Release: BMW Motorsport secured excellent grid positions for the 24-hour race in Le Mans (FR). In the third qualifying session, Augusto Farfus (BR) set the fastest time in the LM GTE class, recording a 3:57.592 minutes lap in the no. 55 BMW M3 GT. This meant pole position for the 27-year-old and his fellow BMW drivers, Jörg Müller (DE) and Dirk Werner (DE). The second BMW M3 GT (number 56) will tackle the 79th running of the endurance classic from third on the grid. Andy Priaulx (GB) had posted this car’s best lap with a time of 3:58.426 minutes during Wednesday’s first qualifying session.
No your eyes aren’t deceiving you. Those are a radical set of new wheels BMW Motorsport has developed for Le Mans. The wheels are aero specific, light and less drag than conventional wheels seen in both Europe and in ALMS. They increase top speed for tracks that have long straights and are designed to counter the increased surface area the E92 has in the front compared to the competition.
BMW Motorsport is hard at work today putting the #56 back together after Andy Prilaux’s heavy crash and the end the 2nd qualifying sessions yesterday at Le Mans. And now we video of the incident. From what we can gather it looks like the Andy lost control of the car due to hitting the inside curbing which subsequently upset the balance of the car.
Joey Hand talks about the qualifying results for the BMW M3 GT #56 tonight at the 24 Hours of Le Mans. The team had a setback today with a crash in the second qualifying session but the car will be ready for the green flag on Saturday.
BMW M3 GTs are well positioned for the race on Saturday in P1 (#55) & P3 (#56).
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Sections: LeMans, Motorsport, WTCC May 6th, 2012 3 Comments 
