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  • JACKSON THRILLS A RAIN-SOAKED CROFT
    Created: Saturday, May 31, 2008 Author: Jeff
    (want to see the car and driver? click here) BMW Dealer Team UK driver Mat Jackson thrilled the crowds today as he claimed a superb second place finish in his Accident Exchange-backed BMW after starting from 18th on the grid in the second race of the HiQ MSA British Touring Car Championship at Croft, North Yorks. Jackson put the disappointment of the first race firmly behind him for race two. Initially, Jackson moved up two places as he commenced his masterful drive through the field and, with his sights firmly set on a top ten finish was running in eleventh place by the end of lap four. As the race unfurled Jackson firmly stamped his authority on proceedings demonstrating the superior handling, grip and acceleration of his BMW230si, which enabled him to reel off a series of stunning overtaking manoeuvres. By lap six Jackson was in ninth with Jason Plato ahead, who he soon passed. He then hunted down Adam Jones, passing him momentarily at the hairpin, Jones was unruffled and seized b...
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  • Augusto Farfus claims his maiden pole position for BMW in Pau.
    Created: Friday, May 30, 2008 Author: Jeff
    BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus (BR) will start the seventh round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship from pole position. At the “Circuit de Pau Ville” in South-western France the 24-year-old beat the rest of the 25-strong field by setting a best time of 1:21.960 minutes. It’s the first time this year a BMW 320si WTCC car will start the first race of a WTCC weekend from pole. At the same time, this is Farfus’ maiden pole position as a BMW works driver.   Defending champion BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB) was seventh, 0.719 seconds behind his fellow BMW driver. Farfus’ team-mate, Jörg Müller (DE) clocked the tenth-fastest lap of the afternoon. BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Alessandro Zanardi (IT) and Félix Porteiro (ES) were 12th and 15th respectively.   “This was a tough qualifying,” said Farfus after an exciting session, which got underway 30 minutes late due to crash barrier repairs. “Th...
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  • Qualifying Formula BMW Europe: Round 3 + 4
    Created: Friday, May 30, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Successful qualifying for Juncadella: the Spaniard claims two poles. Zolder, 31st May 2008. Formula BMW Europe driver Daniel Juncadella (ES/Eurointernational) put in a compelling performance during qualifying at Zolder in Belgium. The 17-year-old Spaniard will be starting the third and fourth races of the season (Sunday 11.50 h and Sunday 16.45 h) from pole position. On the 3.977-kilometre course, Juncadella managed to assert himself against Esteban Gutierrez (MX/Josef Kaufmann Racing), relegating the 16-year-old Mexican and his team-mate Marco Wittmann (DE/Josef Kaufmann Racing) to second and third places on the grid. What decides the grid line-up for the fourth race of the season is the second-best time of each driver in qualifying. That puts Juncadella and Wittmann in first and second place on the grid. Gutierrez and David Mengesdorf (DE/Mücke Motorsport) will make up the second row. The leader of the overall rankings, Adrien Tambay (FR/Eifelland Racing), claimed tenth place...
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  • BMW Team Germany’s Augusto Farfus comes fifth in Valencia qualifying.
    Created: Thursday, May 29, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Augusto Farfus (BR) was the only BMW driver able to secure a top-ten grid position in qualifying for the ninth round of the FIA World Touring Car Championship in Valencia (ES). With a time of 1:45.080 minutes the 25-year-old was fifth fastest for BMW Team Germany. Farfus finished 0.666 seconds behind SEAT’s Gabriele Tarquini, who secured pole position for the first of the two sprint races on Sunday.   The first phase of qualifying was a close affair, with the top 14 drivers covered by just a second after 20 minutes. Unlike Farfus, the other four BMW national team drivers narrowly missed out on advancing into the decisive “Q2” session. Farfus’ team-mate, Jörg Müller (DE), came 11th, just 88 thousands of a second off P10, which would have meant taking part in the second leg of qualifying. Behind Müller, BMW Team Italy-Spain’s Alessandro Zanardi (IT) and Sergio Hernández (ES) and Andy Priaulx (GB) from BMW Team UK finished 12th, 1...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Canadain GP - Preview
    Created: Thursday, May 29, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Although the Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal is also labelled a street circuit, one could hardly imagine a greater contrast to the Monaco course. When Formula One gathers for the Canadian Grand Prix on 8th June, there will be no sign of the extra wings that adorned the cars in the Principality. The picturesquely sited island circuit in the mighty St Lawrence River is no permanent race track either, but it is respectably fast. To boost speed along the straights, the aerodynamic set-up is geared towards relatively low downforce. In 2007, Nick Heidfeld claimed the first second-placed finish here for the young BMW Sauber F1 Team. Robert Kubica, in the meantime, has secured the team’s latest podium place by finishing second in Monaco. The team statistics now show four third places and four second places. This season has seen one or other driver up on the podium in four out of the six races so far. Nobody in the team, of course, will ever forget those moments of stunned shock f...
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  • BimmerWorld Builds Momentum at Lime Rock World Challenge Double-Header
    Created: Thursday, May 29, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Dublin, Virginia-based BimmerWorld Racing emerged from rounds four and five of the 2008 SPEED World Challenge Touring Car events at Lime Rock Park with valuable championship points earned for all three drivers. In the unique 'two races in three days' format held over Memorial Day weekend at the Lakeville, Connecticut track, drivers Seth Thomas, Nick Esayian, and James Clay found mixed fortunes between the first race held on Saturday and the second race held on Monday. Seth Thomas, starting 5th on Saturday and 10th on Monday, had a reversal of fortune, finishing 10th on Saturday and 4th on Monday. “Monday’s race was awesome. The BimmerWorld E90 was the top finishing BMW along with having a great battle with the E46 of Bill Auberlen for half the race, but our E90 came out on top of the battle. A bit of bad luck on Saturday kept Thomas from a stronger finish. "I had a better car than the results show and I was even helped off the track from a very overzealous driver on ...
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  • TURNER BMWs CHARGE UP LIME ROCK
    Created: Thursday, May 29, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Turner Motorsport BMWs were at the head of the pack in this past weekend's Koni Challenge sports car races at Lime Rock Park. The #97 M3 started from pole and led the first 50 minutes of the GS class race on Monday while the #95 330i started from inside the top ten and ran as high as third. It was an overall positive weekend for the home team – with plenty of speed from the two Turner Motorsport M3s and the 330i. The GS race will be shown on The Speed Channel this coming Saturday, May 31 at 8:00pm ET.   Bryan Ortiz captured the pole position for the GS class in the H&R Springs/Nova Derm/OCG/GoToPuertoRico.com BMW M3. He broke the track record established by Will Turner in the same car in 2007. Ortiz led the first 44 laps of the race and then turned the car over to Lime Rock hot shoe, Don Salama. However, shortly after getting in the car, Salama was hit from behind in Turn 1 causing heavy damage to his M3. Salama was able to continue racing the battered car but with sev...
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  • Interview with BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Robert Kubica. “I don’t have to cope with anything.”
    Created: Wednesday, May 28, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Six races into the 2008 season BMW Sauber F1 Team driver Robert Kubica lies fourth in the drivers’ world championship with 32 points to his tally. In a week he will return to where he escaped a horrendous accident a year ago. You were one of the few drivers able to finish the Monaco Grand Prix without making any mistakes. Does this give you special satisfaction? Robert Kubica: Not really. Okay, it was a difficult race, especially as there was a lot of water on the track, much more than we were expecting. The conditions were changing constantly, and this was also the case with regard to what tyres were best, therefore all the time we were having to adapt very quickly. I made some small mistakes – two or three times I thought I would end up in the barriers - but eventually I was able to control the car. It was, in fact, a very difficult race and I’m happy I adopted the right approach by being consistent and keeping up a good speed. With regard to the strategy, it wa...
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  • Automatic Racing Wins! Thornton and Segal Victorious at Lime Rock
    Created: Tuesday, May 27, 2008 Author: Jeff
    LIME ROCK, Conn. – Automatic Racing’s Jep Thornton and Jeff Segal scored their first career wins in the KONI Challenge Series during Monday’s Grand Sport race at Lime Rock. It also marks the first win for Automatic Racing since their formation in 2002. The perfect combination of driving skill, car preparation and pit strategy came together to give Thornton and Segal the win in the No. 09 Automatic Racing BMW M3. The reigning series champions earned their title last year without notching a victory, so they were ready to taste the champagne. “I’m thrilled – words can’t describe how I feel for the team, Jeff and myself. After winning the championship it’s nice to validate ourselves with a win,” commented Thornton. At the beginning of the season, Thornton and Segal both said that their E46 M3 performed even better than it did last year, and the team has spent the last four months perfecting the car, which is sponsored by the Imported...
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  • After a two-week gap WTCC takes the BMW national teams to Pau.
    Created: Monday, May 26, 2008 Author: Jeff
    This weekend, the BMW national team drivers contest the first street races of the FIA World Touring Car championship season. The “Circuit de Pau Ville“ in France will be the venue of this year’s second European WTCC event. The first two rounds on European soil were held last week at Valencia (ES). Just a fortnight after the Pau races, the season will continue in Brno (CZ). In the second of three events staged within four weeks, BMW Team Germany driver, Jörg Müller (DE), takes the highest handicap weight on board his car. Having finished fifth and fourth in Spain, the German is sixth in the championship and will be handicapped by 35 kilograms. BMW Team UK’s Andy Priaulx (GB), currently fifth in the drivers’ ranking, will have to cope with 27 extra kilos. The success weights for BMW Team Italy-Spain driver, Félix Porteiro (ES), and Müller’s team-mate, Augusto Farfus (BR), are obviously lower: nine and three kilograms respectively...
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  • IT'S TWO YEARS IN A ROW FOR TURNER M3 ON POLE
    Created: Sunday, May 25, 2008 Author: Jeff
    LIME ROCK PARK, CT - For the second year in a row, a Turner Motorsport M3 sits on the pole for the Koni Challenge race at Lime Rock Park. Don Salama and Bryan Ortiz will start from the top spot in the #97 BMW M3 sponsored by H&R Springs, Nova Derm, OCG, and GoToPuertoRico.com.   Don Salama is no stranger to the 1.5 mile, 7-turn Connecticut road course - racing here in the BMW Car Club series, World Challenge, and the Koni Challenge series. But it was his teammate Bryan Ortiz, in his first event at Lime Rock, who gave the home-town Turner team their second pole in as many seasons. His time of 58.663 was the fastest among the 35 cars entered for Monday's Koni Challenge GS race. It also broke the qualifying lap record, set in 2007 with Will Turner driving the same car.   Matt Alhadeff and Bill Auberlen in the #96 Motul Lubricants/H&R Springs BMW M3 will start the GS race from the 21st position.   Monday's 2,5 hour Koni Challenge GS race will be at 9:45a ET. Li...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Monaco GP - Race
    Created: Saturday, May 24, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Monte Carlo (MC). Finishing second in the most prestigious Grand Prix of the year, Robert Kubica made sure he took part in the podium celebrations held in the principality’s famous winners’ lounge. It was the team’s fourth podium this season and their eighth overall. Kubica’s team mate, Nick Heidfeld, who has four podiums to his credit, had a black Sunday. Having started from 12th he had improved to fifth when Fernando Alonso (Renault) hit the side of his car on lap 14. In the end Heidfeld brought his damaged F1.08 to the chequered flag in 14th and last place. Robert Kubica: 2nd BMW Sauber F1.08-03 / BMW P86/8 Fastest Lap: 1:17.933 min on lap 75 (5th fastest overall) “I am very happy with the result. I didn’t expect us to have the pace to finish second. It was a great race with very difficult driving conditions, and we did not expect such heavy rain. I had visibility and tyre problems throughout the whole race. I was trying to do as few mistak...
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  • TMS 330i STARTS FROM TOP TEN
    Created: Friday, May 23, 2008 Author: Jeff
    LIME ROCK PARK, CT - Koni Challenge drivers Matt Bell and VJ Mirzayan will start from the eighth spot in today's two-and-half hour ST race at Lime Rock Park. The duo are driving the #95 H&R Springs/Borla Exhaust BMW 330i, prepared by Turner Motorsport. The green flag for the ST race flies at 3:00p ET. Bell and Mirzayan are both West Coast racers who had never been to the rolling Lime Rock track. Their time of 1:01.204 was the eighth fastest of 48 cars. "We have a really good car here this weekend thanks to the efforts and experience of the Turner Motorsport team," says 330i driver Matt Bell. "We're starting from inside the top ten on a very competitive and busy track and looking forward to showing the crowd here what we're capable of." Today's Koni Challenge ST race rolls off at 3:00p ET. Live Timing and Scoring is available on KoniChallenge.com. About Turner Motorsport. Turner Motorsport is the leading BMW tuner in North America, bringing technology and exp...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Monaco GP - Qualifying
    Created: Friday, May 23, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Monte Carlo (MC). Robert Kubica qualified fifth for the Monaco Grand Prix. For his team mate a sequence came to a stop: for 28 consecutive races Nick Heidfeld had qualified in the top ten, but in Monaco he only came 13th. A red flag after an accident for David Coulthard robbed him of his last opportunity to get a top ten position. Light rain in the morning gave a taste of what a wet race would be like in Monaco. For Kubica and Heidfeld the third practice session was trouble free. Kubica especially dealt well with these tricky conditions. Robert Kubica: BMW Sauber F1.08-03 / BMW P86/8 Qualifying 5th, 1:16.171 min (3rd Practice: 5th, 1:17.687 min) “Again we showed we have a good pace. I was pushing on every single lap of qualifying and this was all I could do today. Unfortunately on my last flying lap I had Lewis Hamilton in front of me. He did not hold me up, but whenever you have another car in front of you there is some kind of a risk. On my out lap I tried to widen th...
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  • BMW Sauber F1 Team - Monaco GP - Practice
    Created: Wednesday, May 21, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Monte Carlo (MC). Both BMW Sauber F1 Team drivers, Robert Kubica and Nick Heidfeld, had a troublefree second practice session in preparation for the world’s most famous Grand Prix, and they stayed well away from Monte Carlo’s crash barriers. In the first session Heidfeld was forced to park his F1.08 next to the Café de Paris due to an engine failure. For the second session he had a fresh engine, which the regulations allow up to Saturday. Robert Kubica: BMW Sauber F1.08-03 / BMW P86/8 1st Practice: 6th, 1:16.834 min / 2nd Practice: 6th, 1:16.296 min “The two practice sessions were quite ok today. It was a very busy Thursday and we covered a lot of laps. We now have to see how we can improve the car for Saturday.” Nick Heidfeld: BMW Sauber F1.08-05 / BMW P86/8 1st Practice: 14th, 1:18.263 min / 2nd Practice: 11th, 1:16.426 min “In the first session I realized the engine was losing power, so then looked to find a good spot to stop. O...
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  • Automatic Racing Ready to Celebrate Memorial Day with a Podium at Lime Rock
    Created: Tuesday, May 20, 2008 Author: Jeff
    ORLANDO, Fla. – After a long break in the Grand-Am KONI Challenge schedule, Automatic Racing is ready to get back into action during this weekend’s Grand Sport class race at Lime Rock Park in Connecticut. Jeff Segal and Jep Thornton have been testing the No. 09 Automatic Racing BMW M3, and they’re ready to continue defending their ’07 championship. This is the first time the series has been on track since the season opener at Daytona International Speedway in January, where they drove to a fourth-place finish. Segal and Thornton finished sixth in last year’s Lime Rock race, and the solid result bumped them up to second in the driver points, the first stop on the way to their championship. “It was a pretty rough race last year with a lot of drama on the track,” said Thornton. “This year, we hope to stay clean and get another good finish, but this time without the close calls!” Nick Longhi and Joe Masessa are back in the No. 90 M3....
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  • TURNER MOTORSPORT TO RACE 4 BMWs IN 4 RACES AT LIME ROCK THIS WEEKEND
    Created: Monday, May 19, 2008 Author: Jeff
    AMESBURY, MA - Turner Motorsport BMWs return to Lime Rock Park this weekend for the Grand-Am - Koni Challenge and Speed World Challenge Touring Car series. The Turner squad has won multiple times at Lime Rock in both series and will be looking to build on a Lime Rock win streak stretching back to 2004. Lime Rock is the home track for Turner Motorsport. Team owner Will Turner grew up in nearby Canton, CT. In recent years, the home track environment has suited the Turner BMWs well – 5 wins (including 4 since 2004), 5 poles, 7 podiums, and 21 top ten finishes. For 2008, Turner Motorsport is attacking the annual Memorial Day sports car races on nearly all fronts - two BMW M3s and a BMW E46 330i in the usual Koni Challenge GS and ST classes. They've also "un-retired" the championship-winning BMW 325i for the pair of Speed Touring Car races this weekend. Will Turner, Team Owner: "We had a long break from Daytona in January and amid all the testing, building new BMW E9...
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  • Gabby Chaves visited the Malaysian Sepang F1 Circuit
    Created: Monday, May 19, 2008 Author: Jeff
    A second time within two month Atlantic Racing Team and Columbian Driver Gabby Chaves visited the Malaysian Sepang F1 Circuit, but this time within the Asian Festival of Speed (AFOS) series. And yes - a Festival it was indeed! Great organization on part of MAL, BARC and FBMW - it could have been only better if intentional punting would stop as, unfortunately for Gabby and another competitor, two races were spoiled for them due to contact. "Unsportsmanlike methods are not what Atlantic Racing Team and their drivers are about. No need for this as the car is fast and Gabby is one of the fastest on the track - in dry or in wet conditions as all have witnessed this past weekend," declares Ingo Strackerjan, Team Manager, and he further explains; "We had an absolutely terrific weekend, all in all and not having to focus on other teams and their driving methods. We can absolutely say that Gabby and the team performed nearly flawless. Without the punting we would...
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  • Formula BMW Pacific - Round 5 Results. Nara triumphs to become first ever Japanese Formula BMW winne
    Created: Saturday, May 17, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Sepang, Malaysia – Ryuichi Nara (Team E-Rain/19) took victory in Round 5 of Formula BMW Pacific today, and entered the history books as the first ever Japanese racer to win a Formula BMW race. Nara took the lead from his team mate and pole-sitter Sean McDonagh (19/USA) and never looked back, driving a perfect 20-lap race to take the chequered flag. Second was points-leader Ross Jamison of Hong Kong (18/Meritus), who strengthened his position at the top of the leaderboard, with a disappointed McDonagh taking the final podium place. Said Nara, who believes his luck has now definitely turned: “I was a little tense and nervous at the beginning, but felt better and better as the race went on. I didn’t feel any pressure from Ross (Jamison) as I just didn’t look in my mirrors!” Jamison now has a 23 point lead over second-placed Simon Moss (16/RSA/Mahara). Disappointingly the Formula BMW Junior was unable to take the start of Round 5 as his team continue to work...
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  • Formula BMW Pacific - Round 6 Results. McDonagh scores maiden win.
    Created: Saturday, May 17, 2008 Author: Jeff
    Sepang, Malaysia – American Sean McDonagh (18/Team E-Rain) triumphed in the wet today to take his first Formula BMW Pacific victory in Round 6, seizing the lead from team mate and winner of Round 5, Ryuichi Nara of Japan (19). Guest driver Kazeem Manzur (16/GBR/Mahara) took the final podium place, setting the fastest lap of the race. Formula BMW Junior Marlon Stöckinger (17/PHI/Eurasia Motorsport) was 4th overall, taking his second Rookie Cup win of the weekend. Arvin Roslan (18/Mahara) was the top Malaysian finisher, crossing the line in 5th. Championship leader going in to Round 6, Hong Kong’s Ross Jamison (18/Meritus), ended his race unhurt but in the barrier after an error while leading the race. Despite this, Jamison still leads the Driver Classification with 82 points, but McDonagh’s win promotes him to 2nd on the leaderboard just 11 points behind. Formula BMW Junior Simon Moss (16/RSA/Mahara) is now third in the Driver Classification, and holds his lead ...
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