In our BMW M Motorsport News, we regularly offer you a selection of photos as well as a compact and informative overview of the racing action in various championships worldwide and the successes of the BMW M Motorsport teams.
Laura Claesgens
BMW Group
Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport:
"The 2024 motorsport season is entering the home stretch – and for our BMW M Motorsport drivers and teams, it's about securing the last crucial points for the BMW M Sports Trophy Awards. In December, we will continue our tradition of more than 50 years and once again honour the most successful participants in the BMW M Sports Trophy. In addition, we will launch a new exciting project in 2025, for which there will be more information in the coming weeks. Looking back at the past racing events, I congratulate all the successful crews who have represented for BMW M Motorsport around the world with their victories and podium finishes."
Italian GT Championship (25.-27.10.): Two podium finishes to conclude the season.
The Italian GT Championship season came to an end last weekend with the finale of the Endurance Cup at Monza (ITA). The BMW Italia Ceccato Racing team celebrated two podium finishes in the Pro and Pro-Am classes with its two BMW M4 GT3s. In the Pro category, Stefano Comandini, Francesco Guerra (both ITA), and Philippe Denes (USA) drove the #7 BMW M4 GT3 to fourth overall, which also meant third place on the Pro podium. In the #8 sister car, the trio of Marco Cassarà, Francesco de Luca (both ITA), and Alfred Nilsson (SWE) mounted an impressive comeback from 17th on the grid to sixth place over the course of the three-hour race. They were able to celebrate their second-place finish in the Pro-Am class on the podium. In the overall Pro category standings, Comandini, Guerra, and Denes finished the season in third place. Cassarà, de Luca, and Nilsson ended up sixth in the Pro-Am overall standings.
NLS (19.10.): Seven class victories for BMW M Motorsport teams.
The Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS) resumed after a longer break with the penultimate race of the season, NLS 5, heading into the final stretch of 2024. The BMW M Motorsport teams secured a total of seven victories in various classes.
In the championship race, Sven Markert (GER), Ranko Mijatovic (SUI), and Toby Goodman (GBR) are among the front runners. They once again claimed victory in the BMW M 240i Racing Cup class with the #650 BMW M240i Racing from the Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhatten Wheels, keeping their chances alive to celebrate the overall title at the finale on 16th November.
The Adrenalin Motorsport Team Mainhatten Wheels was also successful in the highly competitive VT2-R+4WD class, with Daniel Zils, Philipp Leisen (both GER), and Moran Gott (GBR) driving the #1 BMW 330i. The trio of Jimmy Broadbent, Steve Brown (both GBR), and Manuel Metzger (SUI) won the SP8T class again with the #150 BMW M4 GT4. The victory in the V4 class went to Romano Schultz and Florian Kramer (both GER) in the #731 BMW 325i. In the VT3 class, Sebastian Tauber (GER) and Dominic Kulpovic (SUI) in the #461 BMW M2 took first place. The other winners were Ingo Oepen and Christian Kroger (both GER) in the SP4 class and Thomas Leyherr and Alexander Becker (both GER) in the BMW M2 CS Cup class.
During NLS 5, the new entry-level BMW M2 Racing car, which will be used from the 2026 season, also made its racing debut. The two BMW M works drivers Max Hesse and Jens Klingmann (both GER) put the new car through a successful first endurance test under racing conditions, gathering important insights for further development. The deployment, which saw Hesse and Klingmann start with number 301, was managed by the FK Performance Motorsport team.
Super GT Series (18.-20.10.): BMW M Team Studie excites with a comeback at Autopolis.
At the seventh round of the Japanese Super GT Series at Autopolis (JPN), BMW M works driver Bruno Spengler (CAN) and his teammates Seiji Ara (JPN) and Niklas Krütten (GER) thrilled fans with a fantastic comeback, narrowly missing the podium in fourth place.
The Autopolis conditions were anything but easy. Free practice had to be cancelled due to rain and dense fog. Later, a thunderstorm with heavy rain and stormy conditions led to the postponement of qualifying to Sunday morning for safety reasons. The trio in the #7 BMW M4 GT3 from BMW M Team Studie had to settle for 22nd place at the back of the field. However, in the turbulent three-hour race, which included four safety car periods, Spengler, Ara, and Krütten consistently worked their way up to fourth place.
"What a race! We started in 22nd place and finished fourth. The whole of BMW M Team Studie and my teammates Seiji and Niklas did a fantastic job. We also collected many important points for the team standings," said Spengler. With two races remaining, BMW M Team Studie is only 26 points behind the leaders in the team standings, keeping their title chances alive.
GT4 Australia (18.-20.10.): Successes at Sydney Motorsport Park.
The GT4 Australia visited Sydney Motorsport Park (AUS) for its fifth event of the season. There were further successes for the BMW M Motorsport teams and the BMW M4 GT4. John Bowe and Jacob Lawrence (both AUS) won the Saturday race with the #32 BMW M4 GT4 from Randall Racing, and on Sunday they stepped onto the podium again as second in their class. In the Pro-Am category, Ryder Quinn and Steve Jakic (both AUS) in the #3 BMW M4 GT4 from Thunder Buddies Racing took third place on the podium on Saturday.
IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (11.-12.10.): CarBahn Motorsports back on the podium.
Just a few weeks after their long-awaited first victory in the IMSA Michelin Pilot Challenge (IMPC), the CarBahn Motorsports team had another reason to celebrate. At the season finale, held as part of the Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta (USA), Sean McAlister and Jeff Westphal (both USA) in the #39 BMW M4 GT4 climbed onto the podium again, securing third place in the last race of the year. The Turner Motorsport team finished the season in the top-10 when Dillon Machavern and Robert Megennis (USA) came in tenth in the #95 BMW M4 GT4.
VP Racing SportsCar Challenge (11.-12.10.): Patrick Wilmot and Split Decision Motorsports second in the championship.
The final season races in the VP Racing SportsCar Challenge also took place as part of Petit Le Mans at Road Atlanta. In the GSX class, Patrick Wilmot (USA) from the Split Decision Motorsports team finished the year with a double podium. In the first race, he crossed the finish line in second place with the #88 BMW M4 GT4, and in the second race, he came in third. This secured Wilmot and the team the second place in both the drivers' and team championships in the GSX class.
