Schubert Motorsport Wins at The ‘Ring

The Nürburgring 24-hour race is one of the biggest races of the year for BMW M Motorsport, but there’s a lot of preparation that goes into getting ready for that race. Teams that plan to compete at the big dance in June usually compete in the Nürburgring Endurance Series (NLS for Nürburgring Langstrecken Series), which holds four shorter races before the 24-hour race in mid-May.

BMW won an NLS four-hour race in March, with victory going to the #99 ROWE Racing M4 GT3 EVO of Dan Harper and Jordan Pepper, after the winning Mercedes-AMG was disqualified for using too many sets of tires. BMW team Schubert Motorsport followed that victory up with another victory in another NLS four-hour race this past weekend, with the #77 M4 GT3 EVO (shown in top photo) driven by works drivers Philipp Eng, Marco Wittmann and Robin Frijns. The win was aided by an 85-second penalty for the pole-sitting Mercedes-AMG late in the race for a Code 60 speed limit violation in a caution zone, but the BMW took the lead over the Mercedes-AMG during pit stops before the penalty was served.

The victory this last weekend shows that the M4 GT3 EVO will once again be competitive in the 24-hour race, which BMW won last year. In this weekend’s race, the #77 started from second and delivered a great performance in driving, pit stops and strategy to take the win. “This is a fantastic success – both for Team Schubert on its return to the GT3 class on the Nordschleife this season, and for our tire partner Yokohama,” said Marco Wittmann. “This victory is the perfect motivation for further preparation for the 24-hour race. Together with Yokohama, our goal now is to find the perfect operating window for the tire under all conditions.”

The M4 GT3 EVO also proved to be very competitive with privateer teams. The #23 M4 GT3 EVO of customer team Gamota Racing finish sixth place overall and won the SP9 Pro-Am class, driven by Antal Zsigo, Moritz Kranz and David Jahn. BMW teams also took class wins in nine other classes, including a one-two finish in the SP10 class with the M4 GT4 EVO, with AV Racing by BLACK FALCON getting the win followed in second by Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport.

American drivers Robby Foley and Francis Selldorff competed in the M2 Racing class for Adrenalin Motorsport and finished on the podium in third. It was the first time racing at the ‘Ring for both of them, who race together in IMSA for Turner Motorsport. “It’s always been a dream of mine to race there and experience it,” said Foley. “The Nordschleife definitely lives up to everything that people say about it. It was pretty crowded and it’s definitely the most chaotic racing that I’ve done, but in a cool way. The track is amazing.” Foley was also impressed with the new M2 Racing that he drove. “It’s really cool – it’s really well balanced and nimble and has good BMW DNA. It’s a lot of fun!” Foley has no plans to race again at the ‘Ring for now but wants to get back there.

The Nürburgring 24-Hour race takes place on May 14th – 17th, where BMW will be represented by three entries in the top class with works drivers.

—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy Gruppe C Photography, Adrenalin Motorsport]