It was an up and down weekend for BMW teams competing at the Lausitzring in Germany this past weekend, in a race weekend headlined by the DTM championship but also featuring the ADAC GT Masters and the debut of the BMW M2 Racing Cup series.
The Lausitzring is one of the most technically challenging circuits on the DTM calendar, with 12 corners and not many straights. BMW hasn’t won a DTM race there since 2022 when Sheldon van der Linde was victorious, and they continued to have challenges there this year in DTM.
Marco Wittmann gets ready to race.
The Schubert Motorsport BMW team came in with good momentum, as Kelvin van der Linde won the last race at the Zandvoort circuit in Holland and Marco Wittmann was second and third in the two races. At the Lausitzring, the pair of M4 GT3 EVO entries were not in the top 10 in practice sessions or qualifying for the first race, where they ended up 18th (Wittmann) and 19th (van der Linde) on the grid. That being said, DTM is incredibly close. Wittmann in 18th was only eight-tenths of a second off the pole time of Nicki Thim in an Aston Martin.
In race one, the Schubert team used good strategy to move up the order, deciding to put slicks on Wittmann’s car early as the track was still drying out from a recent shower. The decision allowed Wittmann to charge up to fifth place in race one, with van der Linde four spots behind in tenth. In hot conditions for race two, Wittmann finished in the top 10 in eighth, with van der Linde in ninth.
Sheldon van der Linde finished tenth and ninth in DTM races at the Lausitzring.
Wittmann was happy to leave the Lausitzring with some points before going into the next round at the Norisring, which is his home track. “The summary of the weekend is mixed,” he said. “Our weakness this season remains qualifying, where we can’t get as much out of the car as our competitors. That means we have to take more risks in the races. On Saturday, the gamble with slicks on a drying track worked perfectly. Fifth place was a great result. On Sunday, we really suffered with the older tires in the heat. I think we got almost the maximum out of this weekend, but the goal is always the podium.” After three race weekends (with two races per weekend), Wittmann is fourth in the driver points and van der Linde is in eighth. Schubert Motorsport is leading the team championship. The next DTM rounds are at the Norisring on July 2nd-5th.
ADAC GT Masters
The ADAC GT Masters was a support race series for DTM at the Lausitzring, and BMW teams won both races. In race one, twin brothers Juliano and Sandro Holzem won in the #56 Schubert Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO and were followed in second by the #11 FK Performance Motorsport M4 GT3 EVO driven by Tim Zimmermann and Leyton Fourie. “A huge weight has been lifted off my shoulders,” said Sandro Holzem. “We’ve often shown that we’re capable of winning and have often come close, but we’ve always had bad luck. Many thanks to our team for the good strategy and the great car.”
Juliano and Sandro Holzem won ADAC GT Masters race one.
In race two, Zimmermann and Fourie moved one spot up to take the win and also took the lead in the points championship. “Halfway through the season means we still have the second half ahead of us and anything can happen,” said Zimmermann. “I’m very happy with today’s result and the points. Everything went perfectly. We didn’t expect to be so competitive, especially since the Audi was extremely fast this morning. But our BMW felt fantastic. I tried to find the balance between going full throttle and conserving the tires, and the plan worked.”
Leyton Fourie, and Tim Zimmermann lead ADAC GT Masters points after a win and second place at the Lausitzring.
M2 Racing Cup
The Lausitzring race weekend was also the first race weekend for the M2 Cup series, which features the new M2 Racing. BMW M Motorsport is putting a lot of support behind the series in Germany, with coaching from factory drivers, media training and test drives in an M4 GT4 EVO for the top three drivers in the championship, as well as participation in the selection process for the M Racing Academy.
Michael Schrey won both M2 Cup races from the pole.
There were 10 cars on the entry at the Lausitzring, with Michael Schrey winning both races from pole in the #2 M2 Racing entered by Hofor Racing by Bonk Motorsport. “The BMW M2 Cup combines several aspects of our customer racing commitment: our new entry-level car BMW M2 Racing, the strong connection to our teams, and our commitment to talent promotion,” said Björn Lellmann, Head of Customer Racing at BMW M Motorsport. “I am very pleased that some of our long-standing partners are participating in the BMW M2 Cup and are taking the opportunity to help very young talents take their first steps in motorsport.” The M2 Cup in Germany will have four more race events this year (with two races per event) at the Norisring, the Nürburgring, the Sachsenring and Hockenheim.
—David Haueter
[Photos courtesy ADAC, Gruppe C Photography]
