Nürburgring 24-Hour Race Winners Back in Their BMW 320i at Donington
The BMW Motorsport drivers in the FIA European Touring Car Championship will arrive at Donington Park feeling very proud . The weekend before last (12/13 June) Jörg Müller (GER) and Dirk Müller (GER) took part in one of motorsport's classic events, the Nürburgring 24 Hours, and won it in dominant style in their BMW M3 GTR partnered by Hans-Joachim Stuck (GER).
It is now the turn of the two drivers to get into the BMW M3 GTR's 'little brother' the BMW 320i to see if they can be as successful in Great Britain. They will be in their BMW Team Deutschland cars this time, but they will be run by the same winning team from the Nordschleife. This is Schnitzer Motorsport who, under the ever watchful eye of team manger, Charly Lamm, managed a one-two for BMW in the German event.
While the two German drivers will be fired up going into the second half of the FIA ETCC season, they will have to beat a man for whom a win in Donington would be something very special. This is the home race for BMW Team Great Britain's Andy Priaulx (GBR) and if he was offered one win in a year this would be the one he would take. However, he doesn't have to do such a deal as he is currently the only driver in the series to have as many as three wins under his belt in 2004.
Andy knows the track well and is hoping the home fans will help give him added impetus, despite the fact he will be carrying forty kilos of ballast. "This is a circuit where braking is important and sadly this is not the best combination to have with forty kilos of ballast," he explained. However, Andy has done well here in the past in both the Renault Spyder and Touring Car series and so was able to be positive when he said: "The track has a lot of character and the Craner Curves are something special. This fast sweeping section is quite demanding in a touring car, so you need to be happy with your car otherwise it can be a bit scary. One of the tricks to getting a perfect lap is to be good in the Melbourne Hairpin, the chicane and the final corner. I have a feeling the BMW cars will do well here, but I am still waiting to see how we go after first practice. Last year here was a nasty experience but I have a feeling this is going to be a lot better."
Andy is also looking forward to having a team-mate here as he was 'on his own' last year. He has been able to work well with BMW Team Belgium Luxembourg driver, Kurt Mollekens (BEL), who is doing five races with the RBM team, and feels their working relationship has helped him considerably.
BMW Team Italy-Spain's Alex Zanardi (ITA) had not driven a full season in the FIA ETCC before 2004, but he does have a claim to fame that no other driver in the series has - he has raced a Formula 1 car at Donington. The only Grand Prix to be held at the track was at Easter in 1993 and Alex was then with the Lotus Grand Prix team. His team-mate, Antonio Garcia (ESP) has been there before in his BMW, but last year was not a good race as he failed to score any points so he is hoping to rectify that situation even though he has ten kilos of ballast for this race.
The races in Brno were won by Dirk and Andy and as they go into Donington they are first and second in the Drivers' Championship respectively with 63 and 59 points but will each be carrying forty kilos handicap weight. Jörg is third on 57 points and has 10 kilos while the highest placed Alfa Romeo driver is Gabriele Tarquini in fourth with 43 points. There have been ten races so far and thanks to seven wins for BMW, as against three for Alfa Romeo, in the Constructors' Championship the German marque has 150 points and the Italian 93. Tom Coronel (NLD) has been almost invincible in his Carly Motors BMW 320i in the Independents' Trophy class and leads this with 78 points from fellow BMW driver Stefano D'Aste (ITA) in the Proteam Motorsport car second on 50 points.
The on track action starts on Saturday and the schedule for the FIA ETCC is as follows:
Saturday, 15 May 09.00 - 09.30 - Free Practice 111.25 - 11.55 - Free Practice 214.40 - 15.10 - QualifyingSunday, 16 May 09.20 - 09.35 - Warm Up14.45 - Race 1 - 13 laps (52.29km)15.45 - Race 2 - 13 laps (52.29km)
