Six Z4 GT3s, fifteen M235i Racing coupes, and a host of 1, 3, and 4 series BMWs will contest the 2014 edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hour race on June 21 and 22.
BMW Motorsport is pinning its hopes for an overall win on two factory-supported privateer teams. BMW Sports Trophy Team Schubert will run a pair of Z4 GT3s, including one for Lucas Luhr, Dirk Müller, Alexander Sims, and Dirk Werner and another for Dominik Baumann, Claudia Hürtgen, Jens Klingmann and BMW DTM driver Martin Tomczyk. Two of Tomczyk’s DTM colleagues, Maxime Martin and Marco Wittmann, will be in one of the two Z4s entered by BMW Sports Trophy Team Marc VDS. They will share the car with Uwe Alzen and Jörg Müller. A second Marc VDS Z4 will be shared by Dirk Adorf, Nick Catsburg, Bas Leinders, and Markus Palttala. Walkenhorst Motorsport will also run two Z4 GT3s.
The fourteen privateer teams that have entered M235i Racing coupes will be joined by a BMW Motorsport entry driven by European motorsport journalists Marcus Schurig and Jethro Bovingdon, former MotoGP rider Alex Hofmann, and BMW Motorsport Junior team racer Alexander Mies.
The Marc VDS and Schubert Z4s took the top four positions in the April six-hour qualifying race for the 24 hour enduro. They were not the fastest cars on the grid, but they took over the lead after quick competitors from Mercedes and Audi fell by the wayside.
BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt said, “The 24-hour race at the Nürburgring and BMW Motorsport can look back on a long and successful history together. It was a BMW that crossed the finish line first at the inaugural event back in 1970. To date we have claimed nineteen overall victories there. Our teams are determined to make it triumph number twenty for BMW in the Eifel Mountains. We are hugely optimistic ahead of this classic. However, there is still a very long way to go before the finish on Sunday – and absolutely everything must come together perfectly to have any chance of a top result in this extremely tough race. And you obviously need that little bit of luck too in the ‘Green Hell’. Whatever happens, our preparations with the BMW Z4 GT3 have definitely been satisfactory. The BMW Sports Trophy teams are fielding a car that has been tried and tested on numerous occasions, and which has proven itself more than once on the Nordschleife. As far as the squad of drivers for our teams with the BMW Z4 GT3 is concerned, I feel we are competing with some of the strongest drivers you could possibly find for the Nürburgring-Nordschleife. And we need them to be, as our opponents are also very strong. They have shown that at the preparatory races.”—Brian S. Morgan
