From a BMW M Motorsport perspective, the 49th staging of the Nürburgring 24 Hours (GER) on 5th/6th June 2021 will be full of highlights, both on and off the track. After the victory for ROWE Racing last year, the focus from a sporting point of view is on the mission to defend the title. Four BMW M Motorsport teams line up in the “Green Hell” with seven BMW M6 GT3 and a host of top-class BMW works drivers. They include the BMW Junior Team, which will be making its 24-hour debut in the GT3 class. BMW M CEO Markus Flasch will experience the challenge posed by the Nordschleife for himself at the wheel of the BMW M2 CS Racing. In the run-up to the race, the focus is on the launch of the new BMW M4 GT3 and a very special lap of honour.
On the Wednesday before the 24-hour race, BMW M Motorsport will unveil the BMW M4 GT3 in the livery, in which it will contest its first test races over the rest of the year. The car will replace the BMW M6 GT3 as the top car in the BMW M Motorsport range from 2022.
On Friday, ahead of Top Qualifying, a replica of the legendary BMW M3 “Eifelblitz” from 1996, built up by BMW M Motorsport, will do an honorary lap of the Nordschleife in memory of Sabine Schmitz, who passed away recently. It will be driven by Johannes Scheid, who won the 24-hour race alongside Schmitz in 1996 and 1997.
In the BMW M2 CS Racing, Markus Flasch, CEO of BMW M GmbH, will don his racing helmet and start in the CUP5 class alongside Jörg Weidinger, Matthias Malmedie and Niki Schelle (all GER). After intensive preparations within the Nürburgring Endurance Series and the 6-hour qualification race, Flasch will be making his debut in the endurance classic. In total, roughly 30 BMW cars are registered for the 24-hour race in eight different classes.
Leading the way are the seven BMW M6 GT3 in the top SP9 class, which will be going all out to defend the title and claim the 21st overall victory for BMW. ROWE Racing fields two cars and, as last year’s winners, will sport the prestigious number 1 on one of their cars. The BMW Junior Team, with support from BMW works driver Augusto Farfus (BRA), will be making its 24-hour debut in the top class in a BMW M6 GT3 run by BMW Team RMG. Schubert Motorsport lines up with one BMW M6 GT3, while Walkenhorst Motorsport takes to the grid with three BMW M6 GT3.
