BMW Motorsport GmbH.

It's more than 25 years since BMW Motorsport GmbH (now BMW M GmbH) was established to bring BMW to the forefront of international motorsport.

Whilst arguably not the most successful of manufacturers in racing, the results do speak volumes for the effectiveness of BMW's motorsport activities.

BMW powered Nelson Piquet's Brabham to the first turbocharged World Championship victory in 1983 and provided engines for six winners of the European Championship for F2 cars (winning almost two-thirds of the races between 1973 and 1984), while in the popular category of touring car racing, BMW successes are too numerous to mention. Most recently, BMW's racing activities have included powering the McLaren F1 GTR in the FIA and other GT Championships and, in 1998, the development of V8 engines for sports car racing and a V12 powered sports prototypes for Le Mans which was developed for BMW by Williams Engineering. A return to Formula One is planned for the year 2000 with the Williams Grand Prix Team for whom BMW are developing a new engine.

Perhaps the most successful BMW Motorsport creation was the E30 M3. Through various variants and evolutions this car is perhaps the most winningest touring car of all time taking Roberto Ravaglia to the World Touring Car Championship in 1987 (the only time it was held), winning the European Touring Car Championship twice and claiming ten various National Touring Car Championships, all in the space of four years! Even when it was withdrawn as a works car it continued to win races.

BMW's roll of Honour (to 1998).

• Nelson Piquet, 1983 FIA World Champion, Brabham BT52-BMW.
• Formula 2 (1973-84) European Campions 1973, 1974, 1975, 1978, 1979 and 1982. BMW four cylinder M12-F2 engines won 95 of the 152 F2 races between 1973 and 1984.
• Winners of World Touring Car Championship for Drivers in 1987 (held once only).
• Winners of European Touring Car Championship for Manufacturers in 1973, 1975, 1976, 1977, 1978, 1979, 1980, 1981, and 1982 with additional Championship Class wins in 1974, 1983 and 1986 and Drivers Championships in 1987 and 1988.
• 24 National Touring Car Championship victories in seven countries.
• 21 victories in the 'blue riband' Spa 24-hour race (first win in 1965) and the 320i model has also carried off the hat-trick of classic endurance races by winning the Nurburgring 24-hours and the Bathhurst 1000 as well as the Spa 24-hours.
• Sportscar and GT Championships in the IMSA Camel GT Series, the World Championship of Makes, IMSA GTO, the FIA GT World Cup, the ADAC GT Cup, the BPR Global GT Challenge, IMSA GTS-2 and the Exxon Supreme GTS-3.
• Two overall victories at Le Mans (Lehto, Dalmas and Sekiya in a McLaren-BMW GTR in 1995 and Dalmas, Winklehock and Martini in a V12 LMR in 1999) plus 10 class victories.

To the rest of my BMW Motorsport pages and photograph libraries.

Please note that the vast majority of the photographs on these BMW pages are my own. Whilst you are quite welcome to download any of these scans, they are copyright and should not be reproduced for any purpose whatsoever without my express permission. If you would like to consider using any of them, you should be aware that the original negatives are very much sharper than these scans; sharper scans and/or reprints can be provided by arrangement and you are very welcome to e-mail me to discuss matters further.

E30 M3's.
Touring, GT and Sports cars.
Formula cars.
BMW Links.

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