2005 Nurburgring 24 Hours

[OSFlanker]

From www.bmw-motorsport.com :BMW sets its sights on the Nürburgring 24 Hours againOne more time: BMW will again be fielding its two BMW M3 GTRs in the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race on 7th/8th May. It will mark the final season for the two muscle cars that claimed a one-two win in 2004. The seven-man BMW squad for the marathon on the legendary Nordschleife has been named: the winners of 2004, BMW works drivers Dirk Müller and Jörg Müller, along with Hans-Joachim Stuck are in the team, as are last year’s three runners-up – Duncan Huisman, Pedro Lamy and Boris Said. Team BMW Motorsport led by Charly Lamm gets notable backing from Andy Priaulx, the reigning European Touring Car Champion and BMW works driver in the 2005 FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: “The Nürburgring 24 Hours is unique in terms of sport and atmosphere. 220 cars racing on a 25.4-kilometre twisty labyrinth before a crowd of 200,000 - this is a spectacular event. In 2004 we defied the most appalling weather conditions to take a one-two win, which caused great excitement among the public and in-house. In 2005, our preparation programme is much shorter due to the event having been brought forward by five weeks and because of the relatively harsh winter. Nevertheless, we hope to be able to continue the BMW success story on the Nordschleife with the last major appearance of the M3 GTR, though we know only too well that with this kind of distance on what is arguably the world’s most challenging circuit, things don’t always go according to plan. That is also part of the attraction of this 24-hour event.”With 17 overall victories - including seven one-two wins - since the event was inaugurated in 1970, BMW has been by far the most successful manufacturer involved in the race. Hans-Joachim Stuck was behind the wheel for three of BMW’s overall wins. He won the debut race of 1970 in a BMW 2002 ti and was also at the controls in 1998 when the BMW 320d became the first diesel-powered touring car to win an endurance event of this kind.Before the BMW touring car aces rise to the challenges of season 2005’s 24 Hour Race and FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), they will be meeting up at the BMW Fitness Camp in Principina Terra, Grosseto (Italy) from 25th February to 2nd March. ......

 

[OSFlanker]

Myth Nordschleife

“The Nürburgring is the most beautiful and the most difficult circuit in the world," said one Hans Stuck - father of BMW driver Hans-Joachim Stuck, one of the seven BMW drivers in this year's 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring.

25.359 kilometres (in 2005, again, a slightly shortened version will be used), 33 left and 40 right-hand corners, opened on 27th September 1925, raced on for the first time on 19th June 1927 - impressive facts. But it’s not only the facts that add to the fascination of the lond, undulating track, it’s also the emotion.

Any driver that has won on the track has earned himself a place in motorsport’s history books. Drivers such as Jacky Ickx and Jackie Stewart have won on the Nordschleife, wins that helped them to achieve almost legendary status.

“I am happy and proud that my name is engraved on the winners list of the Nürburgring. It is one of the most beautiful memories I have from my time as a racing driver,” explained three-time Formula One World Champion, Jackie Stewart, as he recalled his win in 1968.

It was Jackie Stewart who first named it the 'Green Hell', a name still used today as a mark of respect. The name is fitting for a circuit which will provide a driver with a fist full of challenges. Up to 17 percent steep uphill passages, eleven percent downhill sections, jumps, long straights, fast passages full of corners - the old Nürburgring takes a driver from one extreme to the other, it is the ultimate challenge as far as racing circuits are concerned.

The characteristics and length of the track even earned the respect of Formula One legend, Juan Manuel Fangio, “For me the Nürburgring is the circuit, on which a racing driver can achieve amazing things, as long as he knows the circuit like the back of his hand.”

The Nordschleife, however, wouldn’t be known as the 'Green Hell', if it wasn’t dangerous. In the 76-year history of the circuit, 78 drivers have lost their lives. Therefore, the circuit has undergone various modifications over the years.

The first big rebuild took place after the Formula One drivers boycotted the 1970 Grand Prix. Consequently, with the changes made, the circuit was not only made safer but also a lot faster.

Formula One finally bade good bye to the Nordschleife after the fiery inferno of Niki Lauda’s accident in 1976, it was only as a result of luck and the bravery of his colleagues that the Austrian lived to tell the tale.

In 1984, the Nürburgring GmbH opened a completely new Grand Prix track, measuring 4.556 kilometres in length. It was an ultra-modern circuit boasting the latest safety standards; unfortunately it didn’t reflect the flair and emotion of the old track and was removed from the Formula One calendar a year later. Formula One didn’t return until 1995.

The Nordschleife didn’t disappear from motorsport, the circuit is far too demanding for that to happen. The Nürburgring has been a permanent fixture on the long-distance racing calendar for over 30 years.

In 2005, BMW will make up part of the grid for the 24 Hour Race with two BMW M3 GTRs. BMW will do everything possible, at what BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, calls “one of the most demanding circuits in the whole world,” to win in front of the expected 200,000 spectators.

 

[OSFlanker]

Hans-Joachim Stuck
Legendary Endurance Racer

Hans-Joachim Stuck drove his first car race in 1969 - in a BMW 2002 on the Nürburgring. After a race covering 300 kilometres, he finished in third place. It was the start of a career that is hard to match.

In 1974 he was runner-up in the European Formula 2 Championship with March BMW and made his Formula One debut. In six years he competed in 74 Grands Prix and collected 29 World Championship points, on two occasions making it onto the podium having finished third.

Later on in his career Stuck won the American IMSA Series and became World Sportscar Champion in 1985. He won the Le Mans 24 Hours twice, the Sebring 12 Hours three times, the Spa 24 Hours once and the Nürburgring 24 Hours three times - the first time in 1970 in a BMW 2002 ti, then again in 1998 in a BMW 320d with state-of-the-art diesel technology by BMW and in 2004, when he clinched victory in a BMW M3 GTR along with his team-mates Dirk Müller and Jörg Müller. So far he has clocked up 53 24 Hour Races.

Hans-Joachim Stuck, son of the legendary hillclimb king, is much more to BMW than a consistently fast driver. The 54-year-old also performs a role in representing the company. Furthermore, he is also involved with the Premiere TV channel as a Formula One expert, besides numerous other tasks. It all makes for a breathless pace of life, but that suits him. He is the spirit of enterprise personified.


Date of birth : 1 January 1951
Place of birth : Garmisch-Partenkirchen
Nationality : German
24hrs debut : 1969 (Nürburgring)
Best 24hrs result : 1st (Nürburgring 1970, 1998 and 2004, Spa 1972, Le Mans 1986 and 1987)

 

[Vanquish]

OSF,

BMW + ol Nordschleife + Herr Stuck = A VERY POTENT COMBI. Really hoping they do well and put those whiners from Stuttgard in their place. If only damn Astro will screen some of these races LIVE ...

I'll be rooting for them one way or the other !!!

VaN.

 

[affan66]

more of this, less of F1 please, TQ.

 

[Vanquish]

Affan ... you took the words rite outta my mouth. I'm a huge fan of Shumi but I can't say the same about the rest of field. It's getting way too predictable till FIA had to resort to dumb measures to ensure level playing field for the rest of the monkeys ... teams I mean.

Audi is also back at this year's 24 Hours LeMans race ... hoping to see the Bentley Boys in action too. Quite sure we can count on the M3 GTRs slogging it out in their category too. Yummy !!!

 

[feisaldzul]

take a ride around nurburgring in an nsx

http://s2.yousendit.com/d.aspx?id=0JALTPMNPDZ3L0HEHGMW3M1BS

 

[feisaldzul]

i wonder wat are the lap times of those M3 GTRs?

jeremy clarkson did it in 8min59sec in a Jaguar S Type Diesel

 

[OSFlanker]

Originally posted by feisaldzul@Mar 14 2005, 08:54 AM
i wonder wat are the lap times of those M3 GTRs?

jeremy clarkson did it in 8min59sec in a Jaguar S Type Diesel

Didn't he do it in 9 min 59 sec? Then the German lady did it in 9 min 20.

I think the M3 shoudl be doing it in around 7 mins or less, coz the road car M3 CSL is doing it in just under 8 mins.

 

[feisaldzul]

OSFlanker Posted on Mar 14 2005, 11:15 AM
QUOTE (feisaldzul @ Mar 14 2005, 08:54 AM)
i wonder wat are the lap times of those M3 GTRs?

jeremy clarkson did it in 8min59sec in a Jaguar S Type Diesel


Didn't he do it in 9 min 59 sec? Then the German lady did it in 9 min 20.

I think the M3 shoudl be doing it in around 7 mins or less, coz the road car M3 CSL is doing it in just under 8 mins.

Is it 9:59? I might have missed a minute hehehe

 

[feisaldzul]

Check out the lap records below:

Fastest Laps of the 2004 Season
------------------------------------------
F1 - 5.148kms
Michael Schumacher (Ferrari)
1:29:468 (207.144kph)

24h race (Sprint section with Nordschleife 24.358kms)
Reuter/Schneider/Strycek/Tiemann (Open Astra V8 Coupe)
8:26:742 (173.044kph)

BF Goodrich Endurance (Sprint section with Nordschleife 24.358kms)
Uwe Altzen / Jurgen Altzen / Michael Bartels (Porsche 996 GT2)
8:16:671 (177.097kph)

Historic Records on the Nordschleife (22.8km)
---------------------------------------------------------
Formula 1
Clay Regazzoni (Ferrari)
7:06:4 (192.8kmh) GP 1975

Sports Car
Derek Bell / Stefan Bellof (Porsche 956)
6:25:91 (194.33kmh) in 1000km racce of 1983

 

[OSFlanker]

The Nürburgring 24 Hour Race will be on this weekend 7th/8th May, let's see how the M3 GTR in the last hoorah for the car.

 

[feisaldzul]

Hooray the M3 GTR...another 1-2 finish!!!

 

[nsbone]

download video of M3 GTR performing (for broadband user - more than 30MB). Damn, that thing is prellety damn fasssst!!

M3 GTR video at nurburing, KLIK HERE!

E N J O Y...

Awesome video, really gives u excitement jsut by watching it. Adrenelin rush just like if you see XXX video, he he he...

happy viewing...

 

[OSFlanker]

From www.bmw-motorsport.com

08.05.2005

24hrs Nürburgring

Another one-two victory for Team BMW Motorsport
What a triumph: Team BMW Motorsport finished the 33rd edition of the 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring in first and second positions respectively.

Compared to last year the two 500 bph GT coupes crossed the finish line at the 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring in reversed order. Pedro Lamy, Duncan Huisman, Boris Said and Andy Priaulx completed a total of 139 laps in their BMW M3 GTR with car number 2.

The sister car, driven by Jörg Müller, Dirk Müller and Hans-Joachim Stuck also gave an impressive performance, despite two unplanned pit stops, and completed a total of 134 laps. With 8:47.602 minutes, Dirk Müller in his M3 GTR set the fastest lap of the race on lap 90.

With their eighth double victory, BMW added another chapter to its impressive tally in the 24 Hour Race at the Nürburgring. This was the 18th time the marque secured overall victory.

 

[OSFlanker]

The top 10 finishers :

POS. TEAM NO. CAR DRIVER CLASS LAP LAG BEST LAP

1 BMW Motorsport 2 BMW M3 GTR
Lamy Pedro
Said Boris
Huisman Duncan
Priaulx Andy S1
139

9:00.450


2 BMW Motorsport 1 BMW M3 GTR
Müller Dirk
Müller Jörg
Stuck Hans-Joachim
Lamy Pedro S1
134
5 laps
8:47.602


3 Zakspeed Racing GmbH & Co. KG 77 Dodge Viper GTS-R
Zakowski Peter
Lechner Robert
Bert Sascha
S1
132
7 laps
9:05.360


4 www.tacho.de 32 Porsche 911 GT3
Beil Stefan
Fischer Norbert
Hulverscheid Paul
Althoff Dr. Edgar S1
130
9 laps
9:29.139


5 Mühlner Motorsport 41 Porsche GT3 Cup
Bermes Heinz-Josef
Koll Thomas
Schornstein Heinz Dieter
Bovensiepen Andreas S1
130
9 laps
9:45.643


7 CC Car Collection 28 Porsche 911 GT3 RS
Schmidt Peter
Ney Friedrich
Bär Winfried
Irmgartz Michael S1
128
11 laps
9:37.090


8 Morin Racing 25 Porsche 996 GT3 Cup
Morin Martin
Morin Henrik
Morin Anders
Levin Anders S1
128
11 laps
9:54.834


9 Manthey-Racing 46 Porsche 911 GT3-MR
Luhr Lucas
Bernhard Timo
Collard Emmanuel
Tiemann Marcel S1
127
12 laps
8:49.487


10 H+R Spezialfedern GmbH - Jürgen Alzen Motorsport 6 Porsche 996 Turbo
Alzen Jürgen
Alzen Uwe
Ludwig Klaus
Dumbreck Peter S1
126
13 laps
8:57.222

 

[OSFlanker]

Team BMW Motorsport has taken an impressive one two victory with its two 500 bhp BMW M3 GTR cars in the legendary Nürburgring 24 Hour Race.

Pedro Lamy, Duncan Huisman, Andy Priaulx, Boris Said completed a total of 139 laps in the GT Coupe car number 2 over the 25.378 kilometre Nordschleife, to take the win. Their team-mates, Dirk Müller, Jörg Müller, Hans-Joachim Stuck came second after completing 134 laps.

Last year BMW also celebrated a one two in the German Eifel region. In 2004, however, it was the trio of Dirk Müller, Jörg Müller, Hans-Joachim Stuck who took the top step of the podium. For BMW it is the 18th outright victory at the Nordschleife, and for the eighth time BMW cars claimed a one two. For the first time in the history of BMW a team has claimed consecutive one two victories.

BMW Motorsport Director, Mario Theissen, followed the exciting race via GPS from Barcelona, where this weekend the Spanish Grand Prix was being held. “A huge complement to the whole team,” said Theissen, “To repeat last year’s one two under these extreme weather conditions is a fantastic achievement. With this the M3 GTR has earned an honorary place in the BMW Museum. Here in Barcelona for the Formula 1 Grand Prix we were kept in constant touch with what was happening and were following the action with great anticipation. Also many thanks to the Formula 1 mechanics in Munich, who wanted to visit the 24 hour marathon, but instead of this built up two new engines for Nick and Mark.”

Over the course of the weekend 180,000 motor racing enthusiasts witnessed this long distance classic, and they should not regret having been there, even though they were exposed to bad weather conditions. Right from the start the 217 competitors displayed racing at its best. Exciting duels and spectacular overtaking manoeuvres were taking place all the time. Despite some problems at the start – car number 2 was involved in a collision on lap six and car number 1 had to have a suspension change on lap 14 – Team BMW Motorsport quickly found its racing rhythm. Even a clutch change for the German BMW drivers and a subsequent pit stop for over and hour, failed to make Team Manager Charly Lamm’s crew lose its cool.

Both driver line-ups impressed with consistently quick lap times. Dirk Müller set the fastest lap time on lap 90 with 8:47.602. This was impressive proof of the 500bhp sports cars’ competitiveness during the 33rd running of the 24 hour race. While achieving this, the seven drivers of Team BMW Motorsport withstood the typical Eifel weather conditions. Frequently within just a few minutes, sunshine, heavy rain showers and hail storms occurred.

In the end it was Said who crossed the line in winning car number 2 in a total of 23 hours 58 minutes 47.179seconds in sunny conditions. Stuck, who has won at the Nurburgring three times was at the wheel of car number 1 when it took the chequered flag. For Said it was his first overall win in the 24 hour race at the Nürburgring, and the same goes for Huisman and Priaulx, who was a Rookie this year and showed an impressive performance. Lamy, however, steps up into the category of the very few drivers who have succeeded in winning in the green hell a total of four times. Prior to this year’s success the 33-year-old won in 2001 and 2002. In 2004 he was also entered as a driver in the winning BMW M3 GTR car number 42, but never got to drive in the race.

With the one two at the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race the successful racing career of the BMW M3 GTR comes to an end. The muscular GT sports car was developed back in 2001 for the American Le Mans Series and brought BMW the title in the GT class at its first attempt.

 

[erica34]

what do they do to the cars since their racing career already ended? put in museum ka? a bit of a waste right?