BMW M3 GTR makes history as it bows out in the Eifel.
Team BMW Motorsport claimed a first in the 33rd edition of the Nürburgring24-Hour Race: never before in the history of this endurance classic hada team managed to claim a one-two win in two consecutive years. In 2004,the Schnitzer racing team under manager Charly Lamm (GER) and incollaboration with the BMW Motorsport engineers had managed to cross thefinishing line in first and second places. Then on 7th/8th May 2005,the BMW M3 GTR again proved the measure of all things in the Eifel.After 139 laps, the number 2 GT sports car with 500 bhp was first to take thechequered flag. Boris Said (USA), the final driver, rounded off the victory forhimself and his three team-mates Andy Priaulx (GBR), Duncan Huisman (NLD)and Pedro Lamy (PRT). Five laps behind them the previous year’s winnersfrom Germany – Dirk Müller, Jörg Müller and Hans-Joachim Stuck – finishedthe exciting event as runners-up.
For BMW it was the 18th overall win and the eighth clean sweep in the“Green Hell”. No car brand has raked in more wins on the legendaryNordschleife than the Munich manufacturers. With 104 class wins, BMW wasalso able to boost its unmatched tally to claim more than double thescore of second-placed Opel, which has taken 48 class wins since 1970.“Nobody really thought it would be possible to replicate the perfect result ofthe previous year,” said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. “But theteam did it. Conditions were anything but straightforward, but both thedrivers and the pit crew kept their cool – and that’s what counts in a marathonlike this. A huge compliment to the team. With this victory, the BMW M3 GTRhas retired from the race track in impressive style.”
180,000 spectators in the German Eifel region were treated to a thrilling race.The weather was so changeable that strategist Lamm was forced severaltimes to respond instantly to new conditions. As in the previous year, the teammanager’s decisions proved right in most cases. For the drivers, too,the Nordschleife had plenty of surprises in store: “During my last laps it wassnowing,” noted Huisman. “That’s something I’ve never experiencedbefore in a 24-Hour Race.”
Apart from the capricious weather so typical of the Eifel, the pit stops werealso a source of keen tension. Car number 1, for example, had to spend70 minutes in the pits shortly before the halfway mark of the race for a clutchreplacement, but subsequently clawed its way impressively back to thefront. On lap 90, the number 2 BMW M3 GTR took over the lead – and heldon to it until the end of the race.
“It’s an incredible event and an incredible car,” said Priaulx after the win. It washis debut on the Nordschleife and he delivered a fault-free race. “Particularlyin the kind of conditions we had this weekend, the race really comes into itsown.” Said and Huisman also found themselves at the top of the podiumfor the first time in this endurance event. For Lamy, it was the fourth time hehad been in the winning car’s driver squad.
The seasoned drivers of the second BMW M3 GTR graciously congratulatedtheir team-mates: “Last year we won, this time it was the turn of the others,”said Stuck, who had already won the 24-Hour Race for BMW three times,including its debut event in 1970. “To take the first two places with both carstwo years in a row is just a unique achievement. It’s a pity the BMW M3 GTRis now heading for the museum.”
The outstanding career of the GT Coupé came to a close with this secondone-two finish on the Nürburgring. The BMW M3 GTR was developed in2001 with the American Le Mans Series (ALMS) in mind and secured BMWall the titles in the championship’s GT Class from the word go. Jörg Müllerwon the Drivers’ title, BMW Motorsport won the Team trophy, and BMWsecured the Manufacturers’ Championship. “The BMW M3 GTR will finallyenter the history books as a winner,” noted Lamm of the valedictoryappearance of the most powerful M3 of all time.
Theissen added: “The BMW M3 GTR has contributed several chapters toBMW’s success story and earned itself a niche of honour in themuseum thanks to its achievements. We won’t be forgetting it in a hurry.”
