Nürburgring - Preview Formula BMW - Destination Formula One.
They're young, they're ambitious and they're aiming for Formula One. The Formula BMW Germany drivers will have their sights firmly fixed on following the career path of so many of their predecessors when they line up on the grid for the F1 supporting race at the Nürburgring (20th-22nd July). Nico Rosberg was a Formula BMW driver in 2002, and four years later had secured himself a race seat in the premier category of motor racing. Sebastian Vettel made a name for himself by winning the Formula BMW title in 2004 with a record 18 victories in 20 races. Vettel has since become the youngest driver in Formula One history to win a World Championship point by finishing eighth in this year's US Grand Prix.
Ralf Schumacher, Adrian Sutil, Timo Glock and Christian Klien similarly started out in Formula BMW or its predecessor series. "These guys have had great careers, of course, and you dream about following in their footsteps," says Jens Klingmann, who leads the standings in this year's Formula BMW Germany. The 17-year-old Team Eifelland Racing driver from the German town of Leimen has won five of the six races so far.
With such an influential audience in attendance, the young Formula BMW drivers will be pulling out all the stops at the Nürburgring. Spaniard Daniel Campos-Hull - currently lying second in the standings - is ready to take the bull by the horns. "I'm looking to finally celebrate my first victory at the Nürburgring," says the Barcelona youngster, who has no inhibitions about mixing it with the leading lights of grand prix racing. "I train at a gym where several former Formula One drivers go. For example, I often meet Pedro de la Rosa there." Colombian Team GU-Racing driver Carlos Gaitan is another to have discovered how small the world of motor sport can be: "My first karting instructor was Juan Pablo Montoya," he recalls.
A rather older generation of Formula One drivers can testify to the success of Formula BMW in turning out new talent. This year Adrien Tambay, son of former Ferrari grand prix driver Patrick, is competing in Formula BMW Germany. 1964 F1 world champion John Surtees, meanwhile, is supporting his son Henry in the Formula BMW UK Championship and will be sending him to the Nürburgring as a guest driver. Rosberg, Bruno Senna, Johnny Cecotto jnr, Graham Rahal, Federico Montoya, and Greg and Leo Mansell are among the other family members of famous racing drivers to have competed in one of the four international Formula BMW series in Germany, Great Britain, Asia and North America in recent years.
Points standings after 6 of 18 races: 1. Jens Klingmann (Leimen/Eifelland Racing, 251 points), 2. Daniel Campos-Hull (ESP/Eifelland Racing, 224), 3. Marco Wittmann (Markt Erlbach/Josef Kaufmann Racing, 218), 4. Philipp Eng (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 206 Punkte), 5. Niall Quinn (IRL/AM-Holzer Rennsport, 197), 6. Mathijs Harkema (NED/Josef Kaufmann Racing, 152), 7. Adrien Tambay (FRA/ Josef Kaufmann Racing, 149), 8. Kevin Mirocha (Hamm, ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 125), 9. Maximilian Wissel (Hörstein/GU-Racing Team International, 104), 10. Tiago Geronimi (BRA, Eifelland Racing, 104), 11. Markus Pommer (Erlenbach/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 94), 12. Johannes Seidlitz (Wassertrüdingen/ G&J Motorsport, 88), 13. Jens Höing (Berlin/GU-Racing Team International, 84), 14. Maxim Wagner (AUT/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 76), 15. Samuel Curridor (LUX/Team Zinner, 76), 16. Marlene Dietrich (Mannheim/Team Zinner, 66), 17. Carlos Gaitan (COL/GU-Racing Team International, 64), 18. Nikolay Varbitcaliev (BUL/GU-Racing Team International, 64), 19. Timo Walter (Limbach/IBEX Motorsport, 54), 20. Luuk Glansdorp (NED/ Luuk Glansdorp, 52), 21. Michael Zettl (Wenig/Michael Zettl, 46), 22. Thomas Hylkema (NED/Eifelland Racing, 36), 23. Pedro Bianchini (BRA/ADAC Berlin-Brandenburg, 14).
