After 24 hours both BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 cross the finish line of the legendary circuit

On the weekend two of the newly developed BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 race cars were mingling with a top-class starter field including four Audi R8 and nearly thirty Porsche at the famous 24h of Nürburgring. Both cars of the small race team from Bavaria, Germany, managed excellent qualifying lap times to secure favourable starting positions amongst a crowd of 169 cars! The BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 with the number 25 started from 10^th place, with Johannes Stuck having pushed hard for a lap time of 8:45 min, just nine seconds off pole position. The second car with the number 26 had its official roll-out only last week at the Nürburgring, having been built just-in-time the week before. Franz Engstler, usually driving  in the World Touring Car Championships, qualified the car for 11^th place with a lap time of 8:47 min.

Once underway, a broken accelerator-pedal-mounting unfortunately forced the second car being driven by Johannes Stuck to pit for repairs after just one lap. A resulting electrical problem required a complete new wiring loom to be installed, meaning the car with the start number 25 rejoined the race several hours behind but then duly crossed the finish line without any further problems. The other BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 with the number 26, having started from 11^th place, quickly settled into the first laps of the 26 km long circuit and assumed a steady place within the top twenty of the over 160 cars which started. Carbon fibre debris on the track first caused a punctured tyre resulting in a premature pit stop and later led to problems with the wheel bearing, meaning the car fell back in the standings to 23^rd place. Engstler, Wirth, Bernhardt and Bovensiepen then pushed very hard, nearly matching the fastest lap times of the leading Manthey Porsches and making good progress to reach 14^th place, only to have oil leaking from the rear axle force the car into another pit stop just 90 minutes before the chequered flag. Although the mechanics managed to replace the complete rear axle in under 45 minutes, the time lost meant the car rejoined and finished the race in 27^th place, having completed 135 laps and a distance of 3429 km.

Driver Franz Engstler reacted very positively: “With the B6 GT3, ALPINA have created a car with a very real chance of winning in the near future. Considering the car only participated in its first race two months ago, simply finishing the 24h race at the Nürburgring is remarkable. I am convinced we will see the car being very successfull indeed!”. Team boss and company owner Andreas Bovensiepen was also very happy, concluding: “Of course it was a bold decision to run such a new car in a 24h race, especially at the gruelling Nürburgring. However, we demonstrated that the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 is already showing signs of being a very reliable car with a lots of potential. The team, which has once again done a tremendous job, is already incorporating this weekend’s race findings into ongoing improvements and we look forward to the next race!”

Only in two weeks from now the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 will be racing in the GT Masters at Hockenheim on the 7^th of June, with a further round of the FIA GT3 European Championships taking place on the 20^th and 21^st of June in Oschersleben, Germany’s most northern race track.