BMW says GT decision customer-driven
Australian BMW chief says move to join local GT racing was driven by customers and promises more race cars on the wayBMW Australia’s decision to race in the Australian GT series instead of V8 Supercars is customer-driven. That’s the word from BMW Australia boss, Marc Werner.
Werner officially announced the German marque’s entry into the burgeoning series in partnership with Steve Richards Motorsport (SRM) in Melbourne today. The announcement follows the outing of the confirmed factory entry via a BMW Motorsport press release in Germany last Friday.
BMW Australia will provide infrastructure, technical support and “above and below the line marketing” for the venture and is seeking to attract more “amateur racer” customers to the series, Werner says.
BMW Australia will ensure there is appropriate parts and engineering support and will also host competitor and corporate hospitality at the GT series’ meetings, he said.
“There’s nothing wrong with V8 Supercars, but this is a customer-driven decision,” Werner told motoring.com.au.
“We identified this opportunity when the M6 GT3 was announced and GT was a natural fit with Australia’s performance orientation. It is the fastest growing racing series and we wanted to do it for our customers – and provide a service that was not available.”
Werner described the arrangement with SRM as “a joint-venture of sorts”.
“Steve will be the figurehead and we are the major sponsor. We are committed to make sure there is a transfer of know-how all the way [from the factory] to the grid. This will be a premium experience for our customers,” Werner stated.
Two M6 GT3s are all but confirmed for the local 2016 series – the SRM racer and another car believed to have initially been purchased by series owner and racing stalwart, Tony Quinn.
That said, the BMW Australia boss is confident more teams will join as cars become available.
“Worldwide demand for the new M6 GT3 has surprised everyone. We’re lucky to have secured two cars. More will be produced and that [how many will come Down Under] will be up to customer demand,” Werner told motoring.com.au.
Under the existing event rules, the new M6s will ineligible for February’s Bathurst 12 Hour, but Werner is keen to see a BMW presence at the 2017 running of the GT category's showcase event.
“We’re looking forward to seeing our cars at Bathurst,” Werner said.
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