BMW Motorsport End of Season Party

BMW Motorsport paid tribute to the successes of the 2004 race season and set its sights on yet higher goals. 650 guests celebrated victory in the European Touring Car Championship, the one-two wins in the Nürburgring 24 Hour Race and at the Guia Race in Macau, took stock of the highs and lows of the Formula One season, and honoured successful BMW privateer drivers with the BMW Sports Trophy worth a total of 241,000 euros. Among the winners, guests and well-wishers were the 2004 Formula One drivers of the BMW WilliamsF1 Team. Among those being celebrated were touring car aces like Macau winner Jörg Müller (GER) and European Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx from Great Britain.

Priaulx could hardly believe his luck when BMW's Motorsport Director Mario Theissen offered him the opportunity of a test drive in a Formula One race car, and was equally delighted with his first BMW works driver contract for the new FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

A new recruit to BMW Motorsport is 17-year-old Sebastian Vettel (GER), who took a commanding victory in the 2004 Formula BMW ADAC Championship. Other beaming faces were those of Swedish Touring Car Champion and BMW Sports Trophy winner Richard Göransson (SWE), as well as Claudia Hürtgen from Germany, who took the title in the DMSB Production Car Championship.

The pre-Christmas mood and winter sports atmosphere were also savoured by BMW board members Professor Burkhard Göschel (Purchasing and Development) and Stefan Krause (Finance), team principal Frank Williams, former BMW Motorsport Director Gerhard Berger, ex-F1 World Champion Keke Rosberg, Austrian skiing legend Toni Sailer, and Barbara Schöneberger. The TV presenter hosted the lively programme, with intermittent support from Hans-Joachim Stuck. As part of Saturday's BMW Motorsport Party at Zell am See in Austria, two new additions to the BMW Motorsport squad were announced. European Touring Car Champion Andy Priaulx has been granted works driver status.

The talented British driver (30) has been competing for the team of BMW Great Britain. Next year he will be lining up on the grid for Bart Mampaey's team again, this time in the new FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). The outstanding junior driver Sebastian Vettel is the second man to be signed on by BMW. The 17-year-old German from Heppenheim dominated the 2004 Formula BMW ADAC Championship like no other driver before him.

BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: "Both drivers have delivered an outstanding performance. We are very pleased to have won their services for BMW Motorsport. For Andy Priaulx, the priority in 2005 will be the WTCC. Beyond that he will be driving for BMW Motorsport in further assignments on and off the track."

In future, Vettel will be jointly sponsored by BMW and Red Bull. In 2005 he will be sporting the colours of the energy drink in the European Formula 3 series. "Beyond that," explains Theissen, "BMW will be helping him prepare for an ongoing Formula career with an individually tailored training programme."

Andy Priaulx won five races in the 2004 FIA European Touring Car Championship (ETCC), claimed one pole position, and added six fastest race laps to the statistics. He was born in Guernsey on 8th August 1974 and began his racing career in the Channel Islands. After karting, he went on to claim triumphs in motocross and then titles in the British Hillclimb Championship and the Renault Spider Cup. Priaulx's career continued with Formula 3 before he switched to touring cars in 2001. In 2002 he took his first win in the British Touring Car Championship. 2003 marked his debut in the ETCC with the BMW 320i. He made his mark with three wins and fought for the title right up to the final race. In 2004 he also drove for Team BMW Motorsport in the Spa 24 Hours. Alongside his racing activities, he oversees the BMW Education and Coaching Programme as chief instructor for the Formula BMW UK Championship. Andy Priaulx is married to Joanne. They have a son and a daughter.

Sebastian Vettel, despite his young age, is already a record-holder: 18 wins in 20 races in the 2004 Formula BMW ADAC Championship, 387 out of a possible 400 points, plus 14 pole positions. Never before has a driver in the Formula BMW ADAC Championship dominated the competition like this high school student. But Vettel is not one to rest on his laurels. Race after race, the young man got into his FB02 in peak shape, both physically and mentally. Nobody was up as early as he was for a morning jog to get his circulation going before climbing into the cockpit. Nobody spent so much time poring over data analysis as he did. Even away from the race track, Vettel displayed an astonishingly mature approach in his dealings with journalists, sponsors and VIPs as part of Team Mücke Motorsport.

BMW Motorsport Programme 2005: Catching-up exercise in Formula One, on the offensive in the new WTCC, and the first world final for the four Formula BMW series

Scaling new heights was the tenor of BMW's programme for 2005 presented at the big Motorsport Party in the Alps on Saturday. BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: "The most challenging goal and topmost priority is to close the gap in the Formula One World Championship. With new drivers, a new chassis and new personnel structures, we want to return to our former strength. In Munich we have again developed a new engine with which we aim to defend our lead in the technological contest in this sector. With Mark Webber we have already signed up an outstanding driver, and I am expecting the second cockpit to be equally well occupied."

In touring car racing, BMW faces a new challenge. The FIA European Touring Car Championship (ETCC), in which BMW and Andy Priaulx won the Manufacturers' and Drivers' title respectively in 2004, will become the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) - the third FIA-sanctioned World Championship besides Formula One and the Rally Championship. Theissen: "We are looking forward to the World Championship very much. It signifies a major upgrade for touring car racing. This title contest has only ever been held once, and it was won by BMW in 1987." As in the ETCC, the WTCC will also see customer teams competing with the backing of national BMW sales organisations.

Theissen: "For BMW Motorsport it is a very crucial advantage that the 320i developed in Munich according to the Super 2000 regulations can be fielded worldwide in many national race series. Private and professional teams buying the WTCC kit will get a vehicle with winning potential and with it will make a major contribution to BMW's impressive tally of successes in touring car racing."

Already lined up as WTCC drivers with works driver status are Dirk Müller and Jörg Müller (BMW Team Deutschland, Schnitzer Motorsport) as well as Andy Priaulx (BMW Team Great Britain, RBM).

On the junior talent promotion front, the four series - the Formula BMW ADAC Championship in Germany, Formula BMW Asia, Formula BMW UK Championship and Formula BMW USA - will be continued. "Thanks to its high technical standard and first-rate training programme, Formula BMW has emerged as the leading entry-level class worldwide," says Theissen. A new addition to the programme is a major Formula BMW World Final in December 2005.

BMW Sports Trophy 2004: Coveted privateers' trophy goes to Sweden.

As the Swedish Touring Car Champion, Richard Göransson (SWE) was the world's most successful BMW privateer driver of the 2004 season. The 26-year-old from Örebro won nine out of 18 races in 2004 to take the title in style with his BMW 320i.

Presented for the 39th time, the BMW Sports Trophy has a purse worth a total of 241,000 euros. Winner Göransson was handed 35,000 euros of prize money before 650 guests as part of the BMW Motorsport Party in Zell am See on Saturday. Based on the Sports Trophy's coefficient system, he had managed to collect 497.5 points.

With 372 points, Claudia Hürtgen came second in this traditional sponsorship scheme. In 2004, the 33-year-old drove a BMW 320i to take five wins in 17 races for the DMSB Production Car Championship title, the successor series to the German Touring Car Challenge which the driver from Aachen had been the first woman to win in 2003.

Franz Engstler from the Allgäu came third in the 2004 BMW Sports Trophy. Like Hürtgen, he was driving a BMW 320i in the DMSB Production Car Championship. The 40-year-old claimed one win and came fifth in the overall placings, his results adding up to a tally of 364.5 trophy points.

"The commitment shown by these drivers and teams without any direct support from the company merits a great deal of respect," emphasised BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. "They compete against other marques and different vehicle and drive concepts in a variety of categories around the world. Thanks to their successes, they are important ambassadors for the technical and manifold competence of BMW."

The support for customer teams in mass motor racing will continue unchanged in 2005. Beyond the renewed invitation to compete for the BMW Sports Trophy, this will also include bonus payments for successes in the DMSB Production Car Championship.

Further champions:

It wasn't only the Sports Trophy winners who provided evidence that BMW's racing cars are multitalented. At the celebrations marking the end of the season in Zell am See, another five drivers claiming championship titles on BMW in 2004 were honoured:

Bill Auberlen from California won the GT Class of the Grand Am Rolex Sports Car Series in the USA with his BMW M3 GTR.

Patrick Beliën (BEL) won the Belcar Championship in a BMW M3.

Carlos Hernandez (ESP) in his BMW 320i took the Spanish Hill Climb title.

Giulio Regosa (ITA/Osella BMW) won Category 2 in the FIA European Hillclimb Championship.

Herbert Stenger (GER/Stenger BMW) once again took the title in the German Hillclimb Championship for sports racers.