BMW in motorsport

Throughout its history, BMW cars and motorcycles have been successful in a range of motorsport activities. Apart from the factory efforts, many privateer teams enter BMW road cars in Touring car racing. BMW also entered cars or provided engines in Formula One, Formula Two and sportscar racing. BMW is currently active in ALMS, the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC), the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200, the Superbike World Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters (German Touring Car Championship).

An outstanding role has been played by the 1,500 cc BMW M10 engine block. The four-cylinder started with modest 75 hp (56 kW) in 1961, became successful in touring cars, developed over 300 hp (224 kW) in 1970s Formula Two, and at the ripe age of a quarter century, produced almost twentyfold its original power in the 1986 turbocharged BMW M12/13/1, producing an outstanding 1400 hp. This engine became wideley regarded as one of the most powerful, if not the most, powerful engine in the history of Formula 1 as well as being the most powerful engine ever built by BMW. As the base of the BMW S14 engine of the original BMW M3, it collected many more wins.

Other impressive displays of engineering involve the production of the BMW S70/2 engine, implemented in the McLaren F1, which set the world record for "world's fastest production car" on March 31, 1998. As well as achieving a Guinness Book of World Records record for longest continuous Drift (See Below "Guinness Book of World Records")

BMW enjoyed a dominant period in motorcycle racing prior to the Second World War with notable achievements such as Georg Meier's victory in the Senior Race at the 1939 Isle of Man TT. Post war BMW success mainly revolved around Sidecar racing, the marque becoming the premier machinery on the Snaefell Mountain Course, the smaller Clypse Course and from 1949 until the mid 1970s the Sidecar World Championship. BMW-powered sidecars have won numerous World Championships, notable competitors being Rolf Steinhausen, Klaus Enders and Max Deubel. The pre-war dominance enjoyed in motorcycle road racing faded post-war, the main road racing campaign centered on Production Bike Racing with Helmut Dähne campaigning the marque with BMW's best post-war finish until the second decade of the 21st Century being a 3rd placed position in the 1974 Production 1000cc TT. BMW officially resumed road racing in 2009, entering the World Superbike Championship with its BMW S1000RR. This resumption also saw its official re-introduction at the Isle of Man the 2014 Isle of Man TT seeing Michael Dunlop campaigning BMW machinery in the Superbike, and Senior TTs. Dunlop took victory in the three main solo races, securing BMW's first win in the Senior TT since that of Georg Meier in 1939.

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Wikipedia