SUPER GT x DTM Dream Race: The BMW M Motorsport ‘Dream Team’ is ready for Fuji

The waiting is over: this weekend (22^nd to 24^th November), BMW M Motorsport will compete at the first joint race event between the DTM and the Japanese SUPER GT Championship in Japan. Three BMW M4 DTMs will be in action at the ‘SUPER GT x DTM Dream Race’ at Fuji (JPN). They will be driven by the BMW M Motorsport ‘Dream Team’, consisting of two-time DTM champion Marco Wittmann (GER), BMW works driver and Brand Ambassador Alessandro Zanardi (ITA), and local favourite Kamui Kobayashi (JPN). The three BMW M4 DTMs will be run by BMW Team RBM.

Wittmann finished third overall in the 2019 DTM season, making him the best-placed BMW driver. The Sunday at Fuji is a special date for him, as he will celebrate his 30^th birthday that day. Zanardi will be making his second appearance in the DTM at Fuji, following his thrilling guest start at Misano (ITA) in 2018. As at Misano, his BMW M4 DTM will be equipped with a handbrake system, which allows him to drive without his artificial legs. Kobayashi will be driving a BMW M Motorsport race car for the first time at Fuji.

The ‘Dream Race’ at Fuji marks takes the collaboration between the DTM and SUPER GT series up a notch. The schedule for the event is similar to DTM race weekends. Two free practice sessions are scheduled for the Friday. Saturday and Sunday will each feature a qualifying session in the morning, followed by one race (55 minutes plus one lap) in the afternoon. As in the DTM, each driver must complete at least one mandatory pit stop in the race, during which all four wheels are changed.

The ‘Dream Race’ at Fuji is part of the ‘BMW Motorsport Mega Weekend’ at the end of 2019. At Kyalami, South Africa, BMW Team Schnitzer and Walkenhorst Motorsport will contest the final round of this season’s Intercontinental GT Challenge (IGTC) with their BMW M6 GT3s. At the same time, Season 6 of the ABB FIA Formula E Championship gets underway in Diriyah (KSA), with BMW i Andretti Motorsport Team looking for a good start to the new season. BMW DTM driver Philipp Eng (AUT) is also in action at the weekend, at the 2019 FIA GTC World Finals in Monte Carlo (MON). The best Gran Turismo sim racers in the world will go head to head there. Eng is competing in the ProAm race and will support the BMW racers in the Grand Final of the Manufacturer Series during the World Final. 

Quotes ahead of the ‘SUPER GT x DTM Dream Race’ at Fuji.

Jens Marquardt (BMW Group Motorsport Director):

“We are all looking forward to the ‘Dream Race’. The intensified collaboration with Japanese SUPER GT is an important symbol of the internationalisation and future of the DTM. The guest appearance of the SUPER GT cars at the DTM finale in Hockenheim at the start of October gave us a taste of what we can look forward to at the event at Fuji. We are now very much looking forward to appearing with our BMW M4 DTM in front of the Japanese fans, who are mad about motorsport. In Marco Wittmann, Alessandro Zanardi and local favourite Kamui Kobayashi, we line up with a real ‘Dream Team’ in the ‘Dream Race’. We are in a strong position with this trio. It is going to be a fantastic event and we are already very excited about the races against the backdrop of Mount Fuji.”

Bart Mampaey (Team Principal BMW Team RBM):

“Racing in Japan is something special for everyone in our team. We have great memories of victories in Japan in the FIA WTCC. Two years ago, we looked after the BMW M4 DTM at the DTM show run, which formed part of the SUPER GT finale in Motegi. That was a fantastic weekend, which made quite an impression on us, thanks to the passionate fans and great atmosphere. As such, we are really looking forward to returning to Japan and running the three BMW M4 DTMs at Fuji. I think the ‘Dream Race’ is going to be a fantastic event for all involved – for the drivers and teams from the DTM and SUPER GT, as well as the fans, who are sure to come in great numbers to Fuji.”

Marco Wittmann:

“I am delighted to be involved in the ‘Dream Race’ with SUPER GT and the DTM at Fuji. It was a big thing when the Japanese cars made guest appearances at our season finale at Hockenheim, and now it is our turn to travel to Japan. I will be driving at Fuji for the first time. The circuit looks very exciting, particularly with the long straight. I am already looking forward to the event and hope that we have a good weekend and are competitive. Although there is no championship at stake, I would still like to get a good result there. Plus, it is my 30^th birthday on the Sunday. A big birthday on a race weekend, and in Japan – you can’t ask for more than that. That is another reason for me to look forward to this nice and special end to the season.”

Alessandro Zanardi:

“I am really excited about competing with the BMW M4 DTM at this special event. Being a racer, I can obviously not be happy simply taking part. I want to do my very best, but I also have to be realistic and understand that these days I drive in races very rarely – unlike my opponents in the Dream Race. For this reason, I can’t expect much. However, I went to the DTM round at Misano last year with the same approach and I came home with a great result. All in all, I am hoping to surprise myself again this time. I’ve already been to Fuji in 1990 – which was a long, long time ago. I am very much looking forward to racing there in the BMW M4 DTM, which is a very enjoyable car. I am sure it will be a blast in the long, smooth corners at the Fuji circuit.”

Kamui Kobayashi:

“I am really looking forward to being a part of the first joint race event between SUPER GT and the DTM in Japan, competing in a BMW M4 DTM. I feel very honoured that BMW M Motorsport has put its faith in me and, at the same time, I want to thank Toyota for allowing me to make this appearance at Fuji. For me, it will be a completely new experience, as I have not driven a DTM car before. However, I am pretty sure that I will get to grips with the BMW M4 DTM very quickly. I am also looking forward to being team-mates with Marco Wittmann and Alex Zanardi, who I already met at Daytona in January. It is great to have an event like this in Japan and I am convinced that we put on a thrilling show for the fans. I can’t wait to get to Fuji and to start this special weekend.”