BMW Alpina Back on Top!

Report and Photography: Willem J. Staat

In the early seventies BMW Alpina-cars with the likes of James Hunt, Brian Muir and Niki Lauda won famous races. The company came back in the Nürburgring 24 Hrs a few years ago. Since the beginning of this year the Engstler Motorsport Team enters two cars in the ADAC GT Masters series. In the final round at Hockenheim the combination of Alexandros Margaritis/Dino Lunardi managed to win the first round of the weekend and thereby clinched the prestigious ADAC GT Masters GT3 title against mighty opposition from Audi, BMW, Chevrolet, Lamborghini, Mercedes and Porsche! In the second race it was the Phoenix Audi R8 LMS from Rast/Landsmann who clinched the win after the Lamborghini from Johannes and Ferdinand Stuck ran out of fuel in sight of the finish. The ATS F3 Cup was being taken by New Zealander Richie Stanaway who won 13 races during the season, including the last two. From a spectators point of view interest is growing in GT3. About 35.000 people attended the Masters Finals at Hockenheim. For next year new manufacturers will be entering the series.