BMW M MOTORSPORT
– 24H NÜRBURGRING.

For more than half a century the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring has been writing its own story and consolidating its reputation as the toughest endurance race in the world. Typical Eifel region weather, GT racing and hair-raising moments added another memorable chapter to the story at the 49th edition of the legendary race. No other manufacturer has won the Eifel marathon as many times as BMW. It wouldn't have taken much for ROWE Racing to repeat the highly acclaimed historic victory of the previous year and give the BMW M6 GT3 the perfect send-off from the Eifel region. With the final 24-hour race for the BMW M6 GT3 in the Eifel mountains as the top-of-the-range model of BMW M Motorsport it is the end of an era – and the start of a new one. As of 2022, BMW M Motorsport teams and drivers will do battle with the BMW M4 GT3 to continue the unique success story at the Green Hell. The new icon was officially unveiled during the event at the Nürburgring.

"Mission Defend Title" couldn't have got off to a much better start for the ROWE Racing team. In top qualifying on Friday ahead of the race, last year's winner Nick Yelloly in the #1 BMW M6 GT3 clinched pole position and also spent much of the race with the battle for getting the overall win again looking promising. After the race had to be suspended for more than 14 hours, Yelloly, Nick Catsburg, John Edwards and Philipp Eng were leading the pack, but then dropped down the field after a long pit stop mandated by the regulations, before retiring due to a technical defect soon after. Up until that point, three BMW M6 GT3s were doing battle for the overall win – one of which was the sister car of the defending champion. In the #98 BMW M6 GT3, an outstanding catch-up performance saw Sheldon van der Linde, Martin Tomczyk, Marco Wittmann and Connor De Phillippi fight their way up the field. Tomczyk in particular really made up ground on Saturday afternoon, in difficult conditions with some sections of the track very wet while others were dry, and moved up from 25th into third place during his double stint. In the final sprint after the restart on Sunday afternoon, van der Linde was embroiled in a gripping duel for victory with the #911 Porsche and crossed the finish line in second place, trailing by just 8.8 seconds. Schubert Motorsport also gave a strong performance. Jens Klingmann, Jesse Krohn, Alexander Sims and Stef Dusseldorp were on track to finish on the podium for much of the race, but were unlucky with Code 60 periods in the final stage, and crossed the finish line in sixth place.

The 49th edition of the Eifel endurance race also marked the end of an era in 2021. For the final time, the BMW M6 GT3 contested the Nürburgring 24 Hours as the top-of-the-range model from BMW M Motorsport. With the overall win in 2020 – which was also BMW's 20th overall win at the Eifel marathon - the GT3 car secured its place in the history books. With second place on its final appearance, the BMW M6 GT3 bid an almost perfect farewell and made a seamless transition to its successor – the new BMW M Motorsport icon: the BMW M4 GT3. In the run-up to the Nürburgring 24 Hours, the new GT flagship from BMW M was unveiled in new colours, ringing in the final phase of testing. Then, the BMW M4 GT3 will take on the ultimate endurance test in the Eifel mountains for the first time at the 50th edition of the endurance race.

After BMW Junior Team made an impressive debut at the 24-hour race as class winners in the BMW M4 GT4 in 2020, Dan Harper, Max Hesse and Neil Verhagen – with support from Augusto Farfus – were very close to getting a strong result on their GT3 debut in 2021 for much of the race. After selecting the wrong tyres at the start of the race, the quartet worked their way back up into the top ten before the Green Hell lived up to its reputation with only about 30 minutes of the race to go. After experiencing technical issues, the rear of Farfus' car was hit by a rival. That ended the race for the #77 BMW M6 GT3 of BMW Team RMG. 

In addition to the erratic weather and the long interruption, the 49th edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hours was primarily characterised by the Nürburgring legend Sabine Schmitz, who passed away not long before the race. Johannes Scheid, who won the 24-hour race with Schmitz at the wheel of the BMW M3 "Eifelblitz" in 1996 and 1997 did a lap of honour of the Nordschleife in a replica of the winning car from 1996. It started in the pit lane to applause from the other teams and drivers, who came out of their pits and formed a guard of honour for the "Eifelblitz". "It was very emotional, first the huge number of people in the pit lane and then the track marshals along the whole track, who even had home-made banners," said Scheid after his lap. "I said to Sabine: 'They're all here for you'. It was very moving. It still sends shivers down my spine. We owed it to her, and I think it's really great that BMW made it possible."