The BMW SIM 120 Cup on the Nürburgring Grand Prix circuit featured 46 teams competing just in the top split. This saw the drivers with the best overall ratings battling for victory on the iRacing platform in a competition that featured Romain Grosjean as the second Formula 1 driver alongside Verstappen. There were more races within the race, referred to as splits. The BMW Junior Team appeared in one of these splits for starters with lower ratings. Dan Harper and Neil Verhagen shared a BMW M8 GTE, while Max Hesse enjoyed the support of former BMW Motorsport Junior and current BMW works driver Erik Johansson.

Heinrich and Voß were able to secure pole position after a close-fought qualifying session in the top split. They were able to defend thar position until just a few minutes from the end. However, Voß then had to let Koch pass in the #7 BMW M8 GTE after sliding out. Koch then received a ‘slow down’ penalty after putting all four wheels off the track when driving through the NGK chicane for the penultimate time. That allowed Voß to pull level with his team-mate once again and regain the lead on the first turn of the final lap of the race.

The result means that Voß and Heinrich are the third duo to confirm their participation in the BMW SIM Live 2020 event. Benecke, Maximilian Wenig, Josh Rogers and Mitchell deJong had already booked their BMW SIM 120 Cups tickets at Daytona and Sebring.

Spengler secured a superb sixth place on the grid for the #25 BMW M8 GTE from the ZF BMW team. However, he was then involved in two collisions early in the race, which pushed him back down the field and damaged his car. Eng took over driving duties at the halfway point of the race, crossing the finishing line in 16th place. In addition to the two BMW works drivers, Beitske Visser was also competing in the main race. Driving alongside Florian Woithe, she crossed the line in 31st place for the Williams JIM Esports team.

As the year progresses, three further BMW SIM 120 Cup races will give drivers the opportunity to secure their places on the grid for BMW SIM Live 2020. They will take place at the circuits of Spa-Francorchamps (5th July), Road Atlanta (20th September) and Interlagos (8th November).

“Firstly, congratulations to our team-mates from BS+COMPETITION on their one-two result in such a competitive race. Bruno also deserves praise for beating so many professional sim racers in qualifying to claim sixth place on the grid. Unfortunately, those early incidents in the race put paid to any chances we may have had of securing a top finish. The race went well for me after the car had some quick repairs during the pit stop. However, 16th place was the best we could do. As mentor for the BMW Junior team, I am also happy that the guys were able to compete against some strong competition in their split to gain some more experience.”

“My qualifying lap was really great. It felt good to claim sixth place when competing against some of the best sim racers in the world but it was an unbelievably close-run thing. Just one or two tenths of a second slower would have seen me in 15th. The level of competition in the BMW SIM 120 Cups really is unbelievably high. We had a perfect set-up for our BMW M8 GTE. Congratulations to BS+COMPETITON on their win. Unfortunately, I was hit from behind twice during the race and the car suffered quite a bit of damage. When you consider everything that happened to us, we can be pretty pleased with finishing 16th. In any case, it was great fun.”