BMW Motorsport celebrates end of season at BMW Museum – Drivers and teams from all over the world receive awards

BMW Motorsport held its annual Season Review
on Friday evening, during which it looked back on a successful year of #racing in
2015. The venue for this popular event was the #bmw Museum, which is not only
steeped in tradition, but also provided a fantastic party atmosphere. The best-placed
participants in the #bmw Sports Trophy Driver and Team Competitions were
honoured at the event, while other #bmw drivers and teams were also presented with
BMW Motorsport Awards in recognition of their performances.
“This year, many teams and drivers have once again claimed race wins and titles with
BMW cars in some of the best and most famous #racing series in the world,” said
Klaus Fröhlich, Member of the Board of Management of #bmw AG, Development,
who opened the evening. “We present our #bmw Motorsport Awards in order to
honour these outstanding performances.”
BMW Motorsport Director Jens Marquardt, who presented the winners with their
trophies, said: “2015 presented us with a number of highlights. In the DTM, we
showed outstanding team spirit to recover from a difficult start to the season and win
the Manufacturers’ title. In the USCC, we won three races and finished runners-up in
the Driver, Team and Manufacturer competitions. BMW’s greatest success on the
endurance circuit was undoubtedly with the #bmw Z4 GT3. The 22nd overall victory
for #bmw at the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps, courtesy of Lucas Luhr, Markus
Palttala and Nick Catsburg, gave this car a worthy send-off at the end of a
magnificent career. The #bmw Sports Trophy received a record number of entries,
with 310 drivers from 29 different countries registering. And the #bmw Motorsport
Junior programme once again unearthed some wonderfully talented youngsters and
a worthy winner. Because of this, 2015 gave us plenty of reasons to celebrate with
the #bmw Motorsport family at the end of the year.”
One of the highlights of the evening was the presentation of the #bmw Sports
Trophy Honorary Award to Andy Priaulx (GB). A #bmw works driver for many years,
he made sure of his place in the #bmw Motorsport history books when he won three
back-to-back titles in the FIA World Touring Car Championship (WTCC). From 2005
to 2007, Priaulx was the man to beat at the wheel of the #bmw 320i and #bmw 320si.
He enjoyed great success with #bmw, including victory at the Nürburgring 24 Hours
(DE) in 2005. Next season, after over a decade as a #bmw works driver, Priaulx is
leaving #bmw in search of a new challenge. “Thanks to Andy Priaulx for all he has
done for the #bmw brand,” said Marquardt. “His name and his fantastic successes
will always remain a part of BMW’s motorsport history. We at #bmw support his
decision to leave us after so many successful years. We do not want to stand in the
way of our drivers should they wish to pursue new challenges. We wish him all the
best, and will remain in contact as friends.”