%2c_re._Brambilla.jpg)
Schnitzer Motorsport was a motorsport team based inFreilassing nearMunich,Germany. From the early days of its establishment, the team mostly operated anautomobile racing squad forBMW, and had remarkable results intouring car andsports car racing. The team would often run the cars for BMW under the name of "BMW Motorsport". In 2012, the team operated theDTM team for BMW under the name of "BMW Team Schnitzer".
On 4 December 2020, BMW announced that it will terminate its relationship with Schnitzer Motorsport after more than 50 years.[1]
The team was founded in 1967 by the brothers Josef (August 7, 1939–August 31, 1978) and Herbert Schnitzer (b. June 5, 1941). Their stepfather Karl Lamm had a car repair shop and dealer business. The brothers started racing in 1962, and Josef Schnitzer won the 1966 German Championship in aBMW 2000ti. In 1968, both retired from active race driving to focus on the business and the race team.
In the 1970s, the Schnitzer's younger half-brothers Karl ("Charly") and Dieter Lamm joined the team, with Charly Lamm acting as team manager at the race tracks. In 1978, Josef Schnitzer died in an accident, and Herbert Schnitzer remained as the boss.
Apart from having the BMW dealership and Motorsport team based in Southern Germany'sBavaria, they also owned a BMW tuning specialist concern in the far north near the border ofBelgium and theNetherlands, inAachen. As this city has thelicense plate codeAC, they called this branchAC Schnitzer.
Since the 1960s, the Schnitzer team was mainly active withBMW andBMW M cars inTouring car racing, namely in theEuropean Touring Car Championship, theDeutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, theDeutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and theWorld Touring Car Championship (WTCC).
In 1977 and 1978 Schnitzer tried to take on the mightyPorsche 935 in theDRM. They developed aGroup 5, 560 PS (412 kW) turbochargedsilhouette version of the RA40Toyota Celica and raced it with modest success. The best finish of theCelica LB Turbo was a fourth at Nürburgring in 1977, but with dismal reliability the next year Schnitzer withdrew and returned their focus to BMWs.[2]
.jpg)
Joachim Winkelhock,Pierluigi Martini andYannick Dalmas won the1999 24 Hours of Le Mans for Team BMW Motorsport in aBMW V12 LMR, operated by Schnitzer Motorsport.[3]
In the 2000s, they mainly competed as "BMW Team Germany" in the WTCC with driversJörg Müller,Dirk Müller, andAugusto Farfus from 2005 to 2009.
Schnitzer was also active inSports car racing andEndurance racing, e.g. theALMS andLe Mans Series.On 26 January 2011 it was announced that Schnitzer Motorsport, under the name Team Schnitzer, would runAndy Priaulx's GT2 M3 in the2011 Intercontinental Le Mans Cup[4]
In 2012, BMW Team Schnitzer, along with BMW Team RBM, and Reinhold Motorsport GmbH, each line up with two BMW M3 DTM cars in theDTM.[5]
In September 2018, Charly Lamm announced that he would step down from his role at Schnitzer at the end of the year.[6] He died unexpectedly on 24 January 2019.[7]
In early 2021 the organisation began the process of beingliquidated.[8]
(key)
† Driver did not finish, but completed 75% of the race distance.
| Current brands |
|
|---|---|
| Previous brands | |
| Divisions and subsidiaries | |
| Joint ventures | |
| Vehicles | |
| Technologies | |
| Motorsport | |
| Buildings | |
| Other | |
