Schnitzer Motorsport

Schnitzer Motorsport is a successful Motorsport Team based in Freilassing near Munich, Germany. In the last years, they mainly competed as BMW Team Germany in the World Touring Car Championship with drivers Jörg Müller and Augusto Farfus who moved from Alfa Romeo during the winter leading up to the 2007 season.

History

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 a BMW 2000ti. In 1968, both retired from active race driving to focus on the business and the race team.

In the 1970's, 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's Bavaria, they also own a BMW tuning specialist concern in the far north near the border of Belgium and the Netherlands, in Aachen. As this city has the license plate code "AC", they called this branch AC Schnitzer.

Since the 1960's, the Schnitzer team has been mainly active with BMW and BMW M cars in Touring car racing like the European Touring Car Championship, the Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft, the
Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft and the World Touring Car Championship (WTCC).

Schnitzer was also active in Sports car racing and Endurance racing, eg. the ALMS.

Major Wins

; Championships
* 1978 Deutsche Rennsport Meisterschaft (Harald Ertl, BMW 320i Turbo)
* 1983 European Touring Car Championship (Dieter Quester, BMW 635CSi)
* 1986-1988 European Touring Car Championship/1987 World Touring Car Championship (Roberto Ravaglia, BMW M3)
* 1989 Deutsche Tourenwagen Meisterschaft (Roberto Ravaglia, BMW M3)
* 1989-1991 Italian Touring Car Championship (1989: Johnny Cecotto and 1990-1991: Roberto Ravaglia, BMW M3)
* 1993 British Touring Car Championship (Champion: Joachim Winkelhock and Runner-up: Steve Soper, BMW 318i)
* 1995 Japanese Touring Car Championship (Steve Soper, BMW 318is)
* 2001 American Le Mans Series GT1 (Jörg Müller, BMW M3 GTR V8); Races
* 1976 1000km Nürburgring (BMW 3.5 CSL)
* 1991 24 Hours Nürburgring (BMW M3)
* 1992 Guia Race (1–2–3 finish, Winner: Emanuele Pirro, Runner-up: Joachim Winkelhock and Third: Roberto Ravaglia, BMW M3 Evolution)
* 1998 24 Hours Nürburgring (BMW 320d)
* 1999 24 Hours of Le Mans (BMW V12 LMR)
* 2004-2005 24 Hours Nürburgring (1–2 finishs two years in a row, BMW M3 GTR V8)

External links

* [http://www.schnitzer.de/motorsport/ Schnitzer Motorsport]
* [http://www.ac-schnitzer.de/en/bmw-cars/rennsport/ The history of the Team Schnitzer] - by [http://www.acschnitzer.com/en/ AC Schnitzer official website]