BMW will not field a works team in next season's World Touring Car Championship (WTCC) the Bavarian manufacturer have confirmed. The announcement was made at the BMW Sports Trophy Awards Ceremony held in Munich.
After several seasons of running a works team in the WTCC BMW's 2010 campaign was scaled back to two cars – for Andy Priaulx and Augusto Farfus – and 2011 should see the marque represented only by privateer teams.
A new car – the BMW 320 TC – will be the platform for the customer teams in the championship. Based on the successful 320si it will be fitted with the newly developed 1.6 litre turbo engine that will also power the MINI in the World Rally Championship.
“The BMW 320 TC, powered by the newly-developed 1.6-litre four-cylinder (DI-)turbo engine, will expand our Customer Racing offering, and be entered in the World Touring Car Championship by private teams,” said BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen. “The traditional BMW Sports Trophy and our new Formula BMW Talent Cup young driver programme complete our involvement. In parallel we are naturally pressing ahead with preparations for our return to the DTM. Development of the BMW M3 DTM is progressing very well.”
Priaulx and Farfus will remain BMW drivers, both being listed among the drivers for BMW's European endurance racing campaigns, run by Schnitzer Motorsport.
