BMW and touring cars – a story of success.
n the 1960s, touring car racing becomes the central pillar of the BMW’s motor racing involvement. In 1960, Hans Stuck Senior secures the German Championship with the BMW 700. In 1964, Hubert Hahne secures the German Circuit Racing Championship at the wheel of the BMW 1800Ti, with numerous further successes following with the likes of the BMW 2000Ti, the BMW 2002, the BMW 3.0 and the BMW 320.
In the mid-1980s, the impressive BMW 635 CSi Coupe is the force to be reckoned, in the European Touring Car Championship. Following race wins in 1985, Italian driver Roberto Ravaglia secures the 1986 European Championship. In 1987, the slim, but meaty, successor to the 6 Series Coupe lines up on the grid: the BMW M3, a driving machine with a 2.5-litre unit delivering 355 bhp. In its first year on the race-track, BMW clinches the World Championship (Ravaglia), the European Championship (Winni Vogt) and nine other titles. The M3 achieves legendary status. Up to and including 1992, BMW M3 drivers secure a total of more than 1,500 race wins and more than 50 international titles.
For the introduction of a new category of close-to-production touring cars – initially known as Class 2 or the two-litre class, later Super Touring Cars or STC for short – BMW designs another superior touring car: the BMW 320i. From 1993 through to 1998, this BMW 320i (E36) wins 29 championship titles around the world, including three in Germany. After a 13-year break, in 2001, the European Championship is revived, with Peter Kox immediately securing the 21st European Touring Car Championship, for BMW, in 2001. From 2002 onwards, the European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) represents a permanent component of the BMW motor racing programme. In 2005, the series is succeeded by the WTCC, the first World Touring Car Championship since 1987.
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