Series newsletter 2009-12-17

2009 Formula BMW champions honoured.

At the start of December, BMW Motorsport bid farewell to the 2009 season with the award ceremony for the BMW Sports Trophy, which boasted a total prize money of 250,000 Euros. The top BMW privateers were honoured in Munich's "Kesselhaus" venue. This year's BMW Sports Trophy, which has been awarded since the 1960s, was won by freshly crowned BTCC champion Colin Turkington (GB). The achievements of the most successful drivers in the international Formula BMW series were also recognised at the event.

Alessandro Zanardi (IT), who contested the 2009 World Touring Car Championship for BMW Team Italy-Spain, invited the champions onto the stage to look back on the events of last season. Felipe Nasr (BR, Formula BMW Europe Champion), Robin Frijns (NL, Formula BMW Europe Rookie Cup Winner), Rio Haryanto (ID, Formula BMW Pacific Champion), Gary Thompson (IR, Formula BMW Pacific Rookie Cup Winner) and Gabby Chaves (CO, Formula BMW Americas Champion) were presented with their trophies by BMW Motorsport Director Mario Theissen: a just reward for the outstanding results achieved by the quintet of talented juniors over the course of the season.

Attractive 2010 race calendar for the Formula BMW series.

Promoting junior racing drivers remains an important part of BMW Motorsport's realigned programme. In 2010 BMW will again support young hopefuls in Formula BMW Europe and in Formula BMW Pacific as they take their first steps in single-seater racing. The calendar for the European series will see the youngsters share the bill with Formula One at seven venues and also race at one of Formula 3's premiere events.

The race calendar for Formula BMW Pacific is yet to be finalised. However, it has been announced that the Asian series will also form part of the support programme for Formula One: at the Malaysian and Singapore Grands Prix, the youngsters will do battle on the most popular stage in motorsport. On top of this, the talented juniors will also appear on the programme at the "Asian Festival of Speed" in Malaysia and South Korea.

The 2010 Formula BMW Europe season kicks off in Barcelona (ES). The other Formula One venues will be Silverstone (GB), Hockenheim (DE), Budapest (HU), Valencia (ES), Spa-Francorchamps (BE) and Monza (IT). Traditionally the calendar also includes a venue outside of the Formula One season. This will once again be Zandvoort (NL).

Between March and May the juniors will be given the opportunity to gain valuable experience during official tests on the iconic circuits. The following dates have already been confirmed: Monza (9th/10th March), Barcelona (21st/22nd March), Silverstone (6th/7th April), Spa-Francorchamps (12th/13th April), Zandvoort (20th/21st April) and Budapest (25th/26th May). Details of the test in Hockenheim will be announced later.

Merry Christmas from Formula BMW.

The 2009 season is over, and the calendar year is also drawing to a close. Formula BMW would like to thank all its partners, teams, drivers and their families for their immense commitment, their passion for racing, and their support. Without you the huge success of Formula BMW would not be possible.

We wish you all a good start to the New Year, and look forward to a 2010 season full of exciting races in Formula BMW Europe and Formula BMW Pacific.

-credit: fbmw