BMW gets its drift on!
The Munich motor maker has entered its own factory-backed team into the Drift Masters European Championship.
BMW’s M-division, the in-house builders of its line of bonkers road-going ‘bahnstormers and the firm’s factory backed racing entrants, has finally jumped on the drifting bandwagon by supporting two BMW M4 Competition models set to compete in the Drift Masters European Championship this year.
Driven and prepared by the Red Bull sponsored Driftbrothers, Elias and Johannes Hountondji, the pair of highly modified M4s will take to the grid for the first time on the 10th and 11th July for the opening round of the season in Greinbach, Austria.
“BMW M has always stood for motorsports at the highest level and in all of its diversity, whereby we are also open to disciplines such as drift sports,” says Markus Flasch, CEO of the BMW M GmbH. “The Red Bull Driftbrothers belong to the absolute top group of the scene in terms of driving skills and technology. The BMW M4 Competition is an ideal new competition vehicle for both of them to achieve success during the 2021 season.”
But even with such an awesome machine at their disposal, the seasoned sliders have still had their way with the cars to make them even more competitive for drifting. For starters, the performance of the straight-six engines has been doubled to an insane 1050bhp and 958lb ft of torque, while the unique aero parts such as the carbon rear spoiler gurney, the rear diffuser side plates, and front and rear winglets, were designed in collaboration with and manufactured by BMW M Prototype Construction.
“I am deeply impressed with what the Red Bull Driftbrothers have managed to coax out of our vehicles and wish both of them every success for the start of the season,” says Flasch. “The race-ready builds also show how good a basis the BMW M4 Competition provides for motorsport use. From the start of its development, we had designed the production vehicle to also form the basis for the BMW M4 GT3, which we officially presented during the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring earlier in the year.”
The Driftbrothers will contest the series as two of the best 45 drivers from Europe, the USA and the Middle East that have been invited to participate in the Championship that sees the sideways sliders face-off and burn rubber at circuits in Austria, Norway, Poland, Latvia and Georgia. In addition to the five racing weekends, demo appearances are also scheduled for 2021 at the MotoGP races at the Sachsenring and the Red Bull Ring, the Austrian Formula 1 Grand Prix – also at the Red Bull Ring – as well as the 24-hour race at the Nürburgring. Smokin!