BMW is celebrating the 50th birthday of its legendary M-brand this year and is staging a special race at the Nürburgring to mark the big 5-0. It's a one-make race, featuring BMW M2 CS coupes, and it will be a support race for the famed Nurburgring 24hrs.
30-minute race
The 30-minute race will take place on the Grand Prix circuit of the 'Ring (that's the short circuit, usually used for F1 races, not the full Nordschleife which will be in use for the 24hrs) and will be run just ahead of the start of the 24hrs, on May 28th.
The catch is, you have to be something of a mature driver to compete. This is an invitational race, you might say, so BMW has taken care to invite only those drivers whose birthday more or less matches that of the M-brand. If you're not 50, or older, you're not racing...
Legendary line-up
The entry list is something of a who's who of racing greats. Dirk Adorf is a giant of the German endurance racing scene; Bill Auberlen is a well-known American racer and frequent Le Mans entrant; Venezuela's Johnny Cecotto is an all-time touring car legend, and a multiple title winner for BMW over the years; America's Eddie Cheever raced in both F1 (using BMW engines no less) as well as Indycar; Harald Grohs and Olaf Manthey, both from Germany, are long-standing endurance racers and team owners; Jochen Mass is a genuine F1 legend, having driven for McLaren, Arrows, March, and Surtees; Arturo Merzario ditto, having raced for Ferrari, Williams, and Shadow; Steve Soper is a giant of touring car racing, both in the UK and Germany; HRH Prince Leopold of Bavaria might have a royal title, but he's a proper racer, a former BMW works driver and a Le Mans podium finisher; Franciscus van Meel is the head of BMW's M-Division, and a former Rolls-Royce senior exec; and finally Eric van de Poele, from Belgium, is an ex-F1 driver and a class-winner at Le Mans.
That's some line-up, and that's not all. Although he won't be racing, the great Jochen Neerpasch - co-founder of BMW M, and the man behind such legendary cars as the 3.0 CSL and the E30 M3 - will be on hand for the weekend as well.
Special colour schemes
The M2 CS racing cars will be running in a livery that helps to celebrate M's history, with each car getting a slight colour scheme tweak so as to identify the driver. Franciscus van Meel, CEO of BMW M said: "This year we will be celebrating a huge anniversary party on the weekend of the 24hrs race at the Nürburgring to mark the 50th anniversary of BMW Motorsport and BMW M. There will be plenty of BMW M highlights in store for spectators and fans. One special treat will be the BMW M Race of Legends, with a starting grid of racing legends that is rarely seen. We would like to thank ADAC e.V. [the organisers of the 24hrs race -- Ed] for giving us this opportunity."