This weekend at the final round of the 2012 ADAC GT Masters at Hockenheim, the greatest challenge of the season awaits ALPINA, Dino Lunardi, Maxime Martin and the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3. On the German Formula 1 track, ALPINA has in theory a chance to claim a back-to-back championship win. Before the final two races of the season, Lunardi/Martin are fourth in the championship, 18 points behind the championship leaders Alessi/Keilwitz (Corvette) – 50 points are still up for the taking at Hockenheim.
Twelve months ago, ALPINA came to Hockenheim and claimed the 2011 ADAC GT Masters Championship with a flawless lights to flag victory after starting from pole. This year Lunardi/Martin are in a position to defend their title, but a recent tweak to the so-called ‘Balance of Performance’ dampens almost any championship hopes. Surprisingly, the Balance of Performance, which aims to even out the performance of all partaking cars, has been amended at the last moment by race organisers. Although the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 was no faster in recent races – only claiming points in two out of the last six races – the power of the 5-litre ALPINA V8 engine has been reduced further by organisers through mandating an even smaller air restrictor. No other manufacturer has been so singularly targeted with restrictions. For the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 it is the third power reduction in 2012 in addition to 50kg of success ballast – making a title defence an almost impossible feat.
Maxime Martin is nevertheless eager to fight to the last lap: “The first four cars in the championship with Corvette, Mercedes-Benz, Porsche and us are only separated by 18 points. So it’s very close, everybody has a chance for the title. But as the performance of our car has been reduced, any title hopes have faded significantly. Of course, we will fight until the end!”
“The amended Balance of Performance (BoP) destroys our hopes for the championship. For us it was unforeseeable that the BoP, which we considered to be fair in recent years, has been amended before the final round for all championship contenders” ALPINA`s Andreas Bovensiepen said.
“We achieved three wins this season thanks to perfect teamwork, excellent technical preparation, the right choice of tyres at Oschersleben, the fastest pit stop at the Nürburgring and with two drivers, who didn’t put a foot wrong. Naturally, we have also profited from minor mistakes of competing teams. We think that after our championship win in 2011 and 15 wins with the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3, including twelve in the ADAC GT Masters, it is a good time to look forward to new challenges” explains Bovensiepen.
ALPINA will withdraw their factory entry in the ADAC GT Masters at the end of this season. ALPINA will however continue to support customer teams. “We are open to discuss opportunities with any team, that plan to run a BMW ALPINA in the 2013 season”, Bovensiepen said.
ALPINA was involved in the ADAC GT Masters as a factory team in 2009 and 2012. In the 2011 season, in cooperation with the customer team LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler, ALPINA won the drivers championship and finished runner-up in the team championship. Since 2009, the BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 has started in 50 ADAC GT Masters races, took eleven pole positions and won twelve races.
At the final round at Hockenheim, a second BMW ALPINA B6 GT3 is entered by the ALPINA customer team LIQUI MOLY Team Engstler and driven by Florian Spengler and Johannes Leidinger.
The two races from the Nürburgring are broadcasted live in Germany, Austria and Switzerland by ‘kabel eins’ on Saturday and Sunday at 12:15 hours. The pan-European motorsport channel with show both rounds of the ADAC GT Masters from the Nürburgring on October 3rd at 21:00 hours with several repetitions the following days.
Source : Alpina