[BMWGirlFL]

Sad times.
https://lsr-freun.de/news/herbert-sc...t-duester-aus/

Herbert Schnitzer: "The future looks bleak"

Herbert Schnitzer confirmed to LSR-Freun.de, following the press release published by BMW :

“Due to different developments, BMW is forced to rebuild and adapt its factory-based motorsport structures. Therefore, BMW cannot continue to work with all teams as usual. So in 2020 - after more than 50 years - our factory-based collaboration with BMW will end. "

“But of course we understand this situation and respect it. We are proud that we in Team Schnitzer have shaped international motorsport together with BMW for so many years and look back with pleasure on all the great successes that we celebrated together in the various categories. We would like to thank BMW Motorsport for this long, unique partnership. "

“We had a lot of discussions to find an alternative partner in the form of a sponsor or investor. However, the market does not offer much in these Covid times. With paying drivers and with the company's own funds, races cannot be implemented at a cost-effective rate due to our professional team structure and our high-quality location."

"The payment of the company shares in 2020 to the widow v. Charly Lamm was an enormous financial burden for the company. The unfavorable relationship between the expected income from 2021 - compared to the running costs - is not economically justifiable."

“For these reasons, a company closure is inevitable. After more than 50 years of motorsport with BMW vehicles, this situation is very difficult for us to deal with.

An official statement from Schnitzer Motorsport GmbH is planned for the end of 2020.

https://www.autosportwereld.be/2020/...r-25-jaar-rbm/

Bart Mampaey about 25 years of RBM

Bart, why did you make the decision to shrink your team and rearrange the activities?

Bart Mampaey: “Let me first state that it was certainly not an easy decision. Racing has always been important to me. It's my whole life, just like my team plays an incredibly important role in it. Over the past decade, we have devoted ourselves fully to DTM and BMW, but the championship structure now revolves around customer and private teams, without any factory support. This new situation made it impossible for BMW to continue working with us as a factory team in DTM. Obviously I could have considered other full-time racing options, but you can't help but notice that motorsport in general is going through tough times. We don't know when the Covid-19 crisis will end, and what motorsport will look like afterwards. As a team principal I am responsible for my personnel. I cannot keep a full team of 30 people working without being able to state with absolute certainty that we will have a program and that there will be enough work for everyone. These people are very important to me. They've actually grown into a family over the past 25 years, and I don't want them to live in uncertainty. Therefore, it was better to make the difficult decision to reshuffle the team, and to slow down our racing activities. In this way we can better examine what possibilities there are outside motorsport. My employees fully support me in this decision. I want to thank everyone one by one for the fantastic years, for their hard work and dedication, be it in ETCC, WTCC or DTM. They are the soul of RBM and have ensured that the team has become what it is today. Yes, it hurts to see these wonderful, talented and dedicated people leave RBM. In 2020, during a very tough last DTM year for BMW, they once again showed their best side by winning the DTM Pit Stop Award for RBM. I also want to thank BMW for our collaboration over the past 25 years. From the first start to the last DTM finish flag, the people from BMW were always by our side. And although we are no longer a factory team, we maintain good contact and a strong relationship."

If you go over those 25 years with your racing team, what are the highlights for you personally?

“There are not a few! RBM has won races all over the world, in Europe, Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America. We became European champions, world champions and were successful in international racing for more than two decades. One of the first highlights, when the team only just existed, was the victory in the 24 hours of Spa-Francorchamps. My parents' team, Juma Racing, had won that race three times and had also finished second with BMW several times. I was delighted when I managed to win with my own team. And then of course there were the years in international touring car racing, first in the ETCC and from 2005 in the FIA ​​WTCC. It was a fantastic time, with many wins and titles with Andy Priaulx. Perhaps my favorite moment with RBM in motorsport is the race weekend in Macau 2005, when Andy won the World Championship for the first time. It was our first time on the tricky Macau street circuit, but we put in a flawless performance, crowned with a one-two - and the world title! - in the second race. That opened the door to a 15-year partnership with BMW Motorsport, as a factory team. We were also quite proud when we were chosen by BMW in 2012 to be one of the factory teams to ensure the comeback in DTM. That was the start of a new chapter in the history of RBM, and there too we experienced many intense and beautiful moments. The 2013 season, for example, when we could compete for the title with Augusto Farfus. From the more recent seasons I will remember Norisring 2017. There we managed to win on both Saturday and Sunday, less than a week after my father passed away. That was very special and emotional. Over the last few seasons we've formed quite a few DTM rookies. It was very satisfying to see how young guys like Tom Blomqvist, Joel Eriksson, Sheldon van der Linde, Philipp Eng or Jonathan Aberdein could develop their talents in our team and be by their side as they reach the top of a DTM podium. were allowed to enter. It was great that we could be part of that. I also cherish our trip to Japan, to finish the 'Dream Race' in Fuji together with DTM. I love the country. The fact that we were able to represent BMW Motorsport, and drive to P2 with Marco Wittmann and to P5 with Kamui Kobayashi, made me very happy. And seeing Alex Zanardi take the lead in the second race for a while, that was the icing on the cake. Obviously I've known Alex since our FIA WTCC years, but we had to wait until Fuji 2019 to be able to work on the same team. I want to take this opportunity to wish Alex all the best and a speedy recovery. ”

You were brought up with racing, you led your own racing team for 25 years. Will you miss motorsport if you don't work there as much in the future?

“Racing is in my blood. My parents ran their own racing team, and I've done the same for almost half of my life. Sure I'll miss it. During the last race in Hockenheim, all memories from the last 25 years came back. I will miss the guys on my team too, because as I said before, they are like family to me. But times are changing, and we face a difficult future. That is why we have to make the right decisions to ensure that RBM is fully prepared when new opportunities arise. This translates into scaling back our racing activities. That does not mean that the door will close permanently. We want to keep working in racing and see what options we have. At the moment, however, I am looking at all the possibilities where we can use our typical RBM expertise and talents. What makes us so unique is our technical and operational know-how, our pursuit of excellence, our focus on efficiency and close teamwork based on strong human relationships. These characteristics, this professional knowledge, should allow us to work in other fields besides motorsport. We have already presented the idea to a number of external partners, and they are all enthusiastic and firmly convinced that this could be an interesting step. So you see: if one door closes, another can open. I look to the future with great confidence and I am already looking forward to the new opportunities that will present themselves. ” is our technical and operational know-how, our pursuit of excellence, our focus on efficiency and close teamwork based on strong human relationships. These characteristics, this professional knowledge, should allow us to work in other fields besides motorsport. We have already presented the idea to a number of external partners, and they are all enthusiastic and firmly convinced that this could be an interesting step. So you see: if one door closes, another can open. I look to the future with great confidence and I am already looking forward to the new opportunities that will present themselves.”