European Touring Car Championship 2002

A total of six national teams and up to eight BMW 320i models made for some first-class touring car sport in the FIA European Touring Car Championship (ETCC) and earned BMW second place in the Manufacturers' Championship. The customer teams were competing with the backing of the national BMW dealers in Belgium, Germany, Britain, Holland, Sicily and Spain.

The BMW 320i models fielded in this championship raced in near-standard production trim with exceptionally stable two-liter straight-six engines delivering over 250 bhp. In a varying field of starters, regular participants included the Belgian, German and Spanish BMW teams.

At each of the ten ETCC meetings, two races covering a minimum of 50 kilometers were staged, with a 30-minute interval in between. Winning four of the 20 races, Jörg Müller secured second place in the championship and emerged as BMW's top driver. His teammate and namesake Dirk Müller took three victories to come fourth in the championship as BMW's second most successful driver. The two Germans were fielded by Schnitzer Motorsport, one of the most successful teams in international touring car racing, as BMW Team Germany.

BMW ETCC 320i racers

Both BMW Motorsport Directors, Gerhard Berger and Mario Theissen, took time out to attend ETCC races.

As Theissen emphasized, "BMW Motorsport is steadily working on the further technical advancement of the vehicles so as to offer them and various services to our customer teams at the racing circuits. It's a way of keeping costs within manageable limits." Berger, who was present at the Jarama event, explains: "The ETCC is a very good platform for high-quality, international touring car sport. From the start, we have been following the revival of the European Championship with interest and helping to shape it. We intend to pursue our involvement and hope to make a positive contribution to the development of this series."

At the opening event in Magny-Cours (FRA) in April, it immediately became clear that it was the Alfa 156 GTA models that were the force to be reckoned with. But despite the evident superiority of the Italian cars, the BMW teams did not give up. At Magny-Cours (FRA), Silverstone (GBR), Brno (CZE) and Jarama (ESP) their efforts reaped podium finishes. In Anderstorp (SWE), at the fifth race of the season, Jörg Müller claimed BMW's first victory in torrential rain.

BMW and Alfa

In time for the second half of the season, vehicle weight and maximum engine revs were amended in the interests of improved performance.

For the sixth race in Oschersleben (GER) the maximum weight for the rear-wheel-drive BMW 320i cars was reduced by 15 kilograms, while maximum engine speed for the BMW six-cylinder powerplant was raised from 8,500 to 9,000 rpm.

In addition, handicap weights were introduced. From now on the three top scorers had to take on board an extra weight of 30, 20 and 10 kilograms respectively for the subsequent race. Jörg Müller bore the brunt of this regulation, being given 30, 20, 30, 10 and 30 kilos of dead weight for the races at Oschersleben, Spa (BEL), Pergusa (ITA), Donington (GBR) and Estoril (PRT). "They really should have given me a special trophy for that", he quipped.

The ETCC presented touring car sport of the very best, with gripping duels that kept the panel-beaters busy during the intervals between races as well as lively post-race press conferences. Though the first of the two races already saw some close-fought battles, the tension was raised further in the second race thanks to the top six finishers starting in reverse order. This system ensured plenty of variety at the front of the grid and also meant that BMW made its debut on the front row in race two at Magny-Cours.

One of the two 320i vehicles was driven by Fredrik Ekblom. In the 2001 American Le Mans Series, the Swede had been a teammate of Jörg and Dirk Müller, and he lost no time in securing some podium finishes in the ETCC as well - the first at his home race in Anderstorp and the second in Spa, where his team, RBM Motorsport of Belgium, were at home. A third podium place was secured at the final event of the season in Estoril.

First pole position in Jarama

Honors for the first best qualifying time for BMW in the ETCC went to Dutchman Tom Coronel. He was driving for BMW Team Great Britain, run by Carly Motors and Team Isert, and claimed his pole position at Jarama.

It wasn't until the penultimate round in Donington that another BMW 320i proved fastest in qualifying - this time it was Dirk Müller who took the number one grid position.

Tom Coronel was one of four drivers competing for the team that was flying the Union Jack. The others were Gianni Morbidelli (ITA), who was replaced by Duncan Huisman (NLD), and Pierre-Yves Courthals (BEL). Courthals also stepped in for Ekblom of BMW Team Belgium when he had to drop out in Donington due to illness.

Carly Motors with German Team Isert had initially been running another ETCC team, but BMW Team Netherlands with championship defender Peter Kox only got through the first five rounds.

Double victory in Oschersleben

Though voices from the Alfa Romeo camp claimed that the mid-season change in regulations favored BMW, the 320i contenders managed to win both races just once. That was in Oschersleben, on a track that favored rear-wheel-drive models. Dirk won ahead of Jörg Müller both times and the weekend saw BMW collecting a total of 39 points for the marque.

The next race was the seventh round in Belgium, hotly awaited by all BMW drivers since Spa is one of the most thrilling racing circuits of all, yet also feared because Alfa Romeo would have the edge there with its superior engine power. Such concerns proved unfounded, however, with BMW gleaning its second most successful result of the season. Jörg Müller claimed his second win, with Ekblom and Coronel following in second and third places, while Spanish driver Jordi Gené performed a magnificent catching-up exercise from the back of the field to finish fourth.

The most successful touring car competitor in BMW history is Roberto Ravaglia. In the 1980s he twice claimed the European Championship title in addition to the World Championship. Since then he has set up Ravaglia Motorsport and was running BMW Team Spain in the championship, with Jordi Gené and Fabrizio de Simone benefiting from his immense experience. At the only race on Italian soil, in Pergusa, Sicily, Ravaglia managed to get another entrant off the ground: BMW Team Sicily made a one-off appearance with Gianluca De Lorenzi behind the wheel of the BMW 320i.

Prior to the penultimate round in Donington, it was clear that only a miracle would deny Alfa Romeo the manufacturers' title and that the drivers' crown would be down to a battle between Fabrizio Giovanardi and Nicola Larini.

In England it was Alfa Romeo and Giovanardi who took the honours. But the weekend brought some good results for BMW, with Dirk Müller claiming pole and winning the first race, while Jörg Müller won race two. It was the first time that BMW drivers had monopolized the podium, with Duncan Huisman in second place ahead of Jordi Gené.

With that the title-winners were decided before the final event and BMW secured a safe second place in the Manufacturers' Championship ahead of Volvo. Yet the final in Estoril still promised plenty of excitement, with Jörg Müller scrapping with Nicola Larini for second place in the Drivers' Championship. The German was five points behind the Italian. Dirk Müller still had a mathematical chance of winning with a gap of 15 points to Larini before the last race.

In Estoril the BMW drivers swept the board for the second time in the 2002 season: Jörg Müller won the second race ahead of Tom Coronel and Fredrik Ekblom.
 

At the end of a successful season for BMW, Albert Biermann, responsible for touring car development at BMW Motorsport, summed up as follows: "We are very satisfied. Having only started developing the BMW 320i for the ETCC in January 2002, we couldn't have asked for a better result. Despite the late decision, we had eight cars on the grid at the opening event in April - more than any other manufacturer. We regard the ETCC as a series in which private teams can pursue motorsport to a very high level and are able to acquire identical material from us."

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