Bits of GT – Dec. 11th

The week wasn’t only around the announcements that Porsche has made, with BMW taking its next step for the 2018 FIA WEC campaign and also some things happening in the GT3 world involving Blancpain GT in Asia and Europe.

MTEK will be BMW’s GTE representative

Once the LMGTE return announced by BMW for 2018 came to light, one of the questions that came along with model and drivers was which squad would take the responsibility of running the new program, and coming as a big surprise, MTEK will control the new operation, quite as big if not bigger than the DTM program they were in.

As part of a reduction in the DTM grid numbers, both entries of MTEK and Schnitzer Motorsport were taken out of the list, so to reallocate them, MTEK goes into the GTE route while Schnitzer will switch focus to GT3 racing in multiple competitions.

No timeline was decided for MTEK to take care of testing of the new BMW GTE while Schnitzer is initially confirmed for the next ADAC GT Masters season, as well for the next edition of the Nürburgring 24 Hours.

Motorbase says goodbye to the GT3s

British outfit Motorbase Performance was responsible for the Oman Racing Team Aston Martin V12 Vantage GT3 entry in the Blancpain GT Series with their own team also racing in the British GT Championship. But Motorbase has also its BTCC operation with a fleet of Ford Focus ST models, and choosing to focus on the touring car side, the team will cease its current GT3 operations, with its pair of Aston Martins already on sale.

According to a statement from Motorbase, team boss David Bartrum said that they will not end completely with sports car racing, just reorganizing their priorities to a later comeback.

GruppeM confirmed in Blancpain GT Asia

After some good years of competition with Porsche in GT2 and GT3 levels, GruppeM Racing confirmed a change to Mercedes machinery ahead of the inaugural season of the Blancpain GT Asia Series, with a trio of Mercedes AMG GT3 models being announced to be with the team.

FIA GT expert Tim Sugden was also the first announced driver of what is expected to be a pro effort. Sugden was part of the GT Asia lineup this year that only contested a part of the season, with multiple drivers being behind their pair of Porsche 911 GT3 R.

PHOTOS: BMW Motorsport, Motorbase Performance, AMG Customer Sports