BMW 320 TC

Last updated
BMW 320 TC
BMW 320 TC Gabor Weber 2012 Race of Hungary.jpg
Category World Touring Car Championship
Constructor BMW
Designer(s) BMW Motorsport
Predecessor BMW 320si
Technical specifications [1]
Chassis BMW E90
Engine 1,598 cc (98 cu in) In-line 4 cylinder engine Turbo, 8,500 RPM limited front-mounted
Transmission 6 speeds + reverse Semi-automatic sequential Limited-slip differential
Weight1,150 kg (2,535.3 lb) (base weight (as per regulations), +/- ballast
Tyres Yokohama
Competition history
Debut 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Brazil
RacesWins Poles F/Laps
95819

The BMW 320 TC is a racing car built under Super 2000 specifications, which competed in the FIA World Touring Car Championship from 2011 to 2014. The car came into use as a customer car, after BMW ended their WTCC factory program at the end of the 2010 season.

Contents

History

The BMW 320 TC is the further development of the BMW 320si WTCC, with which Andy Priaulx won the World Touring Car Championship for BMW in 2006 and 2007. Well over 60 models have been delivered to date by BMW Motorsport Distribution.

The new BMW 320 TC, which from 2011 can be used in series in accordance with the new Super 2000 regulations, is driven by a 1.6 litre, DI-turbo, four-cylinder engine, which was possibly based on N13B16. The six-speed, sequential gearbox, which can be used to configure the circuit-specific transmission ratio, is also a new feature.

2011 WTCC regulation changes

In 2011 the FIA introduced the Super 2000 Kit Variant package, which allowed teams and manufacturers to change the engines of Super 2000 racing cars with 1600 ccm turbocharged engines. BMW Motorsport manufactured their own version of the new engine which was available for purchase to customer racing teams from 2011.

The car won five races in the WTCC. Its first victory was achieved by Franz Engstler in Race 2 of 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Germany. The second victory came at 2011 FIA WTCC Race of Japan by Tom Coronel. Norbert Michelisz took the third win in front of his home crowd at the 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Hungary. The fourth and fifth victories came in 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Austria and in 2012 FIA WTCC Race of Japan, both when Stefano D'Aste took the checkered flag in Race 2.

Chassis

The self-supporting BMW 320 TC body is manufactured in BMW Plant Regensburg alongside the production body shells for the BMW 1 and 3 Series.

Compared to the production BMW E90 model, the axles and the suspension geometry has been changed significantly. The new axles design include a camber setting that could be adjusted independently of any other settings parameters, such as roll center and track. This would make the axles easier for semi-professional teams to set up. The track width and camber were increased, while the wheel carrier and bearing were carried over from the production model.

Information

Length4,539 mm (179 in)
Width1,858 mm (73 in)
Heightapprox. 1,350 mm (53 in)
Wheel base2,760 mm (109 in)
Weight1,170 kg (2,579.4 lb) base weight (as per regulations), +/- ballast
Tank capacityapprox. 45 L (11.9 US gal)
Price220 000 EUR + VAT
Engine typeFour-cylinder inline turbo engine with direct fuel injection and air restrictor
Capacity1,598 cc (97.5 cu in)
Compressionmax. 12,5:1
Outputmax. 310 bhp
Torquemax. 420 Nm
Engine Speedmax. 8500 rpm

Teams and drivers

Current teams and drivers

The following teams and drivers entered the BMW 320 TC for the 2013 World Touring Car Championship season: [2]

TeamDriver
Liqui Moly Team Engstler Flag of Germany.svg Franz Engstler
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Charles Ng
ANOME Flag of France.svg Jean-Philippe Dayraut
ROAL Motorsport Flag of the Netherlands.svg Tom Coronel
Flag of Hong Kong.svg Darryl O'Young
Proteam Racing Flag of Morocco.svg Mehdi Bennani
PB Racing Flag of Italy.svg Stefano D'Aste
Wiechers-Sport Flag of Switzerland (Pantone).svg Fredy Barth

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Touring car racing</span> Motorsport road racing competition

Touring car racing is a motorsport road racing competition with heavily modified road-going cars. It has both similarities to and significant differences from stock car racing, which is popular in the United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">BMW in motorsport</span>

Throughout its history, BMW cars and motorcycles have been successful in a range of motorsport activities. Apart from the factory efforts, many privateer teams enter BMW road cars in touring car racing. BMW also entered cars or provided engines in Formula One, Formula Two and sportscar racing. BMW is currently active in IMSA, the Isle of Man TT, the North West 200, the Superbike World Championship and the Deutsche Tourenwagen Masters.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">World Touring Car Championship</span> Worldwide auto racing championship

The FIA World Touring Car Championship was an international touring car championship promoted by Eurosport Events and sanctioned by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA). It has had several different incarnations, including a single season in 1987 as the World Touring Car Championship and most recently a world championship (WTCC) that has run between 2005 and 2017. Following the 2017 season, an agreement was reached for the FIA WTCC to become FIA WTCR and use the TCR technical regulations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Jörg Müller</span> German racing driver

Jörg Müller is a Dutch-born German BMW factory driver.

The European Touring Car Championship was an international touring car racing series organised by the FIA. It had two incarnations, the first one between 1963 and 1988, and the second between 2000 and 2004. In 2005 it was superseded by the World Touring Car Championship, and replaced by the European Touring Car Cup between 2005 and 2017 when became also defunct.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Schnitzer Motorsport</span> German auto racing team

Schnitzer Motorsport was a motorsport team based in Freilassing near Munich, Germany. From the early days of its establishment, the team has operated an automobile racing squad for BMW, and has remarkable results in touring car and sports car racing scenes. The team often runs the cars for BMW under the name of "BMW Motorsport". In 2012, the team operated the DTM team for BMW under the name of "BMW Team Schnitzer".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2007 British Touring Car Championship</span> Sports season

The 2007 Dunlop MSA British Touring Car Championship season was the 50th British Touring Car Championship (BTCC) season. It was won by Fabrizio Giovanardi with 10 race wins and 17 podiums. Going into the final race, Fabrizio Giovanardi was one point behind Jason Plato but a second place for Giovanardi and a fourth place for Plato resulted in Giovanardi taking the championship by 3 points. The Teams' championship was won by SEAT Sport UK, the Manufacturers' championship was won by Vauxhall, the Independents' Trophy was won by Colin Turkington and the Independent Teams' championship was won by Team RAC.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2006 World Touring Car Championship</span>

The 2006 World Touring Car Championship season was the third season of FIA World Touring Car Championship motor racing. It featured a ten event, twenty race series which commenced on 2 April 2006 and ended on 19 November. The series was open to Super 2000, Diesel 2000 and Super Production Cars, with two titles awarded, the FIA World Touring Car Champion for Drivers and the FIA World Touring Car Champion for Manufacturers. Andy Priaulx won the Drivers title and BMW won the Manufacturers award.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Super 2000</span> Race car class

Super 2000 is an FIA powertrain specification used in the World Rally Championship, the British Touring Car Championship, the World Touring Car Championship, and other touring car championships. The engines were originally 2 L naturally aspirated, and later being also allowed 1.6 L turbocharged units producing approximately 280 bhp.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Norbert Michelisz</span> Hungarian racing driver

Norbert Michelisz is a Hungarian auto racing driver and the 2019 winner of the World Touring Car Cup.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Engstler Motorsport</span> German auto racing team in Wiggensbach

Engstler Motorsport is a private German auto racing team based in Wiggensbach, run by driver Franz Engstler. It has competed successfully in the Asian Touring Car Championship and the ADAC Procar Series. It is sponsored by lubricants company Liqui Moly and known officially as Liqui Moly Team Engstler.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Mehdi Bennani</span> Moroccan racing driver

Mehdi Bennani is a Moroccan racing driver who currently competes in the TCR Europe with Sébastien Loeb Racing. He was TCR Europe Champion in 2020 with the Belgian team Comtoyou Racing.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2010 World Touring Car Championship</span>

The 2010 World Touring Car Championship season was the seventh season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the sixth since its 2005 return. It began with the Race of Brazil at Curitiba on 7 March and ended with the Guia Race of Macau at the Guia Circuit on 21 November, after twenty-two races at eleven events. The championship was open to both Super 2000 and Diesel 2000 cars.

Masaki Kano is a Japanese auto racing driver. He best known for having competed in the World Touring Car Championship.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2011 World Touring Car Championship</span>

The 2011 World Touring Car Championship season was the eighth season of the FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the seventh since its 2005 return. The championship, which was open to Super 2000 cars and Diesel 2000 cars, began with the Race of Brazil at Curitiba on 20 March and ended with the Guia Race of Macau at the Guia Circuit on 20 November, after twelve events and twenty-four races.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Charles Ng (racing driver)</span>

Charles Ka-Ki Ng is a professional racing driver from Hong Kong.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">JAS Motorsport</span>

JAS Motorsport is an Italian motor racing team and an engineering and manufacturing company. It was founded in 1995 by Paolo Jasson, Maurizio Ambrogetti and Giorgio Schon. The company initially competed with Alfa Romeo in 1996 and 1997. Since 1998, they have been an official partner of Honda, and have developed, built and raced cars in various different disciplines for the Japanese manufacturer, as well as provided customer racing services.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2014 World Touring Car Championship</span>

The 2014 FIA World Touring Car Championship was a motor racing competition organised by the Fédération Internationale de l'Automobile (FIA) for Super 2000 Cars. It was the eleventh FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the tenth since the series was revived in 2005.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">2015 World Touring Car Championship</span>

The 2015 World Touring Car Championship was a motor racing competition organised by the FIA for Super 2000 cars. It was the twelfth FIA World Touring Car Championship, and the eleventh since the series was revived in 2005. The championship comprised a Drivers Championship and a Manufacturers Championship, which were won by José María López and Citroën respectively.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Cyan Racing</span> Racing team

Cyan Racing is the official motorsport partner to Geely Group Motorsport, formerly the Volvo factory auto racing team, and runs the FIA WTCR programme for Lynk & Co, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. The team’s current drivers are Thed Björk, Yvan Muller, Yann Ehrlacher, Santiago Urrutia and Ma Qing Hua who will drive the Lynk & Co 03 TCR race car.

References

  1. "Official website of the BMW 320 TC". Archived from the original on 2012-01-05.
  2. "WTCC Entry list 2012". WTCC Hírblog. 2012-03-04.