Two long and successful partnerships are coming to an end. BMW Motorsport has dropped another major announcement. BMW Teams RBM and Schnitzer, two of their long-term partners, will not continue racing with the BMW Motorsport factory support. BMW Team RMG will be working with BMW Motorsport to develop the new BMW M4 GT3 in the coming season. BMW Team RMG, that previously was one of the works teams in the DTM and celebrated two driver’s titles with Marco Wittmann (GER), will serve as a development team for the new BMW M4 GT3 in the future.

The motorsport world is undergoing massive changes. Audi and BMW are leaving the Formula E championship, as well as DTM racing. The new DTM will become a GT racing series with short and hopefully action-packed sprint races. And that makes them ideal for GT3 race cars which may receive minor adjustments. Features such as a push-to-pass button for short-term additional performance or a drag reduction system rear wing would be conceivable.

After the premature end of the Class 1 DTM, the fields of activity for BMW’s works-based presence had to be adapted. Also, in contrast to the current DTM, from 2021 only private teams will be responsible for the use of the vehicles. Although manufacturers are allowed to provide support within certain limits. The new M4 GT3 won’t be fully ready until the 2022 season, but BMW could run the M4 in its pre-homologation form in the 2021 DTM to showcase its capabilities to potential customers. If that happens, the car will not be classified in the official race results.

BMW Team RBM has made a major contribution to the fact that BMW became one of the most successful manufacturers in the World Touring Car Championship. Since the return to DTM in 2012, BMW Team RBM has been one of the BMW works teams in the series and claimed nine race victories.

Of course, it’s the Schnitzer Motorsport’s departure that comes as a surprise. Since the 1960s, Schnitzer Motorsport has been one of the most influential and successful teams in the world of international GT and touring car racing – always with BMW race cars. BMW Team Schnitzer has forever earned an important place in BMW history, thanks to many prestigious national and international triumphs in renowned championships and at legendary endurance races, like those at the Nürburgring and at Le Mans.

The future of BMW Motorsport racing in the United States is under question also and should learn more about those plans in the near future.